St. Petersburg Exchange shares soared 23% after news of cryptocurrency trading

The St. Petersburg Exchange saw its shares skyrocket by nearly 23% following news about its potential future.

According to Anatoly Aksakov, the platform could potentially start trading digital financial assets and cryptocurrencies.

On Wednesday, shares of the St. Petersburg Exchange rose by 22.6%, reaching a price of 108.10 rubles. This significant increase was likely due to the statements made by Anatoly Aksakov, the head of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market, who suggested that the platform could be redirected to trading new instruments, such as cryptocurrencies, digital financial assets (DFAs), in response to sanctions, as reported by RBC.

Aksakov noted that the exchange is now reoriented towards foreign markets of friendly countries, and that cryptocurrencies and digital financial services can become important tools with which it will work.

He did not exclude the possibility that sanctioned Russian companies will be able to use the St. Petersburg Exchange, which could eventually create financial instruments for both Russian and foreign investors, even those from hostile countries.

Digital rights can only be accounted for and circulated by making changes to records in an information system based on a distributed ledger, otherwise known as a blockchain.

On November 2, the St. Petersburg Exchange was subject to US blocking sanctions, resulting in the suspension of trading in foreign assets. Previously, the Exchange had specialized in trading foreign shares.

In order to use digital financial services, one must adhere to the regulations of the provider of information systems. Furthermore, it is essential to be familiar with the DFA custodial accounting system. Unfortunately, Russian exchanges have not had the opportunity to gain such experience. As for cryptocurrencies, there is still no legal framework in place, according to Ricom-Trust.

Roman Goryunov, the ex-head of the St. Petersburg Exchange, has declared his willingness to trade cryptocurrency when it is legalized in Russia.

Investland believes that trading shares of companies from friendly jurisdictions in the Middle East, China, and India on Russian stock exchanges could be an interesting direction.