Nasdaq Embraces Crypto-Style Trading With 23-Hour Market Plan

Nasdaq plans to add overnight stock trading from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. ET in December 2026, subject to SEC approval and other technical requirements.

BitGo CEO Mike Belshe and crypto analyst Nate Geraci say the move shows traditional markets are adopting ideas that crypto exchanges have used for years.

Nasdaq Plans 23-Hour Trading Five Days a Week

Nasdaq is seeking regulatory approval to run a nearly continuous trading week, 23 hours a day, five days a week. The plan adds an overnight session from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. ET, on top of the extended hours Nasdaq already runs, from 4 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m, with the core 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. session staying the primary pricing window, and the opening and closing crosses still setting official prices.

The overnight session runs from 9 p.m. Sunday through 8 p.m. Friday, with a one-hour daily pause for processing. Nasdaq is targeting Sunday, December 6, 2026, for the launch, pending SEC approval and readiness of the industry’s Securities Information Processor.

Some order types, including unpriced market orders and opening and closing auction orders, won’t be available overnight, and any order still open at 4 a.m. gets canceled automatically. Nasdaq Texas, PSX, and Nasdaq’s options exchanges keep their current schedules.

Geraci posted his reaction to the announcement, writing on X that traditional finance exchanges are now “playing by crypto’s rules” and predicted that major exchanges could eventually move toward 24/7 trading.

Belshe made a similar argument. He pointed to longer stock-market hours, perpetual futures, stablecoins, and tokenized loans as examples of crypto ideas that are finding applications in traditional finance.

“Even if you are skeptical about crypto,” the BitGo CEO wrote, “you can’t deny our industry’s innovations have already made real change in traditional markets.”

Crypto Markets Already Trade Beyond Traditional Hours

The comparison comes as crypto platforms expand access to traditional assets, with a recent CryptoQuant report revealing that equity perpetual futures reached $250 billion in monthly volume in July, up from roughly $15 billion in April.

Binance accounted for about 76% of that activity. The products give traders exposure to selected stocks through contracts that trade continuously, although activity remains concentrated in technology and semiconductor-related names.

Tokenized equities are another part of the shift. As CryptoPotato reported earlier in the year, Nasdaq has been working with Kraken on tokenized stocks, with Kraken’s xStocks infrastructure intended to support Nasdaq issuer-sponsored equity tokens.

Stablecoins are also moving deeper into mainstream payments, with PayPal reporting $486.4 billion in payment volume for the second quarter and placing stablecoins under its expanded digital asset strategy. However, its PYUSD stablecoin has about $2.75 billion in supply, down from more than $4 billion in March, with the entire stablecoin market cap at just over $300 billion per DefiLlama.

Nasdaq’s move does not make stock markets 24/7. Still, its proposed 23-hour schedule puts a traditional exchange closer to the always-on model that crypto markets have operated under for years.