Chopper Trading

What Chopper Trading does

Chopper Trading was a technology-based proprietary trading firm founded in 2002 by Raj Fernando in Chicago, Illinois. The firm operated without any external clients, customers, or shareholders, trading solely the firm's own capital across major global exchanges including CME, Nasdaq, ICE, Eurex, CBOT, NYSE, and LSE. Its business model relied on capturing trading and investment opportunities across multiple asset classes and holding periods spanning from seconds to years, with revenue generated directly from proprietary trading P&L rather than external fees or commissions.

The firm's core differentiator was its vertically integrated technology stack. Chopper designed and built custom purpose-built hardware, a proprietary software stack, and innovative networking and communications techniques in-house, along with end-to-end systems for risk management, trade monitoring, communications, and source code security. Founder Raj Fernando personally led the design of these systems starting in 2004, transforming Chopper from a small fixed-income shop into a technology-first trading firm. The firm cultivated a flat, meritocratic culture and recruited aggressively from top universities to staff both its trading and engineering functions, growing from 4 employees at founding to approximately 250 worldwide.

Chopper expanded to five office locations — Chicago (headquarters), New York, London, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. — and grew to be a "highly-respected and successful participant" in the electronic trading industry. In 2015, Chopper Trading's assets were acquired by DRW, a Chicago-based proprietary trading firm founded by Don Wilson, integrating Chopper's team and complementary strategies into DRW's broader global platform. Following the acquisition, Chopper no longer operates as an independent entity.

Name

Chopper Trading

Legal name

Chopper Trading LLC

Website

https://choppertrading.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

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, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Proprietary Trading: The firm trades its own capital across global markets on major exchanges for the benefit of the firm. Revenue is generated through trading profits from strategies spanning multiple asset classes and time horizons from seconds to years. No clients, customers, or external shareholders.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Chopper Trading is a technology-based proprietary trading firm that trades its own capital across global markets and major exchanges for the benefit of the firm. It has no clients, customers, or shareholders, deploying strategies across multiple asset classes and holding periods from seconds to years. The firm's edge comes from end-to-end, in-house engineered trading systems combining custom purpose-built hardware with a high-performance proprietary software stack.

Product overview

Chopper Trading was a technology-based proprietary trading firm operating without clients, customers, or shareholders. The company traded the firm's own capital across multiple global markets and major exchanges including CME, CBOT, NYSE, LSE, and ICE. It offered proprietary trading strategies supported by custom-built trading technology, end-to-end trading systems, and purpose-built hardware. The company maintained offices in Chicago (headquarters), New York, London, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. In 2015, Chopper Trading was acquired by DRW, a Chicago-based proprietary trading firm.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Proprietary Trading Services Technology-based proprietary trading of the firm's own capital across multiple global asset classes and major exchanges including CME, CBOT, NYSE, LSE, and ICE, using proprietary strategies spanning holding periods from seconds to years. There are no external clients, customers, or shareholders; trading is conducted for the firm's own benefit.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• DRWcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015DRW, a Chicago-based proprietary trading firm founded by Don Wilson, acquired Chopper Trading's assets in 2015. The combination created significant synergies, bringing together Chopper's talented team and complementary trading strategies with DRW's global trading capabilities. Don Wilson stated that Chopper Trading is a highly-respected and successful participant in the industry, and that bringing both organizations together would allow more efficient provision of liquidity to financial markets. Raj Fernando, founder of Chopper Trading, noted that DRW is an industry leader with a track record of innovation and growth.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• DRW: Chicago-based proprietary trading firm that acquired Chopper in 2015. Operates the same business model — multi-asset, technology-driven prop trading across global exchanges — and is the most direct comparable, especially post-acquisition.
• Citadel Securities: Global market maker and proprietary trading firm. Directly comparable on technology-driven, multi-asset, multi-venue electronic trading with no external clients of the same kind.
• Jane Street: Quantitative proprietary trading firm trading equities, ETFs, options, futures, and bonds on global exchanges. Highly comparable technology-first culture and university-driven recruiting model.
• Jump Trading: Chicago-based, technology-focused proprietary trading firm operating across asset classes globally. Direct comparable on proprietary technology stack, Chicago roots, and exchange-based trading.
• Hudson River Trading: Quantitative proprietary trading firm operating across global markets with a heavy technology and engineering focus. Comparable on multi-asset, multi-venue, technology-led approach.
• Virtu Financial: Publicly traded electronic market maker and proprietary trader operating across dozens of global venues. Comparable business model and multi-asset, multi-exchange footprint.
• Two Sigma Securities: Technology-driven systematic trading firm with proprietary strategies across global markets. Comparable on technology stack, multi-asset trading, and university-talent pipeline.
• Optiver: Amsterdam-based proprietary trading firm and global market maker. Comparable on technology-driven, multi-asset electronic trading across major exchanges including CME and Eurex.
• IMC Financial Markets: Global proprietary trading firm and market maker across options, equities, and futures. Comparable on multi-venue electronic trading and proprietary technology investment.
• Susquehanna International Group (SIG): Global quantitative proprietary trading firm trading equities, options, futures, and other asset classes. Comparable on proprietary capital, multi-asset strategies, and university recruiting.

Market position

Strengths3 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/choppertrading
• Facebookfacebook.com/choppertrading
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/chopper-trading-llc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Chopper Trading