We have treated this issue on several occasions, as can be seen in our articles. Although we write them as simple as possible, with the objective that anyone can understand them, this issue is particular because it requires some prior financial knowledge, which we have not done so far.

For this reason on this occasion we will make an introduction to the topic of Bitcoin Futures, first explaining that they are these types of financial assets, based on the traditional and original ones. Subsequently it will be explained how they are applied, particularly the platform that boosted their existence and, ending with their implications.

A future

Starting by establishing that it can be called future, because in the financial world there are two types of contracts: the Forward and the Futures, which both in Spanish are "futures." These are financial assets that seek to anticipate changes in exchange rates with respect to products and assets, so that transactions are carried out in a certain way.

This means that when a transaction between two parties is going to occur, a contract can be established stipulating everything pertinent to it, with an example you can see more clearly, using as a reference the reason for the creation of these assets:

Suppose that company A wants to import a series of products from company B, so it must pay in the currency of company B. However, company A does not need them all immediately, if not every quarter. With this they can build a contract between the companies in which they fix the delivery times of goods in the year, the moment of payment for not doing everything at the beginning and, most importantly, they set an exchange rate, allowing it to not vary with the market

It can be seen that these types of agreements are for speculative reasons, in the sense that if you anticipate that the exchange rate will increase, it should be fixed to avoid the rise. It should be noted that as in all speculation, it may work or you may lose, since these contracts cannot be modified and must be fulfilled.

The difference between the Forward and the Future is that the former need a bank as an intermediary and can be customized to the situation, while the Futures are predesigned contracts, where both bidders and claimants can decide what type of exchange, delivery periods and amount to work, offer them and expect someone to accept your proposal, the traditional ones being your stock market.

A Bitcoin Future

However, before cryptocurrencies were part of the stock exchange, the idea of ​​Bitcoin futures already existed, noting that they are basically futures where they exchange BTC for fiat at certain exchange rates. The reason why they began to exist is that they have the experience of traditional futures; highlighting that speculation and trust are variables that go hand in hand, and are a fundamental part of cryptocurrencies.

Therefore, a group of experts decided to create the stock exchange alternative, where people can create their own contracts using cryptocurrencies as assets. Among these platforms is one of the first and largest in the world, which we have tried multiple times, being Bakkt, operating on a commission basis. However, this institution is not yet operational, although Bitcoin futures are already targeted by regulators, investors and individuals.

Why do they matter?

The reason why this matters is simple: it demonstrates the similarities with traditional currencies, given that the most important futures, with greater demand and mobility, with single futures associated with buying and selling currencies, similar to those of Bitcoin. This implies that the cryptocurrency market increasingly resembles the traditional one, adopting its beneficial qualities and improving them with the nature of the cryptos.