SEC Roundtable Eyes 24/7 Trading — Crypto Markets Say "Finally, Someone Gets It" 🌙

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission convened a Thursday roundtable at its Washington, D.C., headquarters to examine extending securities trading beyond traditional weekday hours, an expansion Chairman Paul Atkins described as "moving of course to a new day — and night." The event came roughly one hour after the regulator issued an order enabling tokenized securities trading under a new exemption with a five-year period during which participating firms are shielded from the full weight of existing securities regulation.

Atkins told the audience of securities lawyers that tradeable events are not constrained to market hours, and that extending the timeline would mean "investors will be able to react more quickly to events." He tied the discussion of expanded hours to the agency's tokenization initiative, stating, "I believe that tokenization holds the potential to help the securities industry achieve a real-time inventory management, which could drive efficiency, reduce settlement failures, mitigate the risk of abusive naked short selling, with the goal of eliminating that possibility altogether." Atkins added that he has "asked the staff to consider what steps can be taken to dovetail a growth-friendly environment with protections against harmful market behavior."

Commissioner Hester Peirce framed the proposed shift in blunt terms, noting that "Crypto markets certainly don't sleep." Peirce acknowledged that firms may be concerned that expanding their trading hours could contribute to wider spreads, increased price volatility, reduced time to address technology issues, and complications in monitoring transactions. Atkins and other commissioners likewise said that moving U.S. securities markets beyond their weekday, daytime tradition will require significant adjustments.

CoinDesk reported the roundtable as part of its ongoing coverage of the SEC's market structure work, and separately announced that its annual Policy and Regulation summit will be held on Sept. 22 in Washington, D.C., featuring SEC Crypto Task Force Chief Counsel Taylor Lindman.