Currency futures are standardized, exchange-traded contracts that allow investors to speculate on the future value of a currency pair. They are similar to stock futures, but instead of tracking the price of a stock, they track the exchange rate between two currencies.
Currency futures are important because they allow investors to hedge against currency risk. For example, a company that imports goods from another country may use currency futures to lock in the exchange rate and protect itself from fluctuations in the currency market.