2023 version would have more than one mention of {compliance, regulat*, accounting}
How to Build an Exchange (2017)
41–50 of 129 posts
Re: How to Build an Exchange (2017)
#42@dang could we get a (2017) added to this? Changes the context quite a bit given FTX folks worked at Jane Street previously and a modern version of this talk would have a much different context.
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Re: How to Build an Exchange (2017)
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
They do pay extremely well, but are also very selective. The kind of talent they are looking for can earn similar salaries at large tech companies like Google ($400K-500K TC is pretty common at staff+ levels).
a high performer at citadel or JS can make 1m in 5 years. i don't know many people at google make that much.
Not many at Google receive that much in their offer letter, but with the stock appreciation over the last decade and stacked refresher grants, I'd be willing to wager there were thousands making >$1M as of Nov 2021 (many fewer since the stock has fallen though).
Re: How to Build an Exchange (2017)
#44Re: How to Build an Exchange (2017)
#452023 version would have more than one mention of {compliance, regulat*, accounting}
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Re: How to Build an Exchange (2017)
#46Fun fact: Jane Street, Citadel and other HFT firms pay exorbitantly. You can see the base salary ($200-300k) posted public here: https://www.janestreet.com/join-jane-street/position/4274288... Even interns make $120/hr: https://www.levels.fyi/internships/
Its kinda sad though being a great company and the only thing people know you for is high salaries. Anything else good about the company?
Re: How to Build an Exchange (2017)
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, as an exchange FTX was pretty terrible. The matching engine was notorious for being high latency, unreliable, and having all sorts of undocumented issues. Every algo trader there will tell you horror stories about trying to cancel an open order, getting a cancel confirmation, then getting notified that the order was executed. Sometimes seconds later. What really gave FTX a competitive advantage was its cross-ma…
The main advantage of FTX's exchange was that it was far better than Binance's but that's barely saying anything. I'm not sure why crypto exchanges have such lousy technology. Lost acks, weird parser errors, missing order id fields, sessions giving no indication that the matching engine is down, etc. It seems like any conceivable way an exchange can break will be encountered after only a couple months of trading. It'…
There have been a few valiant attempts to build crypto exchanges with modern technology and matching engines. Generally the problem these run into is that, while the algo traders and market makers love them, they have no competitive advantage in attracting retail order flow. Trading firms have no interest in just trading against each other, so without retail flow nothing happens.
Re: How to Build an Exchange (2017)
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
Note though that Citadel is reputed to have a turnover rate of 100% per year. Their layoffs take care of themselves.
I spent 9 years there, left a decade ago. Turnover is high, but this is a gross exaggeration. It is stressful, and not everyone can hack it. I was there during and after the '05 layoff when roughly 2/3s of IT was cut. That's still the worst I've heard of from what I hear from friends that are still there. Ken G definitely does the "Good to Great" getting the right people on the bus thing, which typically means the bo…
Thanks for correcting me. Did you get a sense of whether engineers had a higher or lower turnover rate than traders?
Re: How to Build an Exchange (2017)
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
One difference is Google, etc are all doing massive layoffs and i doubt JS, Citadel, etc will do this.
Really? Isn't FinTech getting hit harder than just about any other industry right now?
HFT makes money off of volatility. The more the world burns the more money they make by keeping markets liquid.
Re: How to Build an Exchange (2017)
#50Anyone know of any open-source exchanges at the level of sophistication described here?