The Nasdaq is pushing forward with what seems like a "technical" matter, but one with far-reaching implications.
It plans to submit documents to the SEC to formally advance U.S. stock trading to five days a week, nearly around the clock. The trading hours will extend from the current 16 hours to 23 hours, leaving only 1 hour for system maintenance and clearing. This is not a pilot discussion, but the first step into the regulatory process, with a target timeline pointing to the second half of 2026.
If we look at the surface, this is to meet the global investors' demand for trading U.S. stocks.
The U.S. stock market accounts for nearly two-thirds of the global market value, with foreign investors holding $17 trillion in U.S. stocks, and the world does not only wake up on New York time.
But more importantly, this is a structural change.
First, the U.S. stock market is further transforming into a "global asset."
The extension of trading hours essentially acknowledges that pricing power is no longer entirely held by domestic U.S. funds, but is a continuous process across time zones.
Second, traditional finance is actively approaching validated models in the crypto market.
7×24 is not a new concept; it has just been happening in off-exchange, ATS, and non-mainstream systems in the past. Now, major exchanges are preparing to bring it back into a centralized system.
Of course, opposing voices are also clear.
Wall Street banks worry about liquidity being diluted, volatility being amplified, and return structures being uncertain. These concerns are not unfounded, as every instance of "transaction continuity" will face these issues.
But one thing is already irreversible:
When price discovery is no longer segmented by the bell, the market will shift from the rhythm of "opening-closing" to a state of "continuous pricing."
This is not simply delayed trading,
but rather financial markets adapting to a truly globalized, information-uninterrupted world. $BTC $ETH $
