Stock Squad
StockSquad transforms the complex world of stock trading into a high-stakes fantasy sports experience, allowing users to compete in real-time market simulations. By integrating live exchange data with a scalable microservices architecture, we created a platform that bridges the gap between gaming and financial education.
Problem Statement
The retail investing landscape is often intimidating for beginners, characterized by high entry barriers and the risk of significant capital loss during the learning phase. Existing market simulators lacked the "adrenaline" and social competition found in fantasy sports, resulting in low user retention. The challenge was to build a platform that could process thousands of concurrent data points from live market tickers without latency, ensuring a fair and "to-the-second" competitive environment.
Solution
We engineered a robust Stock Fantasy Engine that mirrors real-world market volatility. By leveraging live stock price ticker APIs and a custom-built leaderboard algorithm, users can "Buy" or "Sell" virtual positions within specific "Squads." The solution utilizes an automated scaling infrastructure to handle the massive traffic spikes that occur during market opening and closing hours, providing a seamless, real-time gaming experience.
<200 ms
Data Latency
99.9%
Uptime
10k+
Concurrent Users
Auto-Elastic
Scalability
Tech Stack
Project Timeline
Discovery & API Integration
Phase 1Researching high-frequency stock APIs and mapping data structures for IND 50 and US Stocks.
Microservices Development
Phase 2Building decoupled services for user authentication, wallet management, and the core "Squad" engine.
Real-Time Leaderboard Logic
Phase 3Implementing WebSocket connections to push live price updates and rank changes to the UI instantly.
Load Testing & Deployment
Phase 4Simulating heavy traffic loads to calibrate auto-scaling triggers on the load balancer.
Created By
The team's ability to handle complex financial data and translate it into a seamless gaming experience was impressive. Our users love the real-time feedback, and the system hasn't blinked even during the busiest market days. They didn't just build an app; they built a high-performance engine.
Rushabh P.
Founder, StockSquad
Technical Architecture: Microservices & Auto-Scaling
To ensure the app remains responsive during peak trading hours, we opted for a Microservices Architecture. This allowed us to isolate the "Live Price Service" from the "User Profile Service."
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Load Balancer: Distributes incoming traffic across multiple instances.
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Auto-Scaling: Automatically provisions new server resources when CPU usage exceeds 70%, ensuring the app never crashes during a market rally.
Game Mechanics & User Experience
The UI was designed to feel familiar to fantasy sports players while maintaining financial credibility.
- Sector Selection: Users can filter stocks by industry (IT, Telecom, Auto) to build a diversified "Squad."
- Point System: Values are derived from real-time price movements ($PT.BUY$ and $PT.SELL$), making the simulation 100% accurate to market conditions.
Goals
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Real-Time Accuracy: Maintain zero-lag synchronization with live NSE/BSE and US Market prices.
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High Availability: Ensure the platform remains stable during high-volatility events.
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User Engagement: Create a competitive "Winner's Circle" to incentivize daily participation.
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Seamless Transactions: Build a secure virtual wallet system for entry fees and prize distributions.
Challenges & Conclusion
The Challenge: The primary technical hurdle was the "Thundering Herd" problemâwhere thousands of users request leaderboard updates simultaneously at the exact second a market candle closes. Initially, this caused database bottlenecks. We overcame this by implementing a Redis caching layer that pre-calculated rankings, reducing direct database queries by 85%.
Conclusion: StockSquad successfully bridges the gap between fintech and entertainment. By utilizing a sophisticated tech stack and real-time data processing, we delivered a platform that is not only fun but serves as a high-fidelity training ground for the next generation of investors.
