The "colo provider" role is just rent collection from HFT customers. It's 100% derived from their exchange business. It's an interesting idea, but don't think

The "colo provider" role is just rent collection from HFT customers. It's 100% derived from their exchange business. It's an interesting idea, but don't think you can segregate their exchange role from their authorship or standardization of financial instruments. Any exchange is either creating products to trade or licensing them. Any commodity exchange is naturally interested in setting contract standards related to delivery and quality. They are an exchange, through and through. Everything else is a side project in support of that one role.