IMC and Akuna are the two Chicago options market makers that most often sit side by side on a trading applicant's list, and for 2027 they have built opposite front doors. If you are a penultimate-year student who wants a summer on a trading desk, IMC is the firm still offering one: a 10-week Chicago trader internship with a posted $250,000 base, while Akuna has replaced its summer trading internship with one-week "Sneak Peek Weeks". If you graduate by August 2027 and want to apply straight into a full-time trading seat, Akuna's Junior Trader posting is live and open to OPT holders, while IMC's US graduate trader posting was gone from its job board on 24 October. On pay, the postings and the visa filings point the same way: IMC's 2026 filings for graduate traders show a $250,000 base against $165,000 at Akuna.
The 30-second verdict
| IMC | Akuna Capital | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Market maker founded in Amsterdam in 1989; 10 offices on 4 continents (IMC, Mar 2026) | Options market maker; first office opened in Chicago in 2011; also Sydney, Shanghai, London, Singapore (Akuna postings) |
| Published results | 2025 net trading revenue $3.12B (+40%), net profit $968M (IMC, 25 Mar 2026) | None; private, publishes no results |
| People | About 1,900 after 450+ hires in 2025 (eFinancialCareers, Mar 2026) | 580 in 2022, before cuts of 11% globally in Jan 2023 and 40% in Asia-Pacific in Jun 2023 (Wikipedia) |
| US summer 2027 trading internship | Yes: 10 weeks from 7 June 2027, $250,000 posted base | No: one-week Sneak Peek Weeks through 2027; interest list only on 24 Oct |
| US full-time trader posting, 24 Oct | Not on the board | Junior Trader, Chicago, August 2027 start, $145,000 minimum base |
| Graduate trader base, 2026 H-1B filings | $250,000 (6 filings) | $165,000 (9 filings) |
| First gate | NeurOlympics cognitive games, ~45 min (Tradermath, Oct 2026) | 80-question mental math test plus probability and coding tests (Extern, Jul 2026) |
| Application limit | One application per role per year | One trading and one quant/tech application per season |
| GPA floor in US postings | None stated | 3.5 on trader and quant roles |
The size gap is real but easy to overread. IMC's $3.12 billion of trading revenue and its 450-plus hires in 2025 describe a firm growing on every axis; eFinancialCareers reported more than 220 interns in 2025, about 55 of them in the US. Akuna publishes nothing comparable, and the most recent firm-level numbers in public view are its 2023 layoffs. That does not make Akuna a worse place to start. It means you are judging it from job postings and visa filings, which is what the rest of this post does.
Where the 2027 seats are (checked 24 October)
On 24 October 2026 IMC's job board listed 170 roles and Akuna's listed 38. The US campus roles split like this:
| IMC (Chicago and New York) | Akuna (Chicago) | |
|---|---|---|
| Summer 2027 trading internship | Quantitative Trader Intern, 10 weeks, $250,000 base, updated 19 Oct | None; "2027 Trading Sneak Peek Weeks" interest form, posted 19 Jul |
| Summer 2027 quant and tech internships | QR (BS/MS and PhD) $250,000; Software Engineer $200,000; Quant Performance Engineer $200,000; ML Engineer (NY) $200,000; Deep Learning Research (NY) $300,000 | Quant Research; Quant Development & Strategy; Software Engineer (C++, C#, full-stack web); Platform Engineer; all 10 weeks, $145,000 minimum annualised base |
| Full-time trading, 2027 start | Graduate Quantitative Trader no longer posted | Junior Trader, August 2027 start, $145,000 minimum base |
| Full-time quant and tech, 2027 start | Graduate QR (BS/MS and PhD) $250,000; Graduate Hardware Engineer $200,000; Graduate Deep Learning Researcher (NY) $300,000 | Junior Quant Researcher; Junior Quant Developer & Strategist; Entry-Level Software Engineer (C++ and Python); all $145,000 minimum base |
Three details decide your strategy.
Akuna's trading internship is now a week long. The interest form says Akuna will host "multiple Trading Sneak Peek Weeks throughout 2027, rather than a traditional summer internship". Each week is an options crash course with trader trainers, trading games and desk shadowing, in person in Chicago, with travel and housing paid, for students graduating between December 2027 and August 2028. No 2027 week was open for applications on 24 October; signing up only puts you on the list. The closest precedent is the June 2026 edition for women and non-binary students, which paid $2,250 for the week (Built In copy of Akuna's posting). A week can show you the job. It cannot give you ten weeks of desk evidence to convert into a return offer.
IMC's US trader seat now runs through the intern class. IMC's intern posting says interns who meet expectations "will have the opportunity to secure a full-time Graduate Trader position". The separate Graduate Quantitative Trader posting returned a 404 on IMC's job board on 24 October. eFinancialCareers reported in March 2026 that 29 US interns had been brought back full-time on packages of up to $425,000.
Both firms ration applications, in different ways. IMC allows one application per role per year and asks you to focus on one. Akuna treats every application as your top preference: apply to Junior Trader and you will not be considered for its other full-time trading roles that season, though you can still apply to one quant or tech role. If you are torn between trading and quant research at Akuna, you can hold one of each.
Interviews: cognitive games vs mental math
IMC tests how you think before it tests what you know. Tradermath's IMC guide (updated 16 October 2026) describes the trader loop as BrainsFirst NeurOlympics, four cognitive games of 10-15 minutes each; a one-way recorded video of about three questions, usually two behavioural and one probability, with the technical answer weighted most; a 15-30 minute recruiter call; a technical interview with a senior trader covering brainteasers, probability, estimation and betting games such as higher-or-lower with a 13-card deck; and a superday rotating through a trading simulator weighted to options, a quant station with two senior traders, a behavioural interview and time on a desk. End to end, 3-6 weeks. IMC's own recruitment page confirms only the outline: application, an assessment for some roles, then interviews, with travel arranged for onsite days.
Akuna tests speed and options vocabulary. Extern's Akuna guide (July 2026, updated October) lists an 80-question mental math test, a probability and expected-value test, a HackerRank coding test and a recorded VidCruiter interview built around a betting game, followed by a technical phone interview and a final round, about six to seven weeks in all. techinterview.org (July 2026) describes the final as a superday with a trading game or market-making simulation and a decision within one to two weeks. Two rules come straight from Akuna's postings: the Junior Trader role asks for "strong mental math" and a 3.5 major GPA, and Akuna's software postings say AI help is not allowed in interviews or assessments and will get you disqualified.
| Stage | IMC (trader) | Akuna (trader) |
|---|---|---|
| Online | NeurOlympics games, ~45 min | Mental math (80 questions), probability and EV, coding |
| Video | One-way, ~3 questions | VidCruiter recording with a betting game |
| First live round | Recruiter call, then a senior trader | Trader phone interview |
| Final | Superday: options simulator, quant, behavioural, desk | Superday with a trading game or market-making simulation |
| Software track | HackerRank, 2 problems in 120 min; order-book build where code quality outweighs passing tests (Tradermath) | HackerRank; Python emphasised for quant development (techinterview.org) |
The practical difference: you cannot cram for NeurOlympics the way you can for arithmetic, so IMC rewards arriving rested and familiar with the game formats, while Akuna rewards weeks of drills. Akuna also sells its own options course, Akuna Capital University, covering payoff diagrams, volatility and how a market maker reads an options screen; the course page says those who excel can apply for internships or full-time roles.
Training and pay
Training. IMC's US graduate traineeship starts with a six-week Trading School, followed by six to fourteen weeks of local training (IMC recruitment page); its Amsterdam posting adds that the opening programme mixes graduates from Europe, the US and Asia-Pacific. Akuna's Junior Traders train first and are then placed on options market making, Delta One, volatility arbitrage, crypto or its Quantitative Strategy Group (Akuna posting).
Filings. H-1B labour condition applications are public and show the base salary a firm commits to for a named job. For IMC Americas Inc, graduate quantitative trader filings rose from $175,000 (one filing, 2024) to $200,000 (two, 2025) to $250,000 (six, 2026). For Akuna Capital LLC, junior trader filings were $130,000-$140,000 in 2025 (five) and $165,000 in 2026 (nine) (h1bdata.info, Department of Labor data, retrieved 24 Oct 2026). Both firms raised base pay this year. IMC's lead on graduate trader base is $85,000.
Postings. IMC states single figures: $250,000 for the trader and quant research interns, $200,000 for software interns. Those are annual rates; divided by 52, the trader figure is roughly $4,800 a week. Akuna states a floor, a "minimum annualized base salary" of $145,000, about $2,800 a week on the same arithmetic. Akuna's 2026 filings sit above its own floor, so read $145,000 as the minimum, not the typical offer.
What people report. In a September 2025 Blind thread, a new-grad software engineer compared offers of 450 from Optiver, 375 from DRW and 350 from IMC (in thousands of dollars), the IMC offer split as 200 base, 75 target bonus and 75 sign-on. A reply from an IMC employee who had worked at DRW and Optiver called IMC's bonus predictable, with most people getting target in their first two years, while the other two usually pay above target. A Citadel engineer posting the same month described IMC's reputation as relaxed hours and lower pay, and asked whether pay had recently gone up. Akuna's public comp chatter is older: in a 2020 Blind thread on its reputation, one commenter summarised its new-grad package as roughly 150/50/50 in thousands, and another warned that interns move between firms easily but full-time staff are bound by non-competes. Levels.fyi cuts the other way, with a $250,000 median for Akuna traders and $128,603 for IMC traders (both retrieved 24 Oct 2026), but those medians mix offices and seniority. For a US new grad, the filings are the cleaner comparison.
Visas and the international-student angle
- US, Akuna: every US posting requires work authorisation on day one "including F-1 students using OPT or STEM" (its two quant internships add CPT). Akuna Capital LLC filed 38, 47 and 36 H-1B labour condition applications in 2024, 2025 and 2026 to date, nine for junior traders this year.
- US, IMC: the US postings say nothing about work authorisation, but IMC Americas Inc filed 14, 26 and 30 in the same years, including six for graduate quantitative traders in 2026. Ask your recruiter, but the record says it sponsors.
- The OPT fee proposal: on 8 October DHS proposed charging schools $70,000 for a student's first OPT recommendation, pre-completion or post-completion, and $30,000 for later ones such as the STEM extension; schools may pass the cost on (WR Immigration, 7 Oct 2026). It is a proposal, not a rule (Boston University ISSO, 8 Oct 2026). The 2026 graduate filings at both firms carry 1 October start dates, so a summer joiner on an F-1 bridges the gap on OPT.
- Sneak Peek Weeks: the 2027 interest form names OPT and STEM OPT but not CPT. A paid week during your degree may need CPT or pre-completion OPT, so ask your international student office before you accept a date.
- London: Akuna's London Junior Trader posting (12 Oct 2026) is open to UK citizens and permanent residents only.
- Amsterdam: IMC's Amsterdam trader internship says that if you need a Schengen visa and cannot get it before the 28 June 2027 start, you cannot take part.
Which should you choose?
- Penultimate-year student who wants to trade in summer 2027: apply to IMC's Quantitative Trader Intern. It is the only full summer on a desk between the two, at the higher posted pay. Join Akuna's Sneak Peek list as a second, smaller bet.
- Graduating by August 2027 with no trading internship behind you: Akuna's Junior Trader posting is open now with an August 2027 start. IMC's US graduate trader route runs mostly through its intern class this cycle.
- Quant research, BS or MS: IMC posts $250,000 for both the intern and the graduate role, against Akuna's $145,000 floor. Apply to IMC first; Akuna's 3.5 GPA floor rules some candidates out on paper.
- Software engineer who likes C++: Akuna's C++ internship wants modern C++ (C++20 or later, C++23 preferred) on heavily multithreaded systems; IMC prefers Java or C++ and pays $200,000 for software interns. Pick by stack as much as by pay.
- You want to work in Asia: IMC has 2027 trader, quant research and software internships in Hong Kong and says most of its Hong Kong interns secure a graduate position. Akuna's Shanghai office was hiring a junior C++ developer and a junior deep-learning quant researcher on 24 October.
Prepare for both
- Rehearse IMC's market-making and betting rounds with the IMC trader mock interview, which Applr runs as a spoken interview so you practise explaining each bet out loud.
- Drill Akuna's mental math and options questions in the Akuna quantitative trader mock.
- Compare each firm with its closest rival: IMC vs Optiver and Akuna vs SIG.
- Track which postings are still live on the New Grad 2027 tracker.
Sources
- IMC, "IMC launches 2025 annual report", 25 Mar 2026
- eFinancialCareers, "Electronic trading firm IMC hired 450+ people as it grows in London, New York and Hong Kong", 27 Mar 2026
- IMC, job board (170 postings), retrieved 24 Oct 2026
- IMC, "Quantitative Trader Intern - Summer 2027", Chicago, retrieved 24 Oct 2026
- IMC, "Quantitative Research Intern (BS/MS) - Summer 2027", Chicago, retrieved 24 Oct 2026
- IMC, "Graduate Quantitative Researcher (BS/MS)", Chicago, retrieved 24 Oct 2026
- IMC, "Software Engineer Intern - Summer 2027", Chicago, retrieved 24 Oct 2026
- IMC, "Graduate Trader", Amsterdam, retrieved 24 Oct 2026
- IMC, "Quantitative Trader Intern", Amsterdam, retrieved 24 Oct 2026
- IMC, "Quantitative Trader Intern 2027", Hong Kong, retrieved 24 Oct 2026
- IMC, "Recruitment process" (US), retrieved 24 Oct 2026
- Akuna Capital, "Expression of Interest: 2027 Trading Sneak Peek Weeks", posted 19 Jul 2026
- Akuna Capital, "Junior Trader", Chicago, retrieved 24 Oct 2026
- Akuna Capital, "Quantitative Research Intern, Summer 2027", retrieved 24 Oct 2026
- Akuna Capital, "Software Engineer Intern - C++, Summer 2027", retrieved 24 Oct 2026
- Akuna Capital, "Junior Trader", London, posted 12 Oct 2026
- Built In, Akuna "Trading Sneak Peek Week: Reaching Women+ (June 2026)", retrieved 24 Oct 2026
- Akuna Capital University (Teachable), retrieved 24 Oct 2026
- Tradermath, "Everything you need to know about the IMC interview", updated 16 Oct 2026
- Extern, Akuna Capital internship guide, 16 Jul 2026 (updated Oct 2026)
- techinterview.org, Akuna Capital interview guide, updated 12 Jul 2026
- h1bdata.info, IMC Americas Inc H-1B LCA records, retrieved 24 Oct 2026
- h1bdata.info, Akuna Capital LLC H-1B LCA records, retrieved 24 Oct 2026
- Levels.fyi, Akuna Capital salaries, retrieved 24 Oct 2026
- Levels.fyi, IMC salaries, retrieved 24 Oct 2026
- Blind, "NG SWE: Optiver vs DRW vs IMC", Sep 2025
- Blind, "IMC vs Citadel", Sep 2025
- Blind, "How is Akuna Capital's reputation in the industry?", Oct 2020
- WR Immigration, "Fifteen Things to Know About DHS's Proposed OPT Fees", 7 Oct 2026
- Boston University ISSO, "USDHS Proposes New OPT Fees", 8 Oct 2026
- Wikipedia, "Akuna Capital", retrieved 24 Oct 2026
Frequently asked questions
- Is IMC or Akuna better for a summer 2027 trading internship?
- IMC, because it is the only one of the two still running one. IMC's Quantitative Trader Intern posting in Chicago is a 10-week programme starting 7 June 2027 with a stated $250,000 base (retrieved 24 Oct 2026). Akuna says it will host 'multiple Trading Sneak Peek Weeks throughout 2027, rather than a traditional summer internship', and on 24 October only an interest form was open.
- Does IMC pay more than Akuna for new-grad traders?
- Yes, on posted pay and on visa filings. H-1B labour condition applications filed in 2026 show IMC Americas paying graduate quantitative traders a $250,000 base (six filings) against $165,000 for Akuna junior traders (nine filings), per h1bdata.info retrieved 24 Oct 2026. Akuna's own Junior Trader posting states a $145,000 minimum base. Neither firm publishes its bonus.
- What is Akuna's Trading Sneak Peek Week?
- A one-week, in-person micro-internship in Chicago: an options crash course with trader trainers, trading games and desk shadowing, with travel and housing paid. The 2027 weeks are for students graduating between December 2027 and August 2028 (Akuna interest form, posted 19 Jul 2026). The June 2026 edition paid $2,250 for the week, per a Built In copy of Akuna's posting.
- Do IMC and Akuna sponsor H-1B visas for new grads?
- The filing record says both do. Akuna Capital LLC filed 47 H-1B labour condition applications in 2025 and 36 so far in 2026, nine of them for junior traders; IMC Americas Inc filed 26 in 2025 and 30 in 2026, six for graduate quantitative traders (h1bdata.info, retrieved 24 Oct 2026). Akuna's US postings explicitly accept F-1 students on OPT or STEM OPT; IMC's US postings do not mention work authorisation, so confirm with your recruiter.
- Is the IMC interview harder than Akuna's?
- They test different things. IMC opens with BrainsFirst NeurOlympics cognitive games of about 45 minutes, then a one-way video, a senior-trader interview with betting games and a superday (Tradermath, updated 16 Oct 2026). Akuna opens with an 80-question mental math test, a probability test, a HackerRank test and a recorded betting game (Extern, Jul 2026), and its Junior Trader posting sets a 3.5 major GPA floor. Akuna's format rewards drilling; IMC's is harder to cram for.