Futures contracts are an essential part of traditional finance: they are highly complex financial instruments that advanced or technical investors use. Investors, corporations, and governments use derivatives such as futures contracts to protect their exposure to risk and volatility of asset prices.
A derivative is a financial contract that derives its value from an underlying asset. Traditionally, derivatives are used in markets such as commodities, currencies, stocks, or bonds. These contracts can be traded over the counter or through an exchange.
In the crypto industry, the futures market is a fast-growing sector that generates trillions in volume monthly. Like stock options or commodity futures contracts, crypto futures offer protection against volatility and adverse price movements on cryptocurrencies. A crypto futures contract is also a proxy tool for investors to speculate on the future prices of cryptocurrencies. It can also be used to hedge against price changes of cryptocurrencies.