1, hedging: taking stock index futures as an example. In order to avoid the risk of stock index decline, investors can short stock index futures to hedge the loss of stock index decline.

2. Price discovery: Taking futures as an example, a futures contract is a forward contract, and the forward costs and forward factors contained in the futures contract will inevitably be reflected through the futures price, that is, the futures price reflects the expectations of many buyers and sellers for future prices.