PARKED · infrastructure gap
Hypothesis
Sub-second mean reversion on tick data is profitable for sufficiently fast operators.
Structural barriers
- Colocation in exchange datacenter required (~$5–10K/mo per venue)
- FPGA / kernel-bypass networking for sub-100μs latency
- FIX or proprietary binary protocols, not REST
- Capital floor for meaningful PnL at 0.5–2 bps/trade is enterprise-tier, not retail
- Compliance overhead: KYC, AML, market-making agreements
Pivoting to mid-frequency (1–5min hold) as accessible alternative for the broader retail/prop universe.
Real edge exists in this space but is structurally unreachable without enterprise-tier infrastructure. Not killed; revisitable if scale and infra justify the investment.