Under the Hood: Optimising Trading Performance on BitMEX

Behind the scenes here at BitMEX, our engineers are always looking to improve our platform performance – especially in light of the rapid product expansion we have planned, starting with the launch of Tether margin and settlement this week. 

Lately, we’ve knocked it out the park – take some of the highest volume trading days of 2021 – 19 May, 8 September, and even last week for example. These high volume days knocked some other exchanges off their mark, but BitMEX outperformed. 

Today we shine a spotlight on what our engineers have been doing to reduce data feed latency, and why it matters for traders.

Our Latest Challenge: Reducing Data Feed Latency

“We’re always investigating areas which can be improved, and we’re really proud  that we’ve lowered data latency by 91%. I think traders will all agree that opportunities can be fleeting, and we hope these changes allow them to benefit from our responsive platform and trade with more confidence.” – Alan Fraser, Head of APAC DevOps at BitMEX
From left to right: Marco Lau, Senior Kubernetes Engineer, and Alan Fraser, Head of APAC DevOps
 

Platform performance, particularly during high volatility periods, is always under scrutiny, and data feed latency has been of particular focus. We shipped the first improvement in recent months, which reduced data feed latency by up to 91%.

pre-upgrade data latency
Our platform’s data latency before our latest upgrade
post-upgrade data latency
Our platform’s data latency after our latest upgrade

What does this mean for you?

  • Reduced data feed latency means that we are more responsive, providing you with more up-to-date information. These improvements help you make better decisions and react to market changes faster.
  • Reduced latency variance provides you with a more reliable and consistent trading experience.
  • When latency is more consistent, you can be agile during times of market volatility and more accurately manage risk as part of your trading strategy.
  • Reduced latency is essential for those of you who perform consecutive orders where subsequent orders depend on the outcome of a previous trade (e.g. confirming whether an order is filled before proceeding to submit the next order). This helps you conduct multiple trades with more certainty.

The Bottom Line

If there’s one thing that’s fundamental to the viability of any trading platform, it’s that it needs to work best when you need it most. And traders are deservedly fickle; crypto is a ‘what have you done for me lately’ industry.

The pursuit of performance is an ongoing process, and increases in input capacity, new product offerings, and lower fees require us to continually innovate to make BitMEX faster and even more reliable for all our users. 

We’re proud of delivering such a noticeable upgrade in platform performance, but we promise you one thing – we will never stop continuing to enhance BitMEX’s performance. Click here to sign up today and experience our improved platform first hand!