High Stakes and Fair Values: CMU Students Face Off in the 2026 Market Making Game

Carnegie Mellon University’s Rangos Ballroom became a pressure cooker in early February when more than 200 students traded "contracts" tied to everything from complex probability puzzles to real-world data trends.

The eighth annual Market Making game, hosted by the Master of Science in Computational Finance (MSCF) program, in partnership with the CMU Quant Club, drew a record number of participants from MSCF and undergraduate programs competing to decide in seconds questions such as, What is a fair value? and How much am I willing to bet on that?

The Art of the Trade

“The ability to think probabilistically is a superpower,"said Darren Grendi, Quant Club president. "This is our largest signature event for a reason. It gives students a low-risk, high-reward environment to test their intuition.”

Unlike traditional math competitions, the Market Making Game isn’t just about finding the right answer, it’s about knowing how much to bet on it and executing trades under immense pressure. Teams of six competed to trade 'contracts' with values tied to complex estimation problems, probability puzzles, and real-world data science trends.

Networking with the Industry

The financial industry increasingly seeks graduates who can pair technical skills with a trader’s mindset. Sponsored by global liquidity provider and market maker Jane Street, as well as Jump Trading, Trex Quant and GTS, the event offered an opportunity for students to showcase those dual capabilities and engage with sponsors for a first hand look into the world of quantitative finance.

"At MSCF, we pride ourselves on preparing students for the complexity of modern markets," said Robert Simon, executive director of MSCF. "Seeing our MSCF students dive into the market-making pits alongside top undergraduates shows the incredible depth of the quant talent here at CMU."

Strengthening the Quant Pipeline

The event serves as a cornerstone of the experiential learning opportunities offered to CMU’s quantitative finance community. The competition bridges the gap between classroom theory and the fast-paced reality of global markets.

‘What makes it a really cool event is just how energetic it is,” said Jacob Braginsky, a sophomore in mathematical sciences. “You have people running around, yelling and laughing and figuring out who to trade with others.”

The Winners' Circle

After hours of volatile trading, the top-performing teams were awarded a share of a $3,500 prize pool. Beyond the financial rewards, the winners and participants walked away with more than just bragging rights; they gained the connections and practical experience necessary to navigate the competitive interview pipelines of top quant firms.