The Moscow Exchange is preparing to launch twenty perpetual futures contracts tied to prominent US-listed stocks including Tesla, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Coinbase. Trading is scheduled to roll out in two phases during September 2026. These derivatives will reference MOEX-calculated price fixings denominated in dollars but settle exclusively in Russian rubles, eliminating any need for cross-border transactions or direct ownership of underlying securities.
The exchange reports that open interest in perpetual contracts has climbed thirty-six percent year-on-year to surpass 450 billion rubles, with more than 60,000 clients actively trading these products monthly. MOEX already offers eleven perpetual futures covering currencies, indices, precious metals and equities, and recently introduced similar instruments tracking SPY and QQQ exchange-traded funds. The venue has calculated its own fixings for foreign securities since July 2026, using these internal reference prices as the basis for contract settlement.
This development reflects Russia’s broader strategy to provide domestic market access to international assets while bypassing foreign jurisdictions and payment infrastructure. For Russian brokers and their clients, these instruments offer synthetic exposure to major tech and financial stocks without triggering cross-border compliance obligations or currency conversion requirements outside the ruble ecosystem. The structure also insulates participants from Western sanctions-related restrictions on direct securities transactions.
FXnCO Insight
Exchanges developing proprietary reference rates and ruble-settled synthetic products signal a deepening bifurcation in global derivatives markets, with compliance and counterparty risk increasingly determined by settlement currency and jurisdictional infrastructure rather than underlying asset alone.
Source: Finance Magnates