Chicago Trading Company

Chicago Trading Company

Proprietary trading using quantitative strategies

Overview

CTC trades its own capital in stocks, options, and futures for institutional clients. A team of traders, quants, technologists, and operations staff uses algorithms and data analysis to identify trading opportunities and execute trades. Profits come from timely pricing, risk management, and efficient execution, financed by its own balance sheet. The firm differentiates itself with internal capital generation, a collaborative culture, and offices in Chicago, Boulder, London, and New York to access global markets, aiming for steady profits by refining quantitative methods.

Significant Headcount Growth

About Chicago Trading Company

Simplify's Rating
Why Chicago Trading Company is rated
B-
Rated B on Competitive Edge
Rated B on Growth Potential
Rated C on Differentiation

Industries

Data & Analytics

Quantitative Finance

Financial Services

Company Size

501-1,000

Company Stage

Debt Financing

Total Funding

$300M

Headquarters

Chicago, Illinois

Founded

1995

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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Global derivatives footprint across equities, rates, and commodities expands monetization avenues.
  • Integrated trading, quant, and operations teams accelerate strategy iteration and deployment.
  • Multiple offices and vendor collaboration support continuous platform and workflow expansion.

What critics are saying

  • Exchange fee compression directly squeezes market-making spreads and per-trade economics.
  • Latency arms races with better-capitalized rivals erode execution quality and quoting edge.
  • Platform outages or data-feed failures immediately halt quoting and damage franchise credibility.

What makes Chicago Trading Company unique

  • Primary market maker in U.S. Treasury options across 5, 10, and 30 years.
  • Embeds quants directly with trading, using scientific-method research for derivatives pricing.
  • Builds an end-to-end proprietary platform spanning infrastructure and custom application software.

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Funding

Total Funding

$300M

Above

Industry Average

Funded Over

0 Rounds

Benefits

Health Insurance

Parental Leave

Wellness Program

Flexible Work Hours

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

6%

1 year growth

6%

2 year growth

6%
NEXT.io
May 7th, 2025
Kero Gaming raises $3m to boost micro-betting growth

Kero Gaming has closed a $3m Series A funding round, led by SIG Sports, to support what it calls "a new phase of accelerated growth."

PR Newswire
Apr 10th, 2025
SpectrAxe Secures Investment to Transform FX Market

Susquehanna International Group, IMC, and CTC have invested in SpectrAxe to transform the $300 billion/day FX options market. SpectrAxe's Series A funding will enhance its all-to-all CLOB platform, enabling direct trading among market participants and reducing market fragmentation. The investment supports SpectrAxe's global expansion and platform improvements, aiming to modernize OTC FX options trading by replacing manual methods with an exchange-style environment.

ETF Stream Limited
Sep 17th, 2024
Chicago Trading Company hires Citi's Miller as head of ETF sales for EMEA

Chicago Trading Company (CTC) has hired Citi's Ben Miller as head of institutional ETF sales for EMEA.

Business Wire
Apr 10th, 2024
MEMX Expands Investor Base With Leading Options Firms

MEMX, a market operator founded by members to benefit all investors, today announced the successful completion of a strategic equity round of funding

Turke & Strauss LLP
Nov 20th, 2023
Chicago Trading Company Data Breach Investigation

Turke & Strauss LLP, a leading data breach law firm, is investigating Chicago Trading Company regarding its recent data breach.

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