Moscow Exchange Launches XRP Perpetual Futures for Qualified Investors

Moscow Exchange (Moex), Russia’s largest exchange, opened trading of cash‑settled perpetual futures on an XRP index on September 22, 2026. The new contract joins four other perpetuals—BTCUSDF, ETHUSDF, SOLUSDF and TRXUSDF—each linked to Moex’s in‑house crypto indexes.

Contract Structure

The XRP perpetual is a derivative with no expiry date. Prices are quoted in U.S. dollars, while collateral, margin and final settlement are denominated in rubles. No actual XRP changes hands; settlement occurs in cash. Moex set the funding parameters at 0% (K1) and 0.35% (K2).

Eligibility

Only “qualified investors” may trade the contracts. Under Russian securities law, this category includes institutions and individuals who meet wealth, income or experience thresholds. The move follows new Russian crypto legislation effective September 1, 2026, which legalizes regulated crypto trading but caps retail participation at roughly $3,700 per year.

Market Context

By September 16, more than 72,000 qualified investors had traded Moex’s crypto‑linked futures, generating turnover above RUB 600 billion (approximately $7.1 billion). The platform initially launched bitcoin futures in June 2025, tied to BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT). Since then, offshore leverage on XRP has risen, with open interest on Binance’s XRPUSDT perpetual increasing from about $370 million on September 16 to roughly $541 million on September 21.

Price Movement

At the time of launch, XRP was trading around $1.52, up 6% over the previous 24 hours. The broader crypto market saw a short squeeze that pushed bitcoin close to $87,000.