Steve Cohen’s Point 72 Venture Fund Is Backing A 24 Hour Equities Exchange

Steven Cohen’s Point72 Ventures is getting behind the idea of 24 hour a day stock trading.

The venture arm of Point72 is leading a $14.25 million funding round for a company called “24 Exchange”, which was founded in 2018 and has already launched FX and crypto trading platforms, according to the WSJ.

It is now seeking approval from the SEC to become an around the clock exchange. 

The company believes that traders who are used to trading currencies and Bitcoin, which trades all the time, want the same experience for equity markets. 

The obvious downside to such a venture, in addition to needing regulatory approval, would be poor liquidity during off hours. But Point 72 seems to think that “24-hour equities trading has a large potential market, including nonprofessionals trading from home and overseas investors with an appetite for U.S. stocks,” the WSJ reported.

Point72 Ventures partner Pete Casella commented: “When you look at the growth of equities trading over the last couple of years, a lot of that has been the increased role of retail. These are people with day jobs, so they want to trade at night and on weekends.”

The company plans on completing its applications to the SEC by the end of December, Dmitri Galinov, founder and chief executive of 24 Exchange, said. 

This means it’ll likely be “well into” 2022 before the SEC renders a decision. 

24 Exchange has U.S. offices in Stamford, CT and Miami, and is incorporated in Bermuda. 

Point 72 ventures has also invested in fintech startups like Acorns and Say Technologies.