What Akuna Capital does

Akuna Capital is a privately held proprietary trading firm founded in 2011 in Sydney by Andrew Killion and other founding partners, with its headquarters opened the same year in Chicago. The firm specializes in options market making, providing competitive two-sided quotes across global derivatives markets covering commodities, indexes, and cryptocurrencies, and operates with no external clients or investors, trading solely on its own capital. The name "Akuna" derives from an Australian Aboriginal word meaning "flowing water," reflecting its liquidity-provision mission.

Akuna's operations are organized across four integrated departments — Technology, Trading, Quant, and Operations — supported by offices in Chicago (HQ), Sydney, Shanghai, Singapore, and London. Core capabilities include a proprietary low-latency trading platform built in modern C++ (11/14/17/20) with FPGA development in Verilog/SystemVerilog, Python-based quantitative research and strategy development, and a dedicated MLOps function operating Kubernetes, Kafka, Databricks, Delta Lake, ClickHouse, and Presto/Trino for the full machine learning lifecycle. Quantitative researchers apply statistical and machine learning algorithms to market microstructure data to generate predictive signals and pricing models, while the trading desk executes options market-making strategies in real time.

The firm generates revenue from bid-ask spread capture, inventory positioning, and proprietary strategy P&L rather than fees from external customers. Distribution of liquidity flows primarily through direct exchange participation and, as of January 2026, through a consortium called Optimal Market Technologies — formed with Belvedere Trading, Optiver, and Virtu Financial — to purchase US retail options order flow and compete with Citadel Securities. Akuna's customer-facing activities are concentrated on talent acquisition rather than sales, supported by programs such as the Virtual Quant Trading Challenge, Sneak Peek Week, Akunacademy internships, Options 101, and the Flowing Water talent community.

Name

Akuna Capital

Legal name

Akuna Capital LLC

Website

https://akunacapital.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Akuna Capital is a privately held proprietary trading firm founded in 2011 that makes markets in global options across commodities, indexes, and cryptocurrencies using its own capital. It operates from five offices and serves retail brokers and exchanges as a leading liquidity provider.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Options Market Making

NAICS

Securities and Commodity Contracts Intermediation and Brokerage (5231), Commodity Contracts Intermediation (52316)

SIC

Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services (6200), Security Brokers, Dealers & Flotation Companies (6211), Commodity Contracts Brokers & Dealers (6221)

akta.pro primary industry

Market Making & Liquidity Provision (FSADAJAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cross-Venue Arbitrage & Latency Infrastructure (FSADAJAK), Lending Protocol Infrastructure (Oracles, Rate Models, Vaults) (FSADAFAN)

Keywords

• Options market making
• Proprietary trading
• Derivatives liquidity
• High frequency trading
• Algorithmic trading

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Proprietary Options Market Making: Akuna Capital generates revenue through proprietary trading as an options market maker. They provide competitive quotes that they are willing to both buy and sell, earning profits from the bid-ask spread and market movements. The firm has no external investors or clients - they trade only with the company's own capital. Revenue is generated through systematic trading across global financial markets including commodities, indexes, and cryptocurrencies.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Akuna Capital is a proprietary trading firm that operates as an options market maker, providing two-sided competitive bid and ask quotes across global financial markets covering commodities, indexes, and cryptocurrencies. The firm deploys internally developed low-latency trading systems, quantitative models, and algorithms to make markets and capture bid-ask spreads using only its own capital, with no external clients or investors.

Product overview

Akuna Capital is a proprietary trading firm operating as a single unified platform focused on options market making. The core offering consists of three interconnected capabilities: a proprietary low-latency trading platform, a quantitative research engine building predictive models and algorithms, and the options market making desk providing liquidity. The firm also runs an annual Virtual Quant Trading Challenge for recruitment. In 2026, Akuna joined a consortium (with Belvedere Trading, Optiver, and Virtu Financial) to invest in Optimal Market Technologies, a new options intermediary.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Options Market Making Akuna Capital's core service: providing liquidity as an options market maker by offering competitive bid/ask quotes across global financial markets including commodities, indexes, and cryptocurrencies. The service is delivered to financial markets, exchanges, and retail brokers routing order flow.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Optimal Market TechnologiescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 January 2026Akuna Capital is one of four major market making firms (along with Belvedere Trading, Optiver, and Virtu Financial Inc.) that invested in Optimal Market Technologies, a new options intermediary. The consortium will purchase US options order flow from retail brokers and serve as leading liquidity providers for the new entity. The consortium is positioned to challenge Citadel Securities' dominance in the lucrative retail options market segment.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Virtu Financial: Publicly traded global electronic market maker across equities, ETFs, and options. Virtu is the fourth consortium member in Optimal Market Technologies and shares Akuna's liquidity-provision mandate across listed derivatives, though it operates at much larger scale and across more asset classes.
• IMC Financial Markets: Amsterdam-headquartered global proprietary trading firm and options market maker. IMC competes directly with Akuna across global options and derivatives markets using a proprietary-capital, quantitative approach.
• Optiver: Amsterdam-based global proprietary trading firm and options market maker. Optiver is one of Akuna's three co-investors in Optimal Market Technologies and operates an essentially identical business model — proprietary capital, low-latency technology, multi-asset market making — making it the closest direct peer.
• Belvedere Trading: Chicago-based proprietary options market maker and fellow Optimal Market Technologies consortium member. Belvedere focuses narrowly on US options market making with proprietary capital, mirroring Akuna's core franchise head-to-head.
• Hudson River Trading (HRT): New York-based quantitative proprietary trading firm employing sophisticated mathematical strategies across global markets. HRT competes for the same engineering and quant talent as Akuna and overlaps in options and derivatives liquidity provision.
• DRW Trading: Chicago-based proprietary trading firm trading equities, fixed income, commodities, and derivatives with proprietary capital. DRW shares Akuna's Chicago roots, proprietary-capital model, and multi-asset liquidity provision mandate, making it a structural comparable.
• Susquehanna International Group (SIG): Bala Cynwyd-based global proprietary trading firm with significant options market making and quantitative trading operations. SIG operates a similar proprietary-capital, low-latency model across multiple asset classes and competes with Akuna for both flow and quant talent.
• Wolverine Execution Services: Chicago-based institutional broker-dealer specializing in options market making and execution services. Wolverine shares Akuna's Chicago headquarters and core specialization in US options market making, making it a tightly comparable peer.
• Citadel Securities: The dominant US options market maker and Akuna's primary competitor in retail options order flow. Citadel Securities is the incumbent that Akuna's Optimal Market Technologies consortium was explicitly formed to challenge, with overlapping product scope, customer base (retail brokers), and proprietary capital model.
• Jane Street: Global proprietary trading firm specializing in ETF, equity, options, and bond market making with proprietary capital. Jane Street operates a similar technology-driven, low-latency market making model and is widely seen as one of the highest-quality peer firms in the space.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/akunacapital
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/akuna-capital

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments14 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Akuna Capital