Moscow Exchange plans to launch trading of Bitcoin against the ruble and "quasi-dollars."

The Moscow Exchange is preparing to launch trading in the BTC/RUB instrument—the Bitcoin-to-ruble exchange rate—Sergey Shvetsov, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Russia’s largest stock exchange, told RBC.

In addition to the Bitcoin-to-ruble rate, the exchange plans to launch a Bitcoin pair against a "quasi-dollar"—a term Shvetsov uses for the instrument currently traded under the ticker USDRUB_TOM. This is neither actual US currency nor an official financial instrument; rather, it is a settlement mechanism created by the Moscow Exchange that functions like the US dollar in transactions without actually being one. The aim is to enable Russian market participants to maintain a position pegged to the US dollar exchange rate, even when direct dollar settlements are restricted.

Shvetsov did not specify a launch date, stating that it depends on the Central Bank. The exchange executive noted that Russia currently has neither a Central Bank-approved license for crypto-custodian operations nor a regulatory framework for issuing one.

"We plan to launch BTC/USDx and BTC/RUB pairs simultaneously, as well as pairs involving other digital currencies. This will allow participants to place orders using either rubles or 'quasi-dollars'," Shvetsov said.

According to Shvetsov, this setup—combined with the existing dollar-ruble exchange rate—creates a triangle of three interconnected instruments: Bitcoin against the ruble, Bitcoin against the dollar, and the dollar against the ruble.

Recently, the head of the supervisory board announced that the Moscow Exchange is ready to launch cryptocurrency trading on December 1. However, the executive added a caveat: the launch will proceed only if "the entire regulatory framework" is in place.