[Basics] [Basics] What are CME futures? How they differ from CFDs

CME Group in Chicago is the world's largest derivatives exchange. Gold futures trade on its COMEX division, and broker gold CFD prices ultimately follow these futures and the spot market.

What is a future?

"A contract to buy or sell at a set price on a set date (expiry)." In practice most are closed before expiry with an opposite trade, settling only the price difference.

Gold futures at CME

• GC (gold futures): 1 contract = 100 oz
• MGC (micro gold): 1 contract = 10 oz (1/10 of GC)
• 1-ounce gold futures (1OZ): 1 contract = 1 oz (1/100 of GC). Launched January 2025; from July 2026 it trades 24/7 including weekends
• GC and MGC trade electronically (Globex) about 23 hours a day from Sunday evening to Friday

CFDs vs futures

• Where: futures on an exchange (CME); CFDs are a contract with your broker
• Price: futures share one exchange price; CFDs use the broker's quote
• Expiry: futures expire and must be rolled to the next month; CFDs don't expire but charge swaps
• Minimum size: futures contracts are large (even micro is 10 oz); CFDs start at 0.01 lot (1 oz)
• Legal status: exchange-traded futures through a local licensed broker are treated very differently from offshore CFDs in many countries

How it relates to bots and copy trading

• Many prop firms are either futures props (evaluated on CME futures) or CFD props (evaluated on MT5 and similar)
• Even an EA trading gold CFDs sees most big moves during the main COMEX session (New York hours)

In short: CFD = a price-difference contract with your broker; future = an exchange-traded contract with an expiry. XAUUSD on MT5 is a CFD.