[subscribed]

Yeah, but we're thinking of systems where nanoseconds matter.

MiFID 2 alone forces sub-μs precision. Million times less than the leap 1 second.

NTP minute away is good for displaying date on the workstation, not for many of the devices that are critical to the modern world.

[dmurray]

MiFID 2 does not require nanosecond accuracy. It's something like 100 microseconds in the strictest case.

Some MiFID reports require microsecond or perhaps nanosecond precision, but that's really just a formatting requirement "please write your timestamps with six figures after the decimal point."

[subscribed]

I said, quote "MiFID 2 alone forces sub-μs precision", and not that it "requires nanoseconds accuracy". Put the strawman away.

It's not "something like 100μs", it's 100 times less: 1μs.

From a convenient QA:

> Algorithmic and high-frequency trading (HFT) firms must timestamp to 1 microsecond (μs) accuracy, synchronized to UTC. For venues and systematic internalisers executing algorithmic strategies, this microsecond-level precision is non-negotiable. Other investment firms trading on venues must achieve 1 millisecond (ms) accuracy.

No, precision means actually precision, not a length of a number.

[cyanydeez]

dont most systems that rely on sharp timing simply manage it themselves.

[subscribed]

Yesno.

Sure they have their own time servers fed from the GPS, but they need to be _accurate_ in relation to the world.

But timestamps used by companies forced to use very accurate timing must be synchronised to UTC.