Opinion

The price of everything in a 24/5 world

Mike Cahill, chief executive of Douro Labs delves into why continuous trading demands real-time transparency and a smarter market data layer.
By Mike Cahill

For decades, financial markets have operated under a stark paradox: while every other industry moves at the speed of the internet, the infrastructure powering global trading remains stuck in an analogue era that’s fragmented, costly, and exclusionary.

Market data, the backbone of our financial system that’s critical to price discovery, has been treated as a luxury good rather than a public utility, with a tattered, inconsistent system of providers. Simply put: there is no one source of truth.

Institutions pay billions annually for access to real-time prices from a patchwork network of platforms and software, while smaller players are left navigating opaque, delayed feeds. This inefficiency is more than just inconvenient; it’s systemic, stifling innovation and limiting liquidity.

But today, the ground is shifting. As trading venues increasingly move toward 24/5 access, the concept of “the price of everything” becomes an operational necessity. In a world where markets never sleep, every participant needs accurate, real-time pricing across asset classes, geographies, and time zones. Anything less introduces unnecessary risk, widens spreads, and undermines confidence. 

The tipping point: 24/5 trading reaches the mainstream 

Extended trading hours have long been demanded by market participants to enable instantaneous value creation based on global events, breaking information, or geopolitical shocks. This always-on trading has the potential to boost liquidity and reduce overnight risk, and this evolution demands robust infrastructure and smarter data solutions.

With the NYSE, Nasdaq and DTCC either exploring or announcing expanded hours, this always-on trading future is becoming increasingly more real.  

How real-time data infrastructure breaks the bottleneck 

The catch is that continuous markets demand continuous data. Traditional providers, built for a nine-to-four world, struggle to deliver the granularity and speed required for 24/5 trading. The model of charging thousands per month for singular or limited symbol feeds while layering redistribution fees on top locks out all but the largest institutions.

Enter modern real-time data networks that source data directly from institutional-grade venues and market participants themselves, dismantling the old paradigm. On-chain price feeds deliver high-fidelity data for over 1,400 assets including equities, ETFs, commodities, and crypto with updates as frequent as every 400 milliseconds.

If markets are to function seamlessly across time zones, data must flow freely, accurately, and affordably. Real-time transparency isn’t a luxury; it’s the foundation of trust in a global financial system. 

The road ahead in 2026 and beyond 

As we stand on the cusp of 24/5 trading, the question isn’t whether markets will adapt – it’s a matter of how quickly they will implement next-gen infrastructure.

The future of financial infrastructure should prioritise access to real-time, high-fidelity data: the foundation of every market action that’s critical to keeping the engine of global markets running. A new wave of offerings built to match the speed of the modern internet is leading to that charge, proving that when data flows freely, innovation follows.

In a world where everything has a price, the real cost is in not knowing it.

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