A currency future contract is a legal agreement between a buyer and a seller to either buy or sell a specific currency at a predetermined future date and price. This financial instrument is often used as a hedge against the exchange rate risk. Most of the currency futures contracts are traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (part of the CME Group). The underlying asset for a currency future contract is always a currency exchange rate. For example, Japanese yen currency futures will be based on the JPY/USD exchange rate. A currency futures ticker includes an alphanumeric code representing the currency and expiration date.