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- Figure of the day: the volume of trading in crypto futures on the Moscow Stock Exchange has reached a record
Figure of the day: the volume of trading in crypto futures on the Moscow Stock Exchange has reached a record
The trading volume of futures on crypto assets on the Moscow Stock Exchange has reached a record high. In November, it amounted to almost 49 billion rubles, which is the absolute maximum since the launch of the contracts. The growing demand for crypto futures is explained by the high volatility in the cryptocurrency market, which traditionally attracts active investors and traders focused on profiting from price fluctuations, experts say. Izvestia found out how this tool is beneficial.
Appropriate bargaining
The volume of trading in cryptocurrency futures on the Moscow Stock Exchange reached a record 49 billion rubles in November. This was reported in the press service of the trading platform.
"High volatility in the cryptocurrency markets has led to an increase in the interest of qualified investors in derivatives for digital assets on the Moscow Stock Exchange. As a result, the trading volume of such futures in November reached an absolute maximum since the launch of the contracts and amounted to 48.7 billion rubles," the report says.
The volume of futures trading on bitcoin and ether (BTC and ETH) cryptocurrency indices, which started in November, exceeded 9 billion rubles, and open positions exceeded 2.3 billion rubles. The number of active unique customers was 7.7 thousand.
The total trading volume in the derivatives market (derivatives of financial instruments) The Moscow stock exchange in November amounted to 11.7 trillion rubles, an increase of 15.8% compared to the same period of the previous year. By the end of the month, the volume of open positions in the exchange-traded derivatives market amounted to more than 2.7 trillion rubles (+22.7%).
In total, more than 135,000 unique customers made futures and options transactions on the Moscow Stock Exchange in November, which is 16% more than a year earlier. Active accounts — more than 190 thousand. The share of individuals in the total volume of trading in exchange-traded derivatives was 54.8%. Commodity futures transactions accounted for the largest share of their transactions (43.8%). The share of derivatives on indices and stocks was 31.1%, and derivatives on currency pairs - 25.1%.
The editorial board of Izvestia sent a request to the Moscow Stock Exchange. No response has been received at the time of publication.
Flexible tool
Today, two lines of futures for cryptocurrencies are available to qualified investors on the Moscow Stock Exchange, says Sergey Selyutin, head of the Trading operations department at VTB My Investments. These are settlement futures for shares of investment funds that track the value of bitcoin (IBIT, trading starts in June 2025) and ether (ETHA, trading starts in August 2025), as well as futures for the bitcoin and ether index, launched on November 18.
At its core, a cryptocurrency futures is a contract that fixes the price of the underlying asset on a certain date in the future, explains Yaroslav Kabakov, Director of Strategy at Finam IC. There is no actual transfer of the cryptocurrency. An investor can make money by changing the price of the underlying indicator compared to the cost of entering a position.
— In fact, he is betting on the direction of the market movement. This makes the tool flexible: you can hedge positions, open short trades, use leverage, and build arbitrage strategies," says Yulia Kuznetsova, investment adviser at the Central Bank Registry and founder of the online investment university Financology.
This mechanism allows futures to be used both for speculative strategies and to hedge risks associated with sharp fluctuations in the cryptocurrency market, which is especially important during periods of increased turbulence, Kabakov confirms.
To open a long one (for growth) or a short (to fall) position, while margin provision is required, which creates a leverage effect and increases the efficiency of using capital, says Dmitry Fetisov, co-founder of the Family Capital financial solutions agency, an independent financial adviser.
Betting on volatility
The increase in the volume of derivatives trading on the Moscow Stock Exchange in November is a logical consequence of the fact that investors are looking for ways to hedge risks and make money in a highly volatile market, explains Yulia Kuznetsova.
— When uncertainty increases, derivatives become one of the few mechanisms that can both protect a portfolio and enhance profitability. This is especially true for digital assets, where the amplitude of price fluctuations is traditionally higher than in the stock market," she draws attention.
Yaroslav Kabakov is convinced that the growing demand for derivatives in general and for cryptocurrency futures in particular is due to a combination of several factors. The key one is the high volatility in the cryptocurrency market, which traditionally attracts active investors and traders who focus not so much on long—term asset ownership as on profiting from price fluctuations.
"Derivatives are best suited for such strategies, as they allow you to work for both growth and decline in the market, as well as use margin trading mechanisms without having to freeze significant amounts of capital," the expert says.
Record trading volumes in crypto futures are due to the high volatility of the market in October – November, Selyutin confirms.
"Spot quotes have been changing quite aggressively, attracting investors who use futures to generate income on price fluctuations," he is convinced.
The increase in trading volume is explained by the effect of a low base, adds the interlocutor of Izvestia. Cryptocurrency futures are new instruments that have appeared on the futures market relatively recently. The launch of futures on the BTC and ETH indices, which attracted active customers, took place in November, Dmitry Fetisov recalls.
The demand for cryptocurrency futures is growing because they provide an opportunity to gain exposure to the price movements of crypto assets in the familiar and regulated infrastructure of the stock market, without direct ownership of digital currencies, Kabakov clarifies.
— For many investors, it is fundamentally important that there is no need to open crypto wallets, store private keys and interact with foreign crypto exchanges, which reduces both operational and legal risks. Settlement futures presented on the Moscow Stock Exchange are linked to the cost of basic instruments reflecting the dynamics of cryptocurrencies, and assume a monetary settlement based on the results of the contract, rather than the supply of the asset itself, the expert notes.
In other words, the increase in the volume of trading in futures for crypto assets on the Moscow Stock Exchange in November is determined by two key trends — investors' interest in acquiring digital assets in a regulated field without infrastructure risks and the search for effective tools to work in conditions of high uncertainty, Fetisov concludes.
Risk appetite
It is important to understand that the use of this tool is associated with increased risks compared to classical assets, the expert draws attention to.
— Trading with leverage greatly enhances not only potential profits, but also losses. Even a slight price movement against the investor's position can lead to losses exceeding the initial collateral and the broker's forced closure of the position, he warns.
The main risk of using cryptocurrency futures is the extreme volatility of the underlying asset, due to which losses can form very quickly, especially when using borrowed funds, Yaroslav Kabakov believes. As a result, margin calls are more likely to occur (the need to deposit additional funds or securities into a trading account when the value of assets falls below the minimum required level due to losses on margin transactions), agrees Sergey Selyutin.
"It should also be borne in mind that futures are not tied directly to the cryptocurrency itself, but to an instrument reflecting its price, which can lead to discrepancies in dynamics," Kabakov adds.
Regulatory risks also remain significant, he clarifies. The crypto tools market remains sensitive to changes in the rules and positions of the supervisory authorities.
"Collectively, this makes cryptocurrency futures a tool primarily for qualified investors who are ready for increased risk and who understand the specifics of the futures market well," the Izvestia interlocutor emphasizes.
However, the growth rate of cryptocurrencies on the Moscow Stock Exchange confirms that they can become a full-fledged tool in the arsenal of qualified investors, as their use makes it possible to participate in the movement of crypto assets on a clear and regulated platform, concludes Fetisov.
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