Every trading venue will speak FIX, either nait vely or they will translate to their native protocol. The problem with FIX is that the messages are big which slows things down. Pretty much the gold standard are binary-type protocols like Nasdaq's OUCH (O for orders) and ITCH for market data. FYI, FIX is NOT a market data protocol, although some trading gateways may force data through for certain types of matching like RFQ. The FIX equivalent for data is FAST but I believe there are some licensing issues which affected its adoption. When looking for speed, always go with the trading venue's native protocol. Ask if they have something OUCH/ITCH like.

Every trading venue will speak FIX, either natively or they will translate to their native protocol. The problem with FIX is that the messages are big which slows things down. Pretty much the gold standard are binary-type protocols like Nasdaq's OUCH (O for orders) and ITCH for market data. FYI, FIX is NOT a market data protocol, although some trading gateways may force data through for certain types of matching like RFQ. The FIX equivalent for data is FAST but I believe there are some licensing issues which affected its adoption. When looking for speed, always go with the trading venue's native protocol. Ask if they have something OUCH/ITCH like.