It is generally believed that futures trading originated in the United States, and the establishment of Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) 1848 marked the beginning of futures trading. The emergence of futures trading is not accidental, but based on the development of spot and forward contract trading and the extensive commercial practice of commodity producers, traders and processors. From 65438 to 0833, Chicago has become the center of American domestic and foreign trade. After the Civil War, Chicago developed into a transportation hub because of its superior geographical location. By the middle of19th century, Chicago had developed into an important distribution center and processing center for agricultural products. A large number of agricultural products are bought and sold in Chicago, and people follow the old trading method and bargain face to face in the street. In this way, the price fluctuates extremely sharply. In the harvest season, farmers all transport food to Chicago, and the oversupply in the market leads to a sharp drop in prices, which often prevents farmers from receiving freight. The following spring, food was scarce, and it was difficult for processors and consumers to buy food, and the price soared. Practice shows that it is necessary to establish an effective market mechanism to prevent the price from soaring and plunging, and to establish more storage and transportation facilities.

In order to solve this problem, distributors in grain producing areas came into being. Local distributors set up enterprises, build warehouses, buy farmers' grain and sell it after the humidity of the grain reaches the specified standard. Local distributors buy farmers' grain through spot and forward contracts, store it first, and then list it in batches. There are two problems in the trade practice of local distributors: first, they need to borrow money from banks to buy grain depots from farmers, and they have to bear huge price risks in the process of purchasing and storing; Second, price fluctuations may make local distributors unprofitable or even unable to recover their costs. The best way to solve these two problems is to "sell first and then buy", and contact traders and processors in Chicago in the form of forward contracts to transfer price risks and obtain loans. In this way, forward contract trading has become a common trading method.

However, traders and processors in Chicago are also facing the problems faced by local distributors, so they are only willing to pay local distributors at a price lower than their estimated forward price at the time of delivery to avoid the risk of price decline during delivery. Because the purchase price of traders and processors in Chicago is too low, local distributors who go to Chicago to negotiate long-term contracts have to find a wider range of buyers for their own interests and strive for a good price for their own food. In addition, some non-grain merchants think it is profitable to buy forward contracts first and then sell them near the delivery date, thus making a profit. In this way, the number of traders who buy forward contracts has gradually increased, which has increased the income of local distributors and increased the income paid by local distributors to farmers.

On March 3rd, 1848, the first modern futures exchange-Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was established. At the beginning of its establishment, CBOT was not a real modern futures exchange, but a place where spot trading and forward contract transfer were concentrated.

In the development of futures trading, there have been two revolutionary changes: one is the standardization of contracts; The second is the establishment of the settlement system. 1865, Chicago Board of Trade standardized contracts and launched the first batch of standard futures contracts. Contract standardization includes the standardization of quality, quantity, delivery time, delivery place and payment terms in the contract. Standardized futures contracts reflect the most common business practices, making it very convenient for market participants to transfer futures contracts. At the same time, it enables producers and operators to relieve their performance responsibilities through hedging and flat positions, and also enables market makers to participate in trading conveniently, greatly improving the market liquidity of futures trading. While standardizing the contract, the Chicago Board of Trade also stipulates that the trading margin should be paid at 10% of the total contract value.

With the development of futures trading, settlement becomes difficult. At first, the settlement method adopted by the Chicago Board of Trade was ring settlement, but this settlement method was complicated and difficult. 189 1 year, Minneapolis Grain Exchange took the lead in setting up a clearing house, and then Chicago Stock Exchange also set up a clearing house. It was not until the establishment of modern clearing houses that real futures trading appeared and the futures market was fully established. Therefore, the emergence of modern futures trading and the birth of modern currency field is the inevitable result of the development of commodity economy and the inherent requirement of the development of social productive forces and the socialization of production.