Quant Competition Update — October 2026
Monthly Competition Update — October 2026: USD46,000 Awarded or in Live Scoring
Another month, another set of quant competitions settled — and another prize pool open.
AlphaNova runs a fresh quant competition every two weeks, with up to USD2,500 + carry-over per cycle. Each cycle's pot depends on the alpha actually found: the more quality signals a cycle admits, the bigger its pot.
To date, USD5,000 has been awarded across two settled competitions, and USD41,000 is currently in live scoring — including our USD36,000 flagship pool.
New Here? What These Competitions Are
AlphaNova runs quantitative signal forecasting competitions on factor-hedged residuals. Participants submit a Python Predictor class that ranks assets by expected future returns.
Submissions are evaluated walk-forward and out-of-sample using the Sharpe ratio. A greedy quality selection process admits only uncorrelated, overfit-filtered signals — so a competition's prize pool grows only when genuine, distinct alpha is found.
Competitions are free to enter, and participants retain full intellectual property.
For the full breakdown of format, evaluation rules, and admission criteria, see How AlphaNova Competitions Work. New to the field itself? Read How to Become a Quant for context on how signal research careers and competitions fit together.
How the Competition Cycle Works
Competitions run on a fixed, rolling schedule:
- New competitions open on the 1st and 15th of every month.
- Submissions stay open for two weeks. When one competition closes, the next opens immediately — so there is always an active competition.
- Closed competitions enter a one-month live scoring window. The window ends exactly one month later, on the same calendar day: a competition that closes on the 1st settles on the 1st, and one that closes on the 15th settles on the 15th.
- Prizes are paid at settlement, in cash or stablecoin.
Each biweekly pot starts at up to USD2,500 plus carry-over from previous cycles, and grows with the number of quality signals admitted.
This is a summary. For the complete rules and evaluation methodology, see How AlphaNova Competitions Work.
The Scoreboard
✅ Settled — Biweekly #1 and #2 — USD5,000 awarded
⏳ Live scoring — Biweekly #3 and #4, plus our flagship competition (Competition 5) — USD41,000 at stake
🟢 Open now — Biweekly #5 — up to USD2,500 + carry-over
Competition 5 — our large USD36,000 pool — remains in live scoring.
Biweekly #1 Winners
Our first biweekly competition is settled. Congratulations to the top three:
🥇 clearcutmeal — USD1,500
🥈 entrenchedkingmaker — USD625
🥉 TaroKogawa — USD375
Taro Kogawa, who came in third, also sat down with us for our Meet the Minds behind the Models series. You can read that interview here: Meet the Minds behind the Models — Taro Kogawa
Biweekly #2 Winners
🥇 radiant-allomancer — USD1,500
🥈 overbearingconfidence — USD625
🥉 cookedjay — USD375
Congratulations to the winners — and to everyone climbing the leaderboard.
What's Next
Biweekly #5 is open now. Submissions close November 1st, when its one-month live scoring window begins. It settles on December 1st.
Coming up:
Biweekly #5 — Open now · Closes November 1 · Settles December 1
Biweekly #6 — Opens November 1 · Closes November 15 · Settles December 15
Biweekly #3 — Live scoring concludes November 1
Biweekly #4 — Live scoring concludes November 15
Every two weeks, a new pool opens — and the more quality signals a cycle admits, the bigger its pot.
Think your model can climb it? Join the competition here.
Frequently Asked Questions
When do new competitions open?
New competitions open on the 1st and 15th of every month. When one competition closes, the next opens immediately — so there is always an active competition.
How long is the live scoring window?
Exactly one month. A competition that closes on the 1st settles on the 1st of the following month; one that closes on the 15th settles on the 15th of the following month.
How are prizes paid?
At settlement, in cash or stablecoin. There is no staking requirement, no token volatility, and no lock-up period.
Is there an entry fee?
No. Competitions are free to enter, and participants retain full intellectual property over their submissions.
How are winners chosen?
Signals are evaluated walk-forward and out-of-sample using the Sharpe ratio. A greedy quality selection process admits only uncorrelated, overfit-filtered signals — so prize pools grow only when genuine, distinct alpha is found. For the full methodology, see How AlphaNova Competitions Work.
Can I enter more than one competition at a time?
Yes. Biweekly competitions overlap by design — a submission in one cycle does not prevent you from submitting in another. Many participants maintain an evolving signal pipeline that they refine across cycles.
AlphaNova runs biweekly quant competitions on factor-hedged residuals. Submissions run for two weeks, followed by a one-month live window that decides the result. New competitions open on the 1st and 15th of every month.