Akuna Capital's Interview Process (2026)

Blog / Akuna Capital's Interview Process (2026)
Akuna Capital Interview Process
Akuna Capital's software engineer interview process is one of the more rigorous pipelines in the HFT world, and it generally looks quite different from a standard big tech loop. Most candidates report going through four to six stages, with a heavy focus on low-level systems, C++ depth, and real-world simulation problems rather than textbook puzzles.
  • Online Assessment 1 - Coding: A timed HackerRank assessment, typically around 90 minutes, featuring two or three simulation-heavy coding problems. Expect tasks like building a simplified order-matching system rather than standard algorithm puzzles.
  • Online Assessment 2 - Debugging and Implementation: A shorter timed assessment, usually around 45 minutes, where you are given a buggy or incomplete codebase and asked to fix it. Candidates in 2025 and 2026 report this round as a significant filter, often involving C++ codebases with compilation errors or logical race conditions.
  • Technical Phone Screen: A live coding session with an engineer, typically 45 to 60 minutes, conducted over CodePair or Zoom. You will generally be asked to implement a specific algorithm or system component under time pressure, with discussion around your design choices and code efficiency.
  • Onsite Super Day: A series of four to five back-to-back technical interviews, each around 45 minutes. Rounds typically cover C++ depth, multithreading, system design for low-latency architectures, and a trading game or market simulation. There is usually at least one behavioral round included.
  • Hiring Manager and Culture Fit: A final conversation focused on team placement, your long-term goals, and how you align with the firm's engineering values. This round is generally less technical but still important.
To prepare effectively, focus your study across these core areas that Akuna's SWE interviews consistently test:
  • Data Structures and Algorithms: Simulation and implementation-heavy coding problems focused on real-world trading scenarios.
  • System Design: Low-latency architecture design for high-throughput financial data systems.
  • C++ and Systems Fundamentals: Deep C++ knowledge including memory management, multithreading, and performance optimization.
  • Behavioral: Experience-based questions about debugging, performance work, and your motivation for HFT engineering.
1. Data Structures and AlgorithmsAkuna's coding problems lean heavily toward simulation and implementation rather than pure algorithmic puzzles.You are more likely to be asked to build a working piece of software, like a simplified exchange or a sliding window calculator for a data stream, than to solve a classic graph traversal problem in isolation.That said, core DSA knowledge is still tested. Frequently reported problem types include sliding window min/max/median calculations (see Sliding Window Maximum), implementing an Design LRU Cache for historical price data, and merging overlapping time intervals. Brush up on sliding window and intervals patterns specifically.For breadth of coverage, work through our top 100 DSA questions to make sure you have no obvious gaps. Prioritize problems tagged as implementation or simulation, and practice writing clean, correct code quickly rather than just finding the optimal solution on paper.
2. System DesignSystem design at Akuna is firmly in the low-latency, high-throughput domain. You might be asked to design a system that processes millions of market data updates per second with microsecond precision, which requires thinking beyond standard web-scale architecture patterns.Key topics to cover include how to minimize latency at the network and memory level, the tradeoffs between TCP and UDP for market data feeds, and how to architect lock-free or low-contention data pipelines. Our High-Level Design topic page is a good starting point, and the Stock Exchange (NASDAQ, NYSE) case study maps directly to the kinds of systems Akuna engineers think about daily.Make sure you also understand networking fundamentals and caching fundamentals at a systems level, since both come up in the context of optimizing data pipelines.
3. C++ and Systems FundamentalsThis is where Akuna's interviews differentiate themselves most clearly from a typical SWE loop. Interviewers expect you to go well beyond surface-level C++ knowledge into areas like RAII, move semantics, template metaprogramming, and the performance implications of virtual dispatch versus compile-time polymorphism. Explore our C++ theory section for a thorough deep dive so you're prepared to go deep when they probe.Multithreading is a recurring theme. You should be comfortable discussing std::atomic, memory ordering, memory barriers, lock-free queues, and when to use locks versus atomics. A specific challenge reported frequently in 2025 and 2026 involves implementing or fixing a custom memory pool, since standard malloc is too slow for HFT use cases.Cache efficiency also comes up regularly. Candidates report being asked to identify why a piece of code is slow due to poor data layout or cache misses, and then fix it. Pair your C++ prep with operating systems concepts to ground your understanding of how the hardware and runtime interact.
4. BehavioralAkuna's behavioral questions are grounded in real engineering experience, particularly around debugging and performance work. A typical prompt might be something like: tell me about a time you diagnosed a performance bottleneck in a production system, or describe a situation where you had to make a tradeoff between correctness and speed.Structure your answers clearly using the STAR format to keep your responses focused and concrete. Akuna engineers want to hear specific technical details, not vague descriptions of teamwork or process.You may also be asked why you are interested in market making over traditional software roles. Have a genuine, technically grounded answer ready. Our Behavioral Playbook can help you prepare stories that hit the right notes for a firm like Akuna.
ConclusionAkuna Capital's SWE interview rewards engineers who think at the systems level and can write correct, efficient code under pressure. Start with C++ fundamentals and simulation-style problems, then layer in low-latency system design and behavioral prep as you get closer to your interview. Follow the Akuna Capital Interview Roadmap for a structured, stage-by-stage plan to get you ready.

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