The latest salvo in the war for speedier trading is being fired by Cboe Canada Inc., which is seeking regulatory approval for a proposal to offer firms access to dedicated order entry computing power.
The exchange is consulting on a proposal to introduce “dedicated cores” — which would provide firms with the option of connecting to its market through a dedicated CPU, in addition to the current model of shared access.
The proposal is intended to give firms that chose dedicated access faster trading.
“Use of dedicated cores can provide reduced latency, enhanced throughput and improved performance, since a member using a dedicated core is utilizing the full processing power of that CPU core, instead of sharing that power with other members,” it said in a notice outlining the proposal.
Firms that don’t use the new dedicated connections will also benefit from improved performance, it suggested — as some portion of current message traffic would be diverted to the dedicated cores.
“Dedicated cores are a purely optional connectivity offering that will be made available to all members, and their adoption is expected to ultimately benefit all members, not just those that elect to use them,” it said.
Additionally, the exchange said that firms will be able to use a mix of shared and dedicated access, which it said will boost “risk and capacity management, especially during times of market volatility and high message traffic.”
The proposed cost for the new service will include offering the first dedicated connection for free, with each additional connection costing $600 per month.
Subject to regulatory approval, the exchange is aiming to launch the new service on Feb. 2, 2026.