Services
We design, build and measure performance-critical financial systems, and lead the teams that run them.
Low-latency trading systems
Execution, market-making, pricing and market-data components designed and built in Rust or Java: exchange and venue connectivity over REST, WebSocket and binary protocols, order-book reconstruction, order management, and zero-allocation hot paths.
Payments and banking systems
High-throughput payment and banking components designed and built in Rust or Java: transaction and message processing, ledgers and reconciliation, and the integration around them, built for throughput and correctness under load.
Performance review
A measured account of where a system spends its time and what to change first, for latency or throughput: profiling, allocation and lock contention, CPU pinning, kernel and network tuning, and instrumentation, with a written report of findings ranked by gain.
A performance review is sold as Discovery.
Market data and risk platforms
Capture, storage and processing pipelines for market data, and front-office and market-risk platforms covering VaR, Greeks and sensitivities.
Technical leadership
Fractional or interim leadership of a trading or banking technology team: architecture reviews, delivery cadence, hiring and growing engineers, and working directly with the desk or the business.
Who we work with
| Client | Typical need |
|---|---|
| Banks' electronic trading and markets technology teams, in New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and the UK | eFX, rates or equities execution, liquidity aggregation, market risk |
| Banks' payments and core-banking technology teams, in New Zealand and Australia | Payment processing, ledgers and reconciliation, throughput and correctness under load |
| Proprietary trading firms, brokers and market makers | Faster execution and connectivity, measured latency, a principal engineer alongside the team |
| Payments and fintech firms: payment processors, platforms and digital banks | High-throughput transaction processing, measured performance, a principal engineer alongside the team |
| Digital-asset firms building trading infrastructure: brokers, OTC desks, custodians | Exchange connectivity, order management, market data |
- Banks' electronic trading and markets technology teams
- Banks' payments and core-banking technology teams
- Proprietary trading firms, brokers and market makers
- Payments and fintech firms: payment processors, platforms and digital banks
- Digital-asset firms building trading infrastructure: brokers, OTC desks, custodians
A good fit is a problem of latency, throughput or correctness in a financial system where it costs or earns money, with a technical decision maker, and either work that can be scoped to named deliverables or a leadership need that can be set in days a month.
Engagements and pricing
| Model | Shape | Commitment | Price, excluding GST |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery | Two to three days to define the work: measure an existing system and rank what to change by gain, or set the design and milestones of a new build. Ends in a written report and a fixed-price proposal for the delivery | Fixed scope; half the fee credited against the delivery if accepted within 30 days | NZD 5,400 · USD 3,300 |
| Fixed-Price Delivery | Named deliverables to named milestones, each with a date and an acceptance test | The proposal's scope; anything outside it is priced as a change | Priced in the proposal |
| Advisory Retainer | Technical leadership on a set number of days a month, agreed in the proposal and billed monthly in advance | Three months minimum; unused days do not carry over | NZD 1,800 · USD 1,100 a day |
- Discovery NZD 5,400
- Fixed-Price Delivery
- Advisory Retainer NZD 1,800 a day
Delivery is sold as outcomes: you buy the deliverable at a fixed price. Discovery fixes the price; an introductory call gives a range. Prices exclude GST; New Zealand clients pay GST at 15% on top, and services to clients outside New Zealand are expected to be zero-rated. The Discovery fee and the day rate are reviewed every April and October. A retainer day is eight hours; part days are billed in half days. Prices are in NZD for New Zealand clients and USD for clients elsewhere.
How an engagement runs
- EnquiryYou tell us about the system and the problem. We reply within two New Zealand business days.
- Introductory callThe problem, scope, dates, budget and who decides, and a price range.
- ProposalDeliverables, milestones and their dates, acceptance tests and the price, in writing.
- EngagementSigned, then started on the agreed date.
Work that conflicts with Darkwave Trading's own trading is declined.
Tell us about your system
We reply within two New Zealand business days.