Momentum Is Building Toward Round-the-Clock Equity Trading

For as long as technology and communications have made it feasible, currencies and derivatives could be traded around the clock. Cryptocurrency was invented on and for the perpetual-motion internet. But stock markets held to traditional business hours.

Seemingly in a flash, major equity exchanges are gearing up for near-24-hour days. While the New York Stock Exchange Group and Nasdaq are anticipating extended hours by the second half of 2026, operational preparations are accompanied by questions and concerns around institutional participation, liquidity, settlement processes and counterparty risks.

The current movement started in the off-exchange world of alternative trading systems. The Blue Ocean ATS, launched in 2021 by Blue Ocean Technologies, catered to Asian traders between 8:00 pm and 4:00 am ET (New York time). Alliances with South Korean brokerages, and later the Tokyo Stock Exchange, accelerated the ATS’s growth, and firms such as Interactive Brokers, Charles Schwab Corp. and Robinhood Markets partnered with Blue Ocean when launching or enhancing their 24-hour services.

Dmitri Galinov of 24X National Exchange

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