Nasdaq's "Never Close" Experiment: Can a 23-Hour Trading System Disrupt the U.S. Stock Market Ecosystem?

Is US stock trading also going to become 7×24? This rumor has been spreading since mid-December 2025, stirring up the global capital markets. On December 15, Nasdaq officially submitted an application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), planning to extend trading hours from the current five days a week, 16 hours a day, to five days, 23 hours.

It seems like just an extra 7 hours, but what’s hidden behind it is far more than the surface “convenience for Asian investors.”

From 16 hours to 23 hours: Why is that last 1 hour being kept?

If US stocks truly open for 23 hours of trading, what would happen to traders’ daily routines?

According to Nasdaq’s plan, once approved, US stocks will start trading at 21:00 on Sunday night and continue until 20:00 on Friday night. This means — only 1 hour per week (Friday 20:00-21:00) will be completely closed.

But that 1 hour isn’t arbitrarily scheduled. During this seemingly awkward gap, traders need to maintain systems, conduct technical tests, and complete trade settlements. This isn’t Nasdaq’s whim, but a “hard constraint” of the entire traditional financial system.

Brokerages need to operate customer service, risk control, and trading maintenance systems around the clock; clearing agencies (like DTCC) must upgrade their settlement systems accordingly; listed companies need to revisit financial disclosures and major event reporting schedules. All these roles must deeply transform their process systems. The key issue is that, under a centralized clearing and settlement model, there must be a physical downtime period for data synchronization and margin settlement.

It’s like bank branches still need to do reconciliation after hours — no matter how advanced the technology, this step cannot be bypassed.

In contrast, cryptocurrencies and tokenized assets rely on blockchain’s decentralized ledgers and atomic settlement via smart contracts, inherently supporting 7×24×365 trading. No closing hours, no need for market halts, and no need to cram critical processes into a fixed end-of-day window. This highlights a fundamental point: Nasdaq’s strenuous push to the limit isn’t a sudden epiphany, but a forced necessity.

As the boundary between crypto markets and traditional finance blurs, the demand for cross-timezone global capital flow liquidity grows stronger. Extending trading hours isn’t just an “innovation,” but a passive and active defensive move.

How will 23-hour trading impact the market?

Honestly, “5×23” won’t automatically lead to better price discovery. In fact, it could be a double-edged sword.

The first concern is liquidity fragmentation. Theoretically, extending trading hours can attract more cross-timezone capital. But in reality, limited trading demand gets spread over a longer timeline. Especially since trading volume during nighttime hours is usually lower than during regular hours, extending hours may widen bid-ask spreads, deplete liquidity, and cause trading costs to spike. In low-liquidity periods, pump-and-dump schemes become easier.

The second risk involves changes in price-setting power structure. Data from NYSE shows that in Q2 2025, trading volume outside regular hours (pre-market and after-hours) exceeded 2 billion shares, with a transaction value of $62 billion, accounting for 11.5% of all US stock trading that quarter — a record high. What does this indicate? Retail and institutional investors are finding new liquidity pools on night trading platforms like Blue Ocean and OTC Moon. Nasdaq’s 23-hour trading model essentially aims to bring these scattered off-market orders back on exchange, but the liquidity fragmentation problem isn’t solved — it’s just shifted from “off-market dispersal” to “on-market time-slicing.”

The third danger is the amplification of black swan events. Under a 23-hour framework, sudden events (such as earnings misses, regulatory statements, geopolitical conflicts) can be instantly converted into trading orders. The market no longer has the buffer of “sleeping on it overnight.” In the relatively thin liquidity environment of night trading, such immediate reactions are more likely to trigger gaps and violent volatility. The risk isn’t necessarily smaller or larger, but risks previously dispersed across different periods are now concentrated within the same market framework.

This is why some say that 23-hour trading isn’t just “opening a few extra hours,” but a systemic stress test on traditional price discovery mechanisms, liquidity structures, and the distribution of pricing power.

This isn’t an isolated event, but part of a grand strategy

Connecting Nasdaq’s recent moves reveals a clear strategic roadmap.

May 2024 — US stock settlement system shortens from T+2 to T+1. It looks like just a technical upgrade, but it actually lays the groundwork for future reforms.

Early 2025 — Nasdaq begins signaling “around-the-clock trading,” planning to launch continuous trading five days a week in the second half of 2026.

September of the same year — Nasdaq officially submits a stock “tokenization” trading application to the SEC. In November, tokenized US stocks are announced as a top strategic priority, with plans to “accelerate deployment.”

Concurrent developments — On December 12, DTCC’s subsidiary, Depository Trust Company (DTC), receives a no-objection letter from the SEC, approving its provision of real-world asset tokenization services in a controlled production environment, with plans to launch in the second half of 2026.

Latest progress — On December 15, Nasdaq submitted an application for 23-hour trading.

Do you see the pattern? This isn’t coincidence but a highly coordinated, continuous institutional effort. While the SEC relaxes regulatory constraints, it also continuously signals “full on-chain” expectations through high-level interviews; DTCC addresses clearing and custody compliance issues; Nasdaq takes the lead in breaking through trading system reforms.

These three threads converge toward a clear goal: stocks will eventually circulate, settle, and price like tokens.

To achieve this, Nasdaq is choosing a “gentle” path of reform. Starting from T+2 to T+1, then from 16 hours to 23 hours, then integrating blockchain technology for automated margin management (the Calypso system’s blockchain integration is this step), and finally launching tokenized US stocks. Each step paves the way for the next.

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins once said in an interview that tokenization is the future of capital markets, and that putting securities on-chain can achieve clearer ownership rights. He even predicted that, “within about 2 years, all US markets will migrate to on-chain operations, achieving on-chain settlement”.

This isn’t just a personal opinion but a new direction for the entire financial system.

Pandora’s box has been opened

Once users get accustomed to 23-hour trading, new demands will emerge: why not 24 hours? Why not trade on weekends? Why not settle instantly with USDT?

The answer to all these questions is simple: only native 7×24 tokenized assets can meet these demands.

That’s why you see players like Coinbase, Ondo, Robinhood racing — they all see the same direction. Nasdaq’s push for 23 hours is essentially teasing global investors, fueling their desire for “seamless, never-closing” trading.

When this demand is activated, the traditional financial system will face its ultimate test. And the last remaining 1 hour will eventually be filled by a 7×24 world of tokenized assets.

The time left for traditional stock exchanges is running out.