Nasdaq Overnight Trading Plan Echoes Crypto's Round-the-Clock Model

Nasdaq plans to add overnight stock trading from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. ET starting December 2026, subject to SEC approval. The proposal would push the exchange to a 23-hour trading day, five days a week, with a one-hour daily pause for processing.

BitGo CEO Mike Belshe and crypto analyst Nate Geraci said the move shows traditional markets are absorbing ideas that crypto exchanges have used for years. “Even if you are skeptical about crypto, you can’t deny our industry’s innovations have already made real change in traditional markets,” Belshe wrote.

The overnight session runs from 9 p.m. Sunday through 8 p.m. Friday. The core 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. window remains the primary pricing session. Opening and closing crosses still set official prices. Some order types, including unpriced market orders and opening and closing auction orders, won’t be available overnight. Orders still open at 4 a.m. get canceled automatically. Nasdaq Texas, PSX, and Nasdaq’s options exchanges keep their current schedules.

Geraci posted on X that traditional exchanges are now “playing by crypto’s rules.” He predicted major exchanges could eventually move toward 24/7 trading. Belshe pointed to longer stock-market hours, perpetual futures, stablecoins, and tokenized loans as examples of crypto ideas finding applications in traditional finance.

The comparison follows a rapid expansion of crypto platforms into traditional assets. A CryptoQuant report showed 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, though activity remains concentrated in technology and semiconductor-related names.

Tokenized equities are another part of the shift. Nasdaq has been working with Kraken on tokenized stocks, with Kraken’s xStocks infrastructure intended to support Nasdaq issuer-sponsored equity tokens. Bybit recently added Meta and Tesla xStocks as the tokenized equities market hit $1.48 billion. Bybit Adds Meta, Tesla xStocks as Tokenized Equities Hit $1.48B

Stablecoins are also moving deeper into mainstream payments. PayPal reported $486.4 billion in payment volume for the second quarter and placed stablecoins under its expanded digital asset strategy. Its PYUSD stablecoin has about $2.75 billion in supply, down from more than $4 billion in March. The entire stablecoin market cap stands 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. “Even if you are skeptical about crypto,” Belshe wrote, “you can’t deny our industry’s innovations have already made real change in traditional markets.”