Russian investors have purchased more than $16 million in Bitcoin futures in less than a month’s trading, according to statistics released by the Russian Central Bank.
Financial authorities said individuals are the majority of purchases, reminding Russian citizens that crypto-derivatives pose similar risks to underlying assets.
CBR gauges Russia’s new Bitcoin futures market
Russian Central Bank (CBR) Based on cryptocurrency prices, we publish statistical data revealing the size of the futures market in the country’s younger market. These numbers have been added to the latest version of “Financial Market Risk Overview.”
As of June 27th, the total amount of open net positions for retail investors was around 1.25 billion rubles (over $16 million). document announcement. “The proportion of individuals in the total amount of long positions is 97%,” the regulator emphasized.
Futures trading related to the value of major cryptocurrencies It’s begun On June 4th, the Moscow exchange launched a contract in September regarding stocks that will expire BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF (IBIT).
It was possible in late May when CBR allowed financial institutions to provide crypto derivatives to qualified investors, allowing both financial companies and their clients to warn against direct investments in Russian digital assets.
This week we needed an opportunity to repeat those concerns. “It is noteworthy that these measures increase risk for investors,” the financial authorities said.
“Cryptocurrencies are volatile and dangerous. Therefore, there are also such properties in investments in products where pricing depends on them.”
The most common positions operating by the majority of investors (2,800) are below 500,000 rubles (less than $6,500).
At the same time, the central bank has noticed that private investors, whose portfolios control large capital, more than 100 million rubles, account for a significant portion of the investment capital. These are followed by other major players with capital in the range of 10 to 50 million rubles.
“However, it is worth noting that the number of investors in these cohorts is relatively small. The Bank of Russia commented, and also stated:
“The opposite short positions are occupied primarily by non-resident corporations.”
Coded derivatives that are still out of reach for ordinary Russians
There are recent reports It was revealed Russians have more than $25 billion in crypto assets, and domestic financial regulators, including central banks and the Ministry of Finance, are opposed to providing access to cryptocurrency or crypto derivatives to the public.
In March of this year, CBR Proposed To enable a limited number of investors to acquire and trade digital currencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) within the framework of the “experimental legal system” (ELR). The bank said these should be “highly qualified investors.”
To fall into that category that is not yet legally defined, an individual must prove an annual income of more than 50 million rubles (over $600,000) and invest in securities or deposits exceeding 100 million rubles ($1.2 million).
Meanwhile, the results were published this week by Business Daily Vedomosti. Showed 52% of qualified Russian investors already have codes in their wallets.
Also, another 38% who haven’t bought yet intend to do so in the future, bringing the total to 90% of respondents who are interested in crypto investment.
However, the Russian Central Bank remains stubborn in its stance on Bitcoin. That governor, Elvira Naviurina, recently I insisted Monetary policy regulators have no current plans to add cryptocurrency to their reserves.
The CBR also denys the possibility of allowing the use of digital coins, such as BTC, for payments within its territory, outside of the ELR. The special system allows Russian companies to adopt BTC and other coins in international settlements with trading partners amidst the financial restrictions imposed on war-related sanctions in Moscow.
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