XTX Markets Expands With €1 Billion Data Centre In Finland

Algo trading firm XTX Markets is committing €1 billion to construct a huge data center in Finland to help its expanding use of machine learning.

XTX Markets handles over $250 billion in trades each day, using machine learning to review huge amounts of data and guess prices for financial tools.

This needs lots of computer power, which will now sit on a 478-acre spot in Kajaani, central Finland. The company has started building its first data center, and plans to complete it by 2026, and wants to build four more there later. The first centre has 15,000 square meters of space and includes three halls with 22.5MW of IT power.

XTX Aims To Use Waste Heat From The Site To Warm Local Homes

Joshua Leahy, the Chief Technology Officer of XTX Markets, noted that the firm think the best way to keep its business ready for the future is to build a setup, which the team can use more and more over time. He added that having its own data centers lets the firm use more computer power anytime, save money, and keep up with its growing business.

The site will generate more waste heat each year than the whole town of Kajaani needs all year round. XTX says it is looking at ways to give this heat to the local people for free.

According to the company, by building in Finland’s cool weather, far from a city, it won’t need to use water for its main operations.

Mike Irwin, Chief Operating Officer of XTX Markets, noted that the firm feel data centers don’t need to be built in cities or hot places. In Kajaani, XTX Markets can offer energy and job advantages both during and after the project. He added that the firm is also using the naturally cool air for cooling instead of using local water like other data centers.

XTX Uses Machine Learning For 50,000+ Financial Tools

XTX Markets uses machine learning to guess prices for more than 50,000 financial tools, including stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, and crypto.

According to the company, it has a research group with more than 25,000 GPUs and 650 petabytes of storage. Reports about XTX building its own campus came out last year, saying it might use 250MW when it’s fully built.

In February, Iceland’s Borealis Data Centers shared that it had bought a data center in the Renforsin Ranta Business Park, making its first step outside Iceland. Google is also planning to build a data center nearby.

Wille Rydman, Minister of Economic Affairs, stated that he is excited that XTX Markets picked Finland for this huge data center project. The speed at which the firm started building is amazing, and the project’s massive growth is great news.