1. The market is different: futures are financial instruments in the market, while forwards are financial instruments outside the market. Futures trading is publicly traded on organized exchanges and subject to legal supervision; Forward is a private contract with less supervision.

2. The degree of contract standardization is different: the object of futures trading is standardized contracts, and the object of forward trading is mainly physical objects. The contents of futures contracts are standardized, and the exchange makes a clear agreement on the contracts, which saves trading time and improves trading efficiency. The only variable of futures contract is price; The terms of the forward contract are negotiated by the buyer and the seller, which has great flexibility.

3. Different ways of performance: forward contracts are delivered in kind, while futures contracts are mostly delivered by "hedging and liquidation", and physical delivery is rarely used.

4. Different credit risks: futures trading adopts the daily debt-free settlement system, and the credit risk is very small. It takes a long time from forward trading to final physical delivery, during which the market will undergo various changes, and any behavior that is not conducive to performance may occur, so the credit risk is great.

5. Different trading places: futures contracts are traded centrally in the exchange, with a fixed trading time and place, and trading behavior needs to follow the trading rules formulated by the futures exchange according to law; The forward contract shall be concluded outside the exchange, and the specific time and place shall be agreed by both parties.

1. Forward refers to the commitment of both parties to buy or sell a certain amount of subject matter at a specific price in the future (the subject matter can be physical commodities such as soybeans and copper, or financial products such as stock index, bond index and foreign exchange).

2. Futures are the subject matter that is traded now and will be settled or delivered in the future. This theme can be gold, plunging crude oil, agricultural products, financial instruments, financial indicators and other commodities. The delivery date of futures can be one week later, one month later, three months later or even one year later. Futures market first appeared in Europe.