Russian Ruble Crypto Trading Falls Again as Moscow Stock Market Opens, RUB Rises

cryptonews.com:

The stock market in Moscow opened again on Thursday after staying closed for a month following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, crypto trading with Russian rubles (RUB) continues to see falling volume on the largest international exchange, Binance.

The opening of the Russian stock market today marked the first day of trading since February 25, the day after Russia launched its attack on Ukraine, which led to a collapse in the price of shares trading on the Moscow Exchange.

As of 10:25 UTC on Thursday, the Moscow Exchange Russia Index was up 4.85% for the day (relative to its closing price on February 25).

Worth noting is also that during the time the stock market had been closed, the value of Russian rubles, which Russia’s stock market is denominated in, have depreciated some 14% against the US dollar. However, since March 7, RUB jumped 56% against USD.

Only 33 Russian companies opened for trading today. The list included major names such as oil and gas giant Gazprom, the major Russian bank Sberbank, and airline Aeroflot. In order to curb the selling of stocks, a number of highly unusual limitations and restrictions have been put in place, including a ban on shorting and a ban on trading by foreigners.

Crypto trader CoinMamba summarized the new rules on Twitter:

Meanwhile, there is also speculation that the Russian government may have intervened in the market by buying stocks in an effort to keep prices from collapsing. This follows comments from Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin who on March 1 said the country’s National Wealth Fund would purchase up to RUB 1 trillion worth of Russian shares by the end of the year.

However, there has so far been no confirmation by Russia’s government or central bank about any