Headline: 24/7 Stock Trading Could Break the After-Hours “House Advantage” — Traders Stand to Win, Brokers May Lose
As U.S. exchanges race to offer round‑the‑clock markets, one clear winner could be retail and professional traders — while the middlemen who profit from market closures may be the biggest losers.
What’s changing
The NYSE has filed with the SEC for approval of 24/7 trading, Nasdaq announced similar plans in December, CME is targeting 24‑hour crypto futures in 2026 (pending approval), and Cboe has already expanded U.S. index options to 24/5. The industry shift would bring equities closer to crypto markets’ always‑on model and let traders react instantly to news instead of waiting for the next opening bell.
Why traders could benefit
Mati Greenspan, CEO and founder of Quantum Economics, told CoinDesk that continuous trading removes the weekend and after‑hours “vacuum” that has long advantaged brokers. “The biggest losers in 24/7 stock trading won’t be traders: they’ll benefit massively. It'll be the middlemen who’ve long made money when traders can’t trade,” he said. With markets open around the clock, firms and retail participants can respond in real time to geopolitical shocks, earnings, or macro surprises — the same edge crypto traders have enjoyed for years.
The after‑hours problem: thin liquidity and wider spreads
After the 4 p.m. ET close, liquidity thins and spreads widen, creating an environment where prices can be more easily moved. NYSE floor broker Joe Dente explained that with fewer participants and lower order book depth, “you’re going to see larger spreads” and exaggerated price moves compared with core hours. Academic work supports this: a joint UC Berkeley–University of Rochester study found after‑hours price discovery to be “much less efficient,” driven by lower volumes and thinner liquidity.
Allegations of coordinated price-setting
Greenspan and several market participants argue that when markets reopen after big events, a small set of firms can effectively determine the first tradable price — sometimes setting levels that trigger stop losses for clients. “They basically get to control prices, often with hours to strategize,” Greenspan said, bluntly characterizing some practices as “manipulation outright.” A broker familiar with overnight trading (who spoke anonymously) echoed that thin liquidity occasionally makes it easier for coordinated strategies to influence prices in less‑liquid stocks.
Where evidence exists — and where it doesn’t
Researchers have documented how pre‑open auctions and order‑cancellation strategies can distort opening prices. An SSRN study on opening‑price manipulation shows brokers can submit and cancel large orders to push prices temporarily away from fundamentals, producing inflated opens that later revert and leave buyers with losses. Regulators have also taken action: in late 2025 the SEC settled charges over a multi‑year spoofing scheme in thinly traded securities, and Velox Clearing paid $1.3 million for failing to detect layering and spoofing. FINRA’s 2026 oversight report cited firms for inadequate supervision of potentially manipulative after‑hours activity. Still, proving intent and coordination in many cases remains difficult — plausible deniability blurs the line between aggressive trading and outright manipulation.
Speed, algorithms, and the human disadvantage
Electronic markets favor speed. As Dente put it, “There’s always an edge for whoever has the fastest computers and the best program writers.” Algorithms can react in nanoseconds; human traders struggle to keep up. Under the current model, that speed gap is amplified when markets are shut and only a handful of players can set overnight reference prices. Continuous trading would lessen that asymmetric advantage by letting markets price in information immediately.
Crypto and DeFi show the demand for always‑on markets
The appetite for 24/7 trading is already visible in crypto and decentralized finance. Hyperliquid, a decentralized exchange that runs continuous markets, drew significant interest from traders during periods when traditional exchanges were closed — notably during recent Middle East tensions. The platform topped $50 billion in weekly derivatives volume and generated $1.6 million in 24‑hour revenue at one point, even launching an S&P 500 perpetual contract. Those figures highlight demand for weekend and night access to tradable exposure in oil, gold, equities and more.
Who benefits — and who gains from opening up?
If trading truly goes 24/7, traders (especially retail and algorithmic participants) are likely to gain: they can respond as events unfold rather than being pinned to opening‑price shocks. Exchanges also stand to gain from additional fee pools. Whether that erodes brokers’ pricing influence remains an open question — but the structural incentives that let a few players dominate after‑hours pricing would be weakened.
Bottom line
Round‑the‑clock trading promises to bring equities closer to the continuous nature of crypto markets, reducing the after‑hours vacuum that has historically created opportunities for price distortions and alleged coordination. For traders, especially those without an army of low‑latency tools, that could mean fairer, more immediate pricing. For the middlemen who profited from closure gaps, it could mark a major loss of advantage — and a reshaping of how modern markets operate.
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