A futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell a cryptocurrency at a specific price at a predetermined date in the future. You lock in the price and agree to either buying or selling it at that same price at a later point in time.
When trading futures, you’re not trading the cryptocurrency itself, but contracts based on it. This allows for more flexible trading options: because you’re not holding the cryptocurrency in a wallet, you can limit your exposure to its volatility and hedge against risks of unexpected price changes. In futures trading, you can also use leverage to maximize the returns you can generate with your capital. On BTSE, you can trade futures with up to 100x leverage.