How Do High-Frequency Trading (HFT) Firms Attempt to Gain an Advantage despite the Price-Time Priority Rule?

HFT firms gain an advantage by minimizing latency. They co-locate their servers physically near the exchange's matching engine to reduce network delay.

They also invest in proprietary, high-speed data feeds and use sophisticated algorithms to submit, cancel, and modify orders faster than competitors. While they cannot break the price-time rule, they ensure their orders are among the first to reach the matching engine at the best price, securing the time priority.