IMC, a global market maker that provides liquidity to financial assets on trading venues, is hosting a 10-day global competition that challenges students to successfully trade on a virtual market.
The winner will be rewarded with a $25,000 prize and a matching donation in their name to The Ocean Cleanup.
Steven Biester, Global Marketing Manager at IMC, said this challenge has been in the making for over a year and was created to help IMC reach the best talent in the world, especially those who might not have considered a career in trading before.
“There are other trading challenges, so it will be hard to become famous if we do a standard trading challenge,” he told Traders Magazine.
“We’ll need something that is equal parts challenge and entertainment. An amazing experience to be in, but a great story to share as well. So, we created: Prosperity,” he added.
IMC’s ‘Prosperity’ challenge is now open for entry.
In this 10-day market simulation starting March 20, contestants will combine basic Python skills, strategic insights and analytics to earn as many seashells as possible and bring prosperity to their island.
Biester told Traders Magazine that interested college students from around the globe can join fully remote, from anywhere, alone or in a team of up to five individuals.
Participation is restricted to persons over the age of 18 and currently enrolled in an accredited college or university, he said.
“During their days on the island, their trading abilities will be tested through a variety of trading challenges. It’s up to them to develop a successful trading strategy,” Biester said.
“They will be working on a Python script to handle algorithmic trades on their behalf. Every now and then they will also be confronted with a manual trading challenge,” he explained.
Success depends on both these algorithmic and manual trades, Biester said.
According to Biester, the goal is “as clear as day: bring your island to prosperity”.
“You do so by earning as many SeaShells as possible, the main currency in the archipelago. The more SeaShells you earn, the more your island will grow and prosper. The island with the most SeaShells wins the challenge,” he said.
Biester said that the main character in the game is a cockatoo that lives in the archipelago. Besides a cockatoo, she is also the news anchor for Tropical TV. Every day she’ll give you the latest headlines – all you need to know to progress in the game, Biester said.
The news broadcasts from Tropical TV will play an important role during our 10-day trading challenge, according to Biester.
The cockatoo will give a short update on what happened the previous day before she’ll disclose today’s assignment and tradable goods, he said.
“I can’t give away the asset classes yet, but it is safe to say that everything they are trading sounds like something that deserves to live on and be traded by individuals on a tropical island, and they all mimic some form of real world asset, be that stocks, ETFs or currencies,” Biester revealed.
“We will provide historical data to look for opportunities and allow them to test their algos against our bots in advance,” he said.
“We would like participants to experience firsthand what algorithmic trading entails. We mimic a lot of the real dynamics that you would encounter in trading,” Biester said.
“The competition is collaborative, high-paced and requires drive, intellect and inventiveness. On top of that, it’s also a lot of fun. We expect thousands of students from across the globe to participate in this 10-day event,” he added.
To join the competition, participants must go to prosperity.imc.com. Once registered, contestants will receive more information and will be able to enter the dedicated Wiki and Discord server to meet fellow contestants and talk to IMC professionals available to guide students and answer questions.
Alongside the cash prize, IMC will donate a matching $25,000 in the winner’s name to The Ocean Cleanup, a non-profit organization developing and scaling technologies to rid the oceans of plastic. To achieve their objective, The Ocean Cleanup works by stemming the inflow of plastic via rivers and cleaning up what has already accumulated in the ocean.
