The Moscow Exchange is preparing for a significant expansion of its derivatives market, announcing the launch of 20 new one-day cash-settled futures with automatic rollover. The underlying assets of these instruments will be fixings on shares of the largest American corporations, giving Russian investors direct access to the dynamics of the Western market without the need to access external venues.
Two-stage launch and contract composition
Trading in the new instruments will be launched in two stages. On September 8, trading in fixings for ten issuers will begin, including AMD, Tesla, Amazon, Netflix, and Robinhood. The second wave, scheduled for September 15, will consist of contracts on shares of Coinbase, Uber, CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks, and other giants. This phased implementation will allow market participants to smoothly adapt to the new instruments without overloading trading systems.
Quotes for perpetual contracts will fully reflect the value of the corresponding fixings of foreign shares in US dollars. Settlements on them are carried out according to the specification, where the key parameters K1 and K2 are set at 0% and 0.35%, respectively. This is an important nuance for understanding the position financing mechanism.
Growing demand and liquidity
Interest in perpetual instruments on the platform demonstrates a steady upward trend. The volume of open positions in perpetual contracts has grown by 36% over the past year, exceeding the mark of 450 billion rubles. Notably, more than 60,000 clients now execute transactions with such instruments monthly, indicating growing confidence from both professionals and retail investors.
This launch is a logical continuation of the exchange's strategy to diversify its product line. In parallel, the venue is preparing to release the first perpetual futures on bitcoin and Ethereum indices, and is also considering expanding its digital asset line to ten positions. Such synergy between traditional and crypto instruments creates a unique ecosystem for hedging and speculative strategies.
In my view, the emergence of such instruments is a landmark step for the Russian derivatives market. Investors no longer need to seek alternative routes to gain exposure to American giants, which reduces operational risks and increases transaction transparency. However, it is worth remembering the volatility of the underlying assets and carefully studying the financing parameters to effectively manage long-term positions in these contracts.