Swap transaction refers to the transaction form in which both parties agree to exchange certain assets in a certain period in the future. More precisely, a swap transaction refers to a transaction in which both parties agree to exchange cash flows with each other in a certain period in the future and think that it has equivalent economic value. Common ones are currency swap and interest rate swap. Currency swap transaction refers to the swap transaction between two currencies, which generally refers to the exchange of capital and principal of two currencies. Interest rate swap transaction is a swap transaction between different interest rates of the same monetary fund, which is generally not accompanied by the exchange of principal. Swap trading, like futures and options trading, has become an important tool for international financial institutions to avoid exchange rate risk and interest rate risk.

The future in English is the future, which evolved from the word "future".

It means that both parties to the transaction don't have to deliver the physical object in the early stage of the transaction, but agree to deliver the physical object at some time in the future, so China people call it "futures".