A futures contract to buy or sell a standard amount of a currency at a specified future date for an exchange rate agreed upon today. Investors can hedge foreign exchange risk by taking positions on currency futures. Currency futures contracts (CFs) are standardized agreements that give the investor (the buyer, the long) the right to buy or sell and underlying currency (specified in the contract) at a certain exchange rate sometime in the future.

A currency future involves the exchange of one currency for another at a specified date in the future at a price that is fixed on the contract date. For example, a currency futures may involve the exchange of a specific amount of Japanese yen to US dollar on the future date, with the exchange rate fixed as at the time of contract.

A futures contract belongs to the broader category of currency derivatives (FX derivatives, foreign exchange derivatives).

It is also known as FX futures (foreign exchange futures).