Cryptocurrency futures are contracts between two investors who bet on a cryptocurrency's future price. They allow you to gain exposure to select cryptocurrencies without purchasing them. Crypto futures resemble standard futures contracts for commodities or stocks because they allow you to bet on the price trajectory of an underlying asset.
Cryptocurrency futures trade on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and cryptocurrency exchanges.
The first Bitcoin futures contracts were listed on Cboe in early December 2017 but soon discontinued them. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) also introduced Bitcoin futures contracts in December 2017. The contracts trade on the Globex electronic trading platform and are settled in cash. Bitcoin and Ether futures are based on the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate and the CME CF Ether Reference Rate.