The Moscow Exchange continues its active expansion in the derivatives market, announcing the launch of 20 new one-day cash-settled futures contracts with automatic rollover. The underlying assets will be fixings of foreign securities calculated by the exchange itself. This is a landmark step that dramatically expands opportunities for Russian investors seeking to trade the dynamics of major U.S. corporations without needing to access external markets.
Two-Phase Launch and Contract Structure
Trading in the new instruments will begin in two phases. The first wave of ten contracts will open on September 8. It will include fixings on shares of AMD, Tesla (TSLA), Apple (AAPL), Sandisk (SNDK), Coherent (COHR), Nebius (NBIS), Robinhood (HOOD), Amazon (AMZN), Netflix (NFLX), and Lumentum (LITE). Exactly one week later, on September 15, ten more instruments will be added: Coinbase (COIN), Carvana (CVNA), CrowdStrike (CRWD), DoorDash (DASH), Palo Alto Networks (PANW), Super Micro Computer (SMCI), Uber (UBER), Boston Scientific (BSX), Chipotle (CMG), and Lululemon (LULU). This phased approach will allow market participants to smoothly adapt to the new products.
The settlement mechanics assume that quotes for perpetual contracts will mirror the value of the corresponding fixings in U.S. dollars. Funding for these instruments is calculated according to the specification with parameters K1 and K2 set at 0% and 0.35%, respectively. Calculation of fixings on the exchange has already started on July 27. The methodology is simple and transparent: data on transaction prices for foreign assets on overseas exchanges is used as a basis, the final value is derived as an arithmetic mean, and it is updated every 15 seconds during the trading session.
Growing Demand and Development Strategy
Interest in perpetual contracts on the Russian market shows a steady upward trend. According to operational data, the volume of open positions in perpetual futures has grown by 36% over the year, exceeding the 450 billion ruble mark. More than 60,000 clients execute trades with such contracts monthly. Currently, there are 11 perpetual futures in circulation, covering currencies, the Moscow Exchange index, the government bond index, precious metals, as well as Russian and foreign securities. The new addition to the lineup should not only satisfy existing demand but also attract a new audience, including novice investors who value simplicity and the lack of need to think about rolling over positions.
In parallel, the exchange is also developing its cryptocurrency direction: the launch of the first perpetual futures on bitcoin and Ethereum indices is expected as early as September. The exchange's plans include expanding the digital asset lineup to ten, as well as bringing Russian video game developers to the stock market and conducting the first placement of a SPAC company from the IT sector.
Expert comment: The launch of 20 new instruments on U.S. "blue chips" is not just a mechanical expansion of the list, but a strategic move to strengthen sovereign trading infrastructure. For the local investor, this is an opportunity to diversify a portfolio with global stocks while remaining in a familiar jurisdiction. However, it is worth remembering that perpetual futures are a high-risk instrument, and without proper capital management, the volatility of underlying assets can play a cruel trick. I recommend viewing them as part of a balanced strategy, rather than as a speculative tool for "quick" money.