Nasdaq is preparing to file paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to allow nearly 24-hour trading, aiming to match the increasingly global nature of financial markets and investor behavior, Reuters reported on Monday.
Under the proposal, Nasdaq would expand trading hours for stocks and exchange-traded products (ETPs) from 16 to 23 hours per day, five days a week. The new schedule would include a daytime session from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET, followed by a one-hour break, and then a night session from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. ET the next day. The trading week would begin on Sunday at 9 pm and close on Friday at 8 pm, with the existing opening and closing bells at 9:30 am and 4 pm remaining unchanged, Reuters said.
A Nasdaq representative confirmed the proposal to CoinDesk.
Most public cryptocurrency companies are listed on the Nasdaq exchange, including Coinbase (COIN), Robinhood (HOOD), and Strategy (MSTR), as well as many bitcoin mining companies, making those stocks more accessible to traders around the world.
“There’s been this trend toward globalization for some time and we’ve seen the U.S. markets themselves become much more global,” Chuck Mack, senior vice president of North American markets at Nasdaq, told Reuters.
The move follows earlier indications from both Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) that extending hours were being considered. Giang Bui, head of U.S. equities and exchange-traded products at Nasdaq, said in March that this shift is “where the markets are moving.” He also noted that Nasdaq had already been in talks with regulators at the time, while the NYSE has since received approval from the SEC for its own after-hours expansion.
Currently, US stock markets trade from 9:30 am to 4 pm ET, with limited pre- and post-market sessions. By contrast, cryptocurrencies trade 24/7, a dynamic that may have reshaped expectations among investors.
“There are several US brokers that already offer night trading because their clients are used to trading cryptocurrencies at those hours,” Bui said in March.
Trades executed between 9 pm and midnight during the night session will count towards the next calendar day, Nasdaq said. The new structure would allow broader access to U.S. markets across multiple time zones and could appeal to institutional and retail traders active in global or cryptocurrency markets.
An SEC filing is expected soon, according to the report.
