1972 in may, the Chicago mercantile exchange formally established the international money market branch and launched seven kinds of foreign exchange futures contracts, which opened the prelude to the innovation and development of the options market. Since 1976, the forward foreign exchange market has developed rapidly, and the trading volume has increased dozens of times. 1978 the New York Mercantile Exchange has also increased its foreign exchange futures business. 1979 new york stock exchange also announced the establishment of a new exchange, specializing in foreign currency and financial futures. 1981February, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange opened the euro-dollar futures trading for the first time. Subsequently, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Singapore and other countries and regions also opened the forex futures trading market. Since then, the forward foreign exchange market has flourished. At present, the main varieties of forex futures trading are: US dollar, British pound, euro, Japanese yen, Swiss franc, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar. From a global perspective, the main market of foreign exchange futures is the United States, in which the international money market (IMM) of Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Philadelphia Futures Exchange (PBOT) are basically concentrated.

The international money market mainly deals in futures contracts of Australian dollar, British pound, Canadian dollar, euro, Japanese yen and Swiss franc.

The Philadelphia Futures Exchange mainly trades euros, pounds, Canadian dollars, Australian dollars, Japanese yen and Swiss francs.

In addition, the main forex futures trading-owned: London International Financial Futures Exchange (LIFFE), Singapore International Monetary Exchange (SIMEX), Tokyo International Financial Futures Exchange (TIFFE), French International Futures Exchange (MATIF) and so on. Every exchange basically has futures contracts in which the local currency trades with other major currencies. In the foreign exchange market, there is a traditional forward foreign exchange trading method, which is similar to forex futures trading in many aspects and is often mistaken for futures trading. It is necessary to make a simple distinction between them here. The so-called forward foreign exchange transaction refers to the transaction method in which both parties agree to settle a certain amount of foreign exchange at the exchange rate determined at the time of transaction at a certain date in the future. Forward foreign exchange transactions are generally made by banks and other financial institutions by telephone or fax. The number, duration and price of transactions are freely agreed, which is more flexible than foreign exchange futures. When hedging, forward trading is more targeted and can often hedge all risks. The price of forward trading does not have the openness, fairness and impartiality of futures prices. Forward trading has no intermediary between exchanges and clearing houses, and its liquidity is much lower than that of futures trading, so it faces the risk of default of its opponents.