--- title: "HFT, MFT and LFT: what is the difference | RupeeCase" description: "HFT, MFT and LFT are shorthand for how fast and how long a strategy holds and reacts, not formal SEBI categories." source_url: "https://www.rupeecase.com/learn/questions/hft-vs-mft-vs-lft" --- Each step towards speed moves the edge from the signal to the infrastructure Three shorthands for the time scale of a strategy. A method diagram with no market figures. Source: Method note on trading frequency, no market figures. As of 16 Oct 2026. These are trading shorthands, not regulatory categories. HFT, high frequency trading, holds positions for very short periods, and its edge depends on reacting faster than others. MFT, medium frequency, holds for minutes to hours. LFT, low frequency, holds for days, weeks or months. Each label describes the time scale of a strategy, not a licence. The chart puts the three on one path. The further towards speed a strategy sits, the more its result depends on latency, the order path and hardware. The further towards holding, the more it depends on the signal, the costs and the risk carried overnight. Speed is bought in layers: a faster network link, a server placed close to the exchange, lean code, and a risk system that can stop an order in time. Those layers cost money, which is why the fastest end is run by well resourced firms, and why the retail API route, with its order rate limits, is built for a different time scale. A common error is to call any algo HFT. A program that places a few orders a day through a broker's API is not HFT, whatever its label. The frequency label should match what the system does, as shown in its own logs. The [question on why traders lose](/learn/questions/why-fo-traders-lose) covers the costs that a fast strategy must also beat. **Before you trade.** Derivatives trading carries a high risk of loss. SEBI's study "Profitability of Individual Traders in the Equity Derivatives Segment (FY25 to FY26)" (August 2026) found that 87.7% of individual traders in equity F&O made net losses in FY26, with aggregate net losses of Rs 91,685 crore. [Read the SEBI study](https://www.sebi.gov.in/reports-and-statistics/research/aug-2026/study-profitability-of-individual-traders-in-the-equity-derivatives-segment-fy25-fy26-_103835.html) HFT, MFT and LFT: what is the difference?HFT, MFT and LFT are shorthand for how fast and how long a strategy holds and reacts, not formal SEBI categories, running from microseconds and milliseconds at one end to days or weeks at the other. Speed depends on hardware, placement near the exchange and code, and a retail algo in India runs through a broker API, where order rate limits apply. LGo deeper ## Where Learn teaches this. [Go deeperHFT, MFT and LFT compared10 min, Advanced](/learn/path-19/module-19-3-hft-mft-lft) SSources ## Go to the source. 3 sources, SEBI the most cited The publisher of each source listed below. Source: Module undefined source list. 1. [SEBI circular, Safer participation of retail investors in algorithmic trading (4 Feb 2025)](https://www.sebi.gov.in/legal/circulars/feb-2025/safer-participation-of-retail-investors-in-algorithmic-trading_91614.html) SEBI 2. [NSE, co-location facility](https://www.nseindia.com/static/trade/platform-services-co-location-facility) NSE 3. [SEBI study, F&O trading outcomes for FY22 to FY24 (Sep 2024)](https://www.sebi.gov.in/sebi_data/attachdocs/sep-2024/1727086965496.pdf) SEBI ?Questions people ask ## Related questions. 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Scan the code, fillFill one short form, and join my WhatsApp group. Slides, sources, factsheets and the rebalance logs live there, and members join a daily Google Meet with me. New to RupeeCase? [Getting started](/getting-started) [See the terminal](/terminal) [Sign up for RupeeCase](https://invest.rupeecase.com/signup) [Join the WhatsApp group](https://forms.gle/C6HMtM1Z2GfeocQV7) [One form, one group](https://forms.gle/C6HMtM1Z2GfeocQV7)Scan with your phone camera Education only, not investment advice, a research report or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security. RupeeCase (QC Alpha Technologies Pvt Ltd) is not registered with SEBI as an investment adviser or research analyst. Contracts and prices shown are for illustration only, come from NSE end of day files at least 30 days old, and are not recommendatory. Derivatives trading carries a high risk of loss.