- What is the MOEXBTC Index, and How Is It Calculated?
- Why a Bitcoin Index Matters for the Moscow Exchange
- First Steps Toward New Crypto-Based Instruments
- Expert Opinions
- Impact on the Future of Russia’s Crypto Industry
On June 10, 2025, the Moscow Exchange (MOEX) officially announced the launch of a Bitcoin index, MOEXBTC, marking a first for the Russian market. This move continues the country’s efforts to gradually integrate digital assets into its traditional financial system, drawing attention from both professional market participants and the wider public.
What is the MOEXBTC Index, and How Is It Calculated?
MOEXBTC is a market indicator that tracks the price of Bitcoin based on data from four of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges: Binance, Bybit, OKX, and Bitget. The index utilizes prices from perpetual futures and swaps on the BTC/USDT trading pair, offering an objective representation of Bitcoin’s value.
The index is calculated daily at 12:30 PM Moscow time. Its methodology is based on a volume-weighted average price: each exchange is assigned a weighting according to its trading volume in the relevant instruments. These weightings are reviewed quarterly to ensure the index stays relevant, accurately represents the market, and remains resilient against price manipulation or local anomalies.
Why a Bitcoin Index Matters for the Moscow Exchange
The launch of MOEXBTC isn’t just symbolic — it’s an important infrastructural step.
First, the index serves as a reliable benchmark for professional investors. It helps standardize Bitcoin pricing for financial calculations, developing new investment products, hedging strategies, and performance assessment.
Second, having a standardized index paves the way for launching derivatives, ETFs, and other financial instruments based on MOEXBTC. This is particularly relevant under Russian law, where direct cryptocurrency trading is prohibited but trading in crypto-based derivatives is permitted. The index offers a foundation for integrating crypto assets into a framework that regulators are comfortable with.
First Steps Toward New Crypto-Based Instruments
This development follows a decision by the Bank of Russia in late May 2025, allowing financial institutions to offer qualified investors derivatives, securities, and digital assets tied to cryptocurrency prices, provided these products don’t involve actual crypto delivery. This regulatory shift kicked off a wave of initiatives: Russian brokers and asset managers began working on structured bonds and crypto-linked funds, with MOEX leading the way by launching its infrastructure index.
In early June, MOEX also began trading futures on shares of the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) by BlackRock — another milestone in integrating crypto instruments into Russia’s financial markets. For now, access remains limited to qualified investors, restricting mass-market adoption but offering a controlled environment to test demand and risk management processes.
Expert Opinions
Many experts view the launch of MOEXBTC as laying the groundwork for future products, rather than being a market mover in itself. The index alone won’t trigger a spike in trading activity — its primary value lies in enabling the creation of derivatives and other instruments that could reshape the market’s structure and liquidity.
Additionally, a standardized index helps smooth out pricing discrepancies between exchanges, which can sometimes reach several hundred dollars. This is crucial for professionals building complex strategies, calculating returns, and hedging risks using consistent, reliable benchmarks.
Valery Petrov, a member of the expert council at the Russian Association of Cryptocurrency, Artificial Intelligence, and Blockchain (RACIB), shared his thoughts:
“The start of MOEX’s cryptocurrency index calculation could lay the foundation for introducing a perpetual Bitcoin futures contract in the future. It’s a vital infrastructure element, without which such derivatives — requiring daily valuation — are impossible. We need a reliable, transparent index free from manipulation. It’s also essential to ensure high liquidity by attracting market makers and to develop a solid funding mechanism.”
Petrov also noted:
“The decision to calculate the Bitcoin Index once a day was deliberate. It aligns with the risk management system and clearing architecture of MOEX’s derivatives market. According to the rules, variation margin calls and contract revaluations happen once per day. This approach enhances the system’s stability, avoids constant position revaluations, and reduces the risk of sudden margin calls and market panic.”
Oleg Reshetnikov, a stock market expert at BCS World of Investments, agreed:
“At this stage, there are no instruments directly tied to this index, so real-time calculation isn’t necessary. The current methodology will be tested first. Overall, this approach mirrors international practices. When a similar product — the VF Bitcoin Reference Rate — launched on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) in 2016, it was also published once a day. Real-time benchmarks appeared only later.”
Impact on the Future of Russia’s Crypto Industry
The introduction of MOEXBTC is part of a broader strategy to gradually integrate crypto assets into Russia’s financial system. It represents a cautious, regulated experiment, allowing market participants to engage with cryptocurrencies within a legal framework and familiar infrastructure.
In the long term, if enough derivatives and ETFs linked to MOEXBTC emerge, the index could become a key foundation for new investment products, boosting MOEX’s appeal and strengthening its position in the domestic market. The critical question is whether a sufficient ecosystem of secondary instruments will develop to make full use of the index’s potential.
For now, MOEXBTC acts as a significant reference point — and a symbol of a new chapter in the evolution of Russia’s financial markets.
Conclusion
The launch of the MOEXBTC Bitcoin index on the Moscow Exchange marks a milestone in the growing acceptance of digital assets and their integration into Russia’s traditional financial system. This initiative establishes a necessary infrastructure for new investment products, expands opportunities for professional investors, and confirms that the crypto industry is becoming an indispensable part of the modern financial world.
