[The 24-Hour Trading Era Is Coming] The US Opens the "Market That Never Sleeps"... Major Countries Follow

"The markets never sleep. Should trading?"

This is the slogan of NASDAQ in the United States, which is set to launch 24-hour stock trading in the second half of next year.

Reuters Yonhap News

According to the financial investment industry on November 11, NASDAQ is not the only exchange signaling the dawn of an era in which stocks can be traded around the clock. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has also announced plans to operate for 22 hours a day around the same time, while major exchanges in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, and Germany are also concretely expanding their trading hours. The Korea Exchange has likewise stated its intention to extend trading hours to "8 to 8" (12 hours) within this year, and to gradually adopt a 24-hour trading system in stages.

The reason major exchanges are preparing for 24-hour trading goes beyond the simple increase in retail investors; it is rooted in a 'structural change.' As blockchain technology breaks down the boundaries between digital assets and traditional assets, global financial assets are rapidly becoming real-time, borderless, and tokenized. Virtual assets, including Bitcoin, are already traded 24 hours a day.

Brandon Tepper, Senior Vice President at NASDAQ, explained, "The expansion of global investment demand, the rise of digital-centric investing, and advancements in trading technology are prompting exchanges worldwide to reconsider their traditional operating hours. This demonstrates the structural transformation of global markets." Some experts point out that if the United States, which hosts the world’s largest stock market, adopts a 24-hour system as early as next year, other countries will have little choice but to follow quickly to maintain their own market competitiveness.

Song Kimyung, Executive Director of the KOSPI Market Division at the Korea Exchange, emphasized, "The sooner we transition to a 24-hour system, the better, because tokenization is progressing rapidly worldwide. No one can deny that moving toward a 24-hour trading system is the right direction-it is just a matter of speed." This suggests that, amid increasingly fierce global liquidity competition, adopting 24-hour trading may become a matter of survival, not choice, for exchanges.

Lee Hyoseop, Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Capital Market Institute, commented, "There is no reason for Korea to rush ahead, but the global trend toward 24-hour trading is inevitable." While acknowledging concerns in the market about liquidity fragmentation, market distortion, low efficiency relative to investment, and operational risks, he advised, "We should move forward sequentially, but strategy is crucial in this process. With the ongoing integration of blockchain into traditional securities markets, it is time for new visions and strategies to be presented."