Wall Street is coming for crypto’s one true advantage: markets that never sleep
For years, crypto’s killer feature wasn’t decentralization or censorship resistance. It was the simple fact that you could trade Bitcoin at 3 AM on a Sunday. Wall Street is now working overtime, literally, to close that gap.
Nasdaq, NYSE Arca, and Cboe are all pushing toward 23-hour trading sessions for US equities, a structural overhaul that would transform markets built around the quaint notion that trading should only happen between 9:30 AM and 4 PM Eastern.
The race to stay open
Nasdaq secured SEC approval on April 10, 2026, for what it’s calling “Global Trading Hours,” a 23-hours-a-day, five-days-a-week trading window. The exchange is targeting a Q3 2026 rollout.
NYSE Arca isn’t far behind. The exchange has penciled in December 6, 2026, as the launch date for its own 23-hour trading session, contingent on final regulatory sign-off. Cboe is pursuing similar extended-hours capabilities.
The DTCC’s National Securities Clearing Corporation, the entity that actually settles stock trades, is upgrading its clearing infrastructure by mid-2026 to support these marathon trading days.
Retail got there first
Charles Schwab now offers 24/5 trading across more than 1,100 stocks and ETFs, a feature it rolled out during 2024 and 2025.
The difference is scale and market structure. Retail platforms offering after-hours trading typically route orders through alternative trading systems with thinner liquidity and wider spreads. When Nasdaq and NYSE go 23 hours, it means the primary exchanges themselves are open, with full order books and the kind of liquidity institutional players require.
The driving force behind this expansion is global demand, particularly from the Asia-Pacific region. When it’s mid-afternoon in Tokyo or Sydney, US markets are dark. That forces international investors to either wait or trade through less liquid channels.
Where crypto and TradFi converge
The NYSE is taking things a step further with a blockchain-based tokenized securities platform designed to enable genuine 24/7 trading and instant settlement for US stocks and ETFs.
Overnight trading volumes are projected to climb to as much as 10% of total market activity by 2028 as these structural changes take effect.
For the crypto market specifically, TradFi’s embrace of continuous trading validates the infrastructure model that crypto pioneered. It also creates a more natural bridge between traditional and digital asset markets, as tokenized securities blur the boundary between the two worlds.
Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
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