The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will hold a public roundtable on September 17 to discuss preparations for 24-hour trading in U.S. stock markets.
The meeting will bring together representatives from Robinhood, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), BlackRock, Nasdaq, Jane Street, Charles Schwab, DTCC, Citadel Securities, Citi and other major financial firms, according to the SEC’s official agenda.
The discussion will focus on exchange and broker readiness, overnight surveillance, settlement, cybersecurity, market-data continuity and liquidity during longer trading hours. The government agency will also look at what infrastructure would be needed if U.S. markets eventually move toward 24/7 trading.
SEC Prepares for a 24-Hour Trading Market
The September 17 roundtable will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET at the SEC’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., and will also be streamed online.
The first panel will focus on whether exchanges, brokers and market infrastructure are ready for 24-hour trading. The second will examine cybersecurity, system capacity, failover planning and shorter maintenance windows. A final panel will discuss liquidity, capital formation and possible future expansion toward 24×7 markets.
SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said in July that U.S. equity markets are moving toward longer trading hours as investors increasingly expect access outside the traditional session.
The SEC has not announced a rule requiring stocks to trade around the clock. Instead, the roundtable comes as exchanges and brokers are already expanding access beyond regular U.S. market hours.
Overnight Trading Still Makes Up Just 0.2% of Volume
Traditional U.S. stock trading remains centered around the regular session from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET.
Extended-hours trading already accounts for about 11% of total daily U.S. equity volume, according to Nasdaq. However, true overnight trading between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m. represents only about 0.2% of total equity market volume.
Most extended-hours activity still happens shortly before or after the regular session, where liquidity is generally deeper than during the overnight period.
The small share of overnight volume is one of the main challenges for a near-continuous market. Lower activity can lead to wider spreads and larger price moves when fewer buyers and sellers are available.
24-Hour Stock Trading Versus Crypto Trading
Crypto markets already trade continuously, while U.S. stocks are moving toward longer weekday sessions rather than full 24/7 access.
| Market or Platform | Trading Availability |
| U.S. stock regular session | 9:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. ET |
| Nasdaq | Moving toward 23 hours a day, 5 days a week |
| Robinhood 24 Hour Market | 24 hours a day, 5 days a week for select stocks and ETFs |
| Crypto markets (i.e., Bitget, Binance, OKX) | 24 hours a day, 7 days a week |
Table 1. U.S. Stock Trading Hours vs. Crypto
Nasdaq plans to introduce a new overnight session from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. ET on December 6, 2026, as part of a move toward 23-hour weekday trading.
Notably, Robinhood already lets customers trade select stocks and ETFs 24 hours a day, five days a week, from Sunday evening through Friday evening.
Crypto markets remain different because Bitcoin and other digital assets continue trading through weekends and holidays. However, offshore crypto exchanges like Bitget have been expanding into TradFi assets since late 2025 and already offer 24/7 trading in stock futures or spot and 24/5 in CFDs (i.e., precious metals, indices, forex, and commodities) on their platform.
Which Markets Are Moving Toward Longer Trading Hours?
Several exchanges and platforms are already preparing for near-continuous stock trading.
| Exchange or Platform | Status |
| Nasdaq | 23-hour weekday trading scheduled to begin Dec. 6, 2026 |
| NYSE Arca | Preparing to expand to extended overnight trading |
| Robinhood | Already offers 24/5 trading on select securities |
| 24X National Exchange | SEC-approved national exchange designed to support overnight trading |
| Crypto exchanges (i.e., Bitget, Binance, OKX) | 24/7 trading is already the standard, with traditional assets being expanded and continually developed |
Table 2. U.S. Markets Moving Toward 24-Hour Trading
NYSE Arca received SEC approval to extend trading hours and is targeting a 2026 launch. Its planned schedule includes an overnight session from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. ET, followed by early, core and late sessions.
The SEC approved 24X National Exchange in 2024, which marked the first step toward allowing overnight trading on a national securities exchange.
Nasdaq is also extending the operating schedule of market-data systems to support 23-hour trading, including a planned one-hour maintenance window each evening.
What Comes Next
The September 17 roundtable will focus on what still needs to change before longer trading hours become more common across U.S. stock markets.
Liquidity remains one of the main issues, as overnight trading currently accounts for only 0.2% of U.S. equity volume, while exchanges, clearing firms and market-data systems also need to operate for longer periods with less time available for maintenance.
Nasdaq’s December launch and NYSE Arca’s planned expansion will provide early tests of whether investors actually use near-continuous stock trading at scale.
What this means for you: U.S. stocks are moving closer to the always-open model familiar to crypto traders, but 24-hour stock trading still largely means weekday access, not true 24/7 markets. Overnight sessions may also have lower liquidity and wider price spreads than regular trading hours.
