Shinhan Invests in 24X, the Exchange Bringing U.S. Stocks Closer to 24/7
What Does Shinhan’s Investment Mean for 24X?
Shinhan Securities has taken a minority stake in 24X US Holdings, marking its first investment in a U.S. stock platform. The deal brings South Korea’s second-largest brokerage into the only SEC-approved venue cleared to operate U.S. equity trading for 23 hours per weekday. The move lands as Asian participation in U.S. mega-cap stocks continues to grow and as brokerages look for ways to serve customers who trade outside U.S. hours.
24X began operating in October with hours running from 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET. Pending final approvals and infrastructure updates, it plans to extend to a 23/5 schedule in the second half of 2026, staying open from Sunday evening through Friday evening with a one-hour daily maintenance window. The platform, founded by electronic-trading veteran Dmitri Galinov, has marketed itself as the first U.S. national platform built for a global audience used to non-stop markets.
Shinhan’s stake follows a similar investment by Japan’s Rakuten Securities in May. With demand for U.S. equities rising across Asia, the two deals signal growing interest in securing access to extended-hour execution. Korean and Japanese retail traders frequently transact in U.S. giants such as Nvidia, Tesla and Apple late at night; longer hours would allow them to trade during daytime at home.
Galinov welcomed the backing from Shinhan and Rakuten, saying the investment will assist expand 24X’s presence. “This significant investment will advance our mission to deliver enhanced liquidity, transparency, and efficiency to traders in U.S. equities wherever they may be based,” he said.
Investor Takeaway
Why Is the Market Moving Toward Near-24-Hour Equity Trading?
The idea of continuous equity markets has been circulating for more than a decade. Crypto to 24/7 price discovery, removing the concept of “market hours.” At the identical time, global retail interest in U.S. stocks increased sharply later than 2020, with Asian investors becoming a steady source of liquidity in U.S. large-cap names.
Nasdaq and the NYSE offer pre-market and later than-hours windows, but they are limited and fragmented. Several sessions, yet none pursued national-platform status with a near-continuous schedule. The SEC’s approval of 24X marked a break from long-standing reluctance rooted in concerns about clearing cycles, overnight supervision and the risk of thin liquidity during quiet periods.
Changes in clearing technology have reduced some of these worries, especially as settlement cycles shorten and reconciliation tools improve. Advocates of longer hours argue that a global investor base and round-the-clock news cycles make rigid U.S. trading windows outdated.
How Does Asian Demand Tie Into the 24X Model?
Shinhan and Rakuten’s involvement reflects Asia’s growing influence on U.S. market flow. Korean regulators regularly report record ownership of offshore equities, while have expanded fractional-share programs and low-cost access to U.S. stocks. Taiwan and Singapore show similar patterns, with younger investors through mobile apps.
Access to 24X’s liquidity pool could give Asian brokers an advantage: clients would no longer need to stay awake past midnight to trade U.S. earnings events or macro releases. It would also make price discovery more responsive to news in Asia and Europe, tightening the feedback loop between regions.
For 24X, ahead alignment with Asian builds a user base that is already accustomed to active cross-border trading and may assist ensure deeper liquidity during non-traditional U.S. hours.
Investor Takeaway
What Comes Next for 24X and the Future of Market Hours?
Galinov has a history of building high-speed trading platforms, including quickMatch, the FX matching engine later bought by Euronext. 24X follows the identical pattern: expand access, cut costs and reach traders beyond traditional market boundaries.
The platform traces part of its origins to Bermuda, where it developed extended-hour FX and digital-asset platforms. Moving into regulated U.S. equities marks an escalation of that model, with ambitions to challenge the entrenched dominance of Nasdaq and NYSE by offering a structure tailored to a global retail audience.
If the 23-hour model holds, it could push established platforms to revisit their hours and potentially bring U.S. equities closer to the always-open environment familiar in crypto and FX. Market-structure debates will continue around supervision, liquidity and resiliency, but the direction of travel is clear: global participation is pulling U.S. markets toward longer trading windows.
Shinhan’s investment adds momentum to that shift. As foreign demand grows, the boundary of “U.S. market hours” may be defined less by Wall Street tradition and more by global trading behavior.
