SPB Exchange continues to transform into a specialized venue for derivative instruments. In October, total trading volume grew by 3.7% to RUB 970.39 billion, and the entire increase was driven by neo-assets: cryptocurrency and foreign stock futures.
For the venue itself, this dynamic means growth in commission income, but at the same time it strengthens dependence on a single segment. Trading in classic securities declined over the month. If interest in cryptocurrencies weakens, the lion's share of the exchange's turnover could decline along with it.
Neo-assets outpaced securities
The volume of transactions with neo-assets in October amounted to RUB 800.72 billion — 6.1% more than the September level. Neo-assets are derivative contracts that allow investors to profit from price changes in cryptocurrencies and foreign stocks without buying the underlying assets. They accounted for more than 82% of all trading, and the average daily volume reached RUB 25.83 billion.
At the same time, the number of transactions decreased by 12.8% to 5.18 million. Turnover grew while the number of operations fell: the average neo-asset transaction in October was about RUB 155,000.
The top 15 by number of transactions included neo-assets on BTC, ETH, Circle, AMD, SOL, Sandisk, Nebius, Moderna, Strategy, XRP, Bloom Energy, Coherent, Lumentum, Tesla and TRX. Five positions on the list were occupied by cryptocurrencies, Circle and Strategy are directly linked to the crypto market, while AMD, Sandisk, Nebius, Coherent and Lumentum are linked to chip manufacturing and artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Trading volume in securities declined by 5.9% compared to September to RUB 169.67 billion, and by 0.4% year-on-year. The average daily figure was RUB 5.47 billion. The number of transactions grew by 10.2% to 27.45 million, so investors traded more often but in smaller amounts: on average about RUB 6,200 per operation.
A record, new contracts and the scale of the Moscow Exchange
Peak demand came on October 23: daily neo-asset turnover set a new record at RUB 59.7 billion, which is 6.7% above the previous high of August 21. The leaders in trading that day were contracts on BTC, ETH and SOL, and the top ten included AMD and Sandisk, which subsequently secured their place in the monthly top.
The venue will also expand its lineup with ten more neo-assets, including shares of NVIDIA and Micron — companies in the same sector as AMD and Sandisk. The total number of such contracts on foreign securities and cryptocurrency indices will reach 75, and investors will have more ways to allocate capital across sectors.
SPB Exchange's turnover is still not comparable to the scale of the Moscow Exchange, which reported trading volume of RUB 212.9 trillion for October, including RUB 16.7 trillion on the derivatives market. Even on the Moscow Exchange's market for stocks, depositary receipts and units, turnover amounted to RUB 2.8 trillion — almost three times the entire volume of the St. Petersburg venue, which is betting on the niche of contracts on foreign securities and cryptocurrencies.
Cryptalist analysis: The concentration of 82% of turnover in derivative instruments makes SPB Exchange highly sensitive to cryptocurrency market volatility and retail investors' appetite for risk. The decline in the number of transactions alongside growing volume points to larger positions and the arrival of more capital-intensive participants, which improves liquidity quality but increases risks when the trend reverses. Strategically, expanding the lineup with AI-sector securities looks like a justified diversification step, but structural dependence on a single segment will remain the key factor in the venue's resilience.