New York Stock Exchange wants to mimic Bitcoin

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the world’s largest securities trading organization by market capitalization, is considering changing its trading hours to resemble those of cryptocurrencies, providing investors the option to trade stocks 24/7.

According to a Financial Times story published on Monday, Intercontinental Exchange, the company that owns the New York Stock Exchange, reportedly conducted a survey of its members to study the advantages of implementing uninterrupted trading hours. Apparently, the result was enormous interest among the participants.

The survey addressed issues such as participants’ tendencies toward seven-day-a-week night trading and their thoughts on staffing for these hours, as well as how investors should be protected from price fluctuations, according to reports.

While traders have engaged in stock transactions during night trading hours via online financial services apps, exchanges have retained traditional trading hours for decades.

For the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), located on Wall Street and boasting over 230 years of history, these established Monday through Friday hours are marked by a bell. The trading day starts at 9:30 a.m. and ends at 4:00 p.m. (local time).

Traditional stock exchanges are looking to imitate cryptocurrencies

The Financial Times report notes that the proposal to extend trading hours has been gaining momentum in recent years due to the popularization of digital finance and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which are tradable around the clock, every day of the year, without time constraints or holidays.

This change was also driven by an increase in small investors during and after the Covid-19 pandemic, the aforementioned publication noted.

“The pandemic and 24/7 cryptocurrency trading transformed the world. Now, everyone has the infrastructure and support necessary for overnight trading,” Brian Hyndman, CEO of Blue Ocean, an overnight trading provider, explained to the Financial Times in December.

The NYSE, also known as ‘The Big Board,’ is not alone in targeting this change. 24 Exchange, a startup backed by billionaire hedge fund manager Steve Cohen, is already making moves to be the first exchange to allow 24/7 trading.

“Anyone who wants to trade cryptocurrencies 24/7 would also want to trade Apple or Microsoft 24/7,” said 24 Exchange founder and CEO Dmitri Galin.

24 Exchange has filed its application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which still has several months to issue a decision on the proposal.

Meanwhile, in Brazil, São Paulo-based exchange B3 has signaled its intention to enable late-night hours for investors to trade some of its assets, such as Bitcoin futures contracts, local media reported in January.