XTX to Build €1 Billion Data Hub

XTX Markets is investing more than €1 billion building five data centers in Finland to underpin its growing use of machine learning. The London-based market maker, which uses complex algorithms to trade over $250 billion worth of assets a day, will build the hub in the area around Kajaani, in central Finland, where it owns a 478-acre site, according to a story in Bloomberg news. The first data center, which it expects to complete next year, will have a floorspace of 15,000 square meters — approximately equivalent to two football pitches — and the whole project may take about five years. XTX is bucking the industry trend of farming out its computational needs to third-party run infrastructure — which can be a comparatively fast process. Chief Technology Officer Joshua Leahy says the firm’s big bet on using machine learning to produce price forecasts means it’s ultimately more cost-effective and easier to guarantee capacity with its own infrastructure.