FAQs

Yes. This competition is only open to students who are currently enrolled in any course at a university in Australia or New Zealand.

Registrations are now closed. Stay connected with us on our social channels for upcoming competitions, events and career opportunities.

No. Each competitor can only be registered for one team.

No. This competition is designed for those new to the world of algorithmic trading. To keep it fair anyone who works at, has worked at, or has accepted an offer from, Optiver or any of its direct competitors may not compete in Ready Trader Go.

If you have a query about your eligibility, feel free to contact us and we can discuss. For full details see our Terms and Conditions.

You can write your auto-trader in Python 3.10 or C++17 as it will be run on Linux using either Python version 3.10.2 or compiled with G++ version 10.2.1.

A Privacy Enhanced Mail (PEM) file stores cryptographic items such as an SSH key. This authenticates a user when communicating over a network and consists of a private key (which you keep secret) and a public key (which anyone can know). When you register for the competition, we’ll request your public key in a PEM file - ensure that you don’t send your private key – so you can authenticate yourself when connecting to out GIT server.

You can create an SSH key as follows:

• Open a terminal (Linux / MacOS) or powershell (Windows, install instructions below) and run:
  ssh-keygen -t rsa -C “email_address@server.com”
• Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the process. Be careful not to overwrite an existing key if there is one. The public key will be in a file with a name ending in “.pub”.
• To convert the key to PEM format issue the following command:
  ssh-keygen -f FILENAME.pub -m PEM -e > FILENAME.pem

If ssh-keygen is not available on Windows, there are multiple options how to install it

• Powershell as administrator on Windows 10 1809 or higher
  Add-WindowsCapability -Online -Name OpenSSH.Client*
• Powershell as administrator on Windows 10 older than 1809
  Install-Module -Force OpenSSHUtils -Scope AllUsers
• Graphical Interface
  • Click Start choose Settings
  • Choose Apps from Windows Settings
  • Click “Manage optional features“
  • Click “Add a feature“
  • Choose “OpenSSH Client” and click the Install button

Still unsure how to create a PEM file?

Take a look at the videos below that will guide you through the process.

• How to create a PEM file | Part 1
• How to create a PEM file | Part 2

At the start of the competition you’ll be sent the details of your GIT repository. You’ll need a GIT client to access it. There are several graphical user interfaces available and many IDEs have built-in support for GIT. You’ll then need to configure your GIT client to use your private key to authenticate you, instructions for this are normally available in the help section of your GIT client.

You will submit your auto-trader by uploading it to a GIT repository that we create for you. Details about your GIT repository will be sent to you when the competition starts. To submit your auto-trader you’ll need to do two things: first, commit your auto-trader to your clone of the master branch of the GIT repository and second push your changes to the master branch to the GIT repository we created for you. For more information about GIT, please see https://git-scm.com.

If you’ve written your auto-trader in Python, you should submit one file, and one file only, called “autotrader.py”. If you’ve written your auto-trader in C++ you should submit exactly two files, called “autotrader.h” and “autotrader.cc”. Note that the filenames consist of lowercase letters and dots only. Any other files will be ignored. Do not place the files in a folder.

We encourage you to submit your auto-trader early and you may update your auto-trader as often as you like. The most recent file(s) in the master branch of your repository at the submission deadline for each tournament will constitute your entry to that tournament.