High-Frequency Traders Push Closer to Light Speed With Cutting-Edge Cables

Firms aim to gain nanoseconds of advantage over rivals by using hollow-core fiber to convey data

High-frequency traders are using an experimental type of cable to speed up their systems by billionths of a second, the latest move in a technological arms race to execute stock trades as quickly as possible.
The cable, called hollow-core fiber, is a next-generation version of the fiber-optic cable used to deliver broadband internet to homes and businesses. Made of glass, such cables carry data encoded as beams of light. But instead of being solid, hollow-core fiber is empty inside, with dozens of parallel, air-filled channels narrower than a human hair.
Because light travels nearly 50% faster through air than glass, it takes about one-third less time to send data through hollow-core fiber than through the same length of standard fiber.
The difference is often just a minuscule fraction of a second. But in high-frequency trading, that can make the difference between profits and losses. HFT firms use sophisticated algorithms and ultrafast data networks to execute rapid-fire trades in stocks, options and futures. Many are secretive about their trading strategies and technology.

High-Frequency Traders Push Closer to Light Speed With Cutting-Edge Cables Im-273213?width=620&size=1

High-Frequency Traders Push Closer to Light Speed With Cutting-Edge Cables Im-273213?width=620&size=1

https://www.wsj.com/articles/high-frequency-traders-push-closer-to-light-speed-with-cutting-edge-cables-11608028200

Rolling Eyes

High-Frequency Traders Push Closer to Light Speed With Cutting-Edge Cables

Firms aim to gain nanoseconds of advantage over rivals by using hollow-core fiber to convey data

High-Frequency Traders Push Closer to Light Speed With Cutting-Edge Cables

Anarcho-Capitalist Categorical Imperatives

AnCaps' Laissez-faire Free Trade Zone