Part 5/9:
Katsuyama and his team at RBC embarked on an ambitious project to combat this systemic issue. They developed "Thor," a Tactical Hybrid Order Router designed to stagger order requests so that they arrived at exchanges simultaneously, thus neutralizing the advantage enjoyed by high-frequency traders. By slowing down their own orders, they could prevent HFTs from exploiting faster connections.
The process was painstaking, requiring intricate algorithms and precise programming, but the outcome was revolutionary. Once deployed, Thor proved successful, allowing slower traders to execute orders without the risk of front-running. Successive returns on investments shot through the roof, and RBC quickly rose to prominence in the trading landscape.