Nasdaq has recently made a major move. In December last year, they submitted an application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to change the trading hours of stocks and ETPs to a 5×23 model—simply put, five days a week, 23 hours a day.

How exactly is it divided? It’s split into two segments: daytime from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time, and nighttime from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. the next day, with a 1-hour window reserved for system maintenance. If approved, it is expected to go live in the second half of 2026.

Why do this? The reason is straightforward—there’s a surge in demand from investors in Asia and other time zones, and the 7×24 trading mode of the crypto market is extremely attractive to them. Nasdaq is essentially trying to attract more trading volume and keep these funds flowing on their platform.

A deeper consideration is asset tokenization. As more traditional securities go on-chain, the digital asset market will inevitably achieve round-the-clock trading. This is an unavoidable trend. Nasdaq’s proactive approach is actually preparing for the future.

The benefits of extended trading hours are also quite clear. First, liquidity will surge—currently, trading volume during non-traditional hours has increased from an average of 700 million shares per day in 2021 to over 1.7 billion shares in early 2025. Extending trading hours will definitely push overall trading volume even higher. Investors can react faster, reducing overnight gap risks, and price discovery efficiency will improve.

Secondly, it will truly create a continuous global market. Covering multiple time zones, increasing participation from overseas funds, and strengthening the 'funds siphoning' effect of U.S. stocks. Investors worldwide will be able to trade U.S. stocks during their local time, which is a huge boon for market liquidity.