. Forward and futures are agreements to buy or sell assets at a certain price at some future time. The differences between the two are: first, the forward contract is not standardized, and the currency, amount and term can be flexibly agreed, while the futures contract is standardized; Second, forward contracts are generally traded over the counter of financial institutions or securities firms, and contract holders face the default risk of counterparties, while futures contracts are generally traded on exchanges and bear the default risk; Third, forward contracts are illiquid and generally held until maturity, while futures contracts are more liquid and can be closed at any time before maturity.