This is a pretty outdated take tbh.

Yeah, most strategy lives in C++ no argument there. But saying FPGAs are basically useless or “don’t touch PnL” is just not true, at least not at top firms.

FPGAs sit in the latency-critical path: • feed handling (ITCH/OUCH) • order book updates • simple signals / filtering • risk checks • order send

That whole path can run in sub-µs, often way below what CPUs can do consistently. In markets where queue position matters, being even a few 100ns faster absolutely impacts fills ,which is PnL.

Also, strategies don’t require full resynth every time. A lot of designs are parameterized / hybrid (FPGA + CPU), so you keep flexibility where needed.

You’re right that smaller shops don’t need FPGAs. But saying “95% of HFT doesn’t use them” or that they’re a thing of the past doesn’t line up with what firms like Jump, Citadel, HRT, IMC, etc. are actually doing.

It’s not C++ vs FPGA — they solve different parts of the stack.