Brazil’s stock exchange plans night shift for Bitcoin futures trading

B3, Brazil’s stock exchange, has announced plans to introduce a night trading session for assets set to commence in the second half of this year, as reported by local news outlet Folha de São Paulo. This new session, which will happen from 18:30 to 21:45 (UTC-3), will feature trading of only two futures contracts: those of Ibovespa, the benchmark stock index of Brazil, and Bitcoin.

Gilson Finkelsztain, the president of B3, explained that this strategic decision stems from the increasing interest of retail investors in participating in the market beyond conventional hours.

“There are many people who would like to operate at the end of the day. We see this as an opportunity to address some of the backlogs in operations, although it comes with increased costs and risks,” Finkelsztain remarked during a press meeting on Jan. 18.

He emphasized the need for testing this new structure to evaluate its impact on market liquidity.

Finkelsztain also revealed that discussions were held about extending the regular trading session by an hour. However, this proposal was met with mixed reactions, as some members of the trading community expressed concerns about liquidity and volume distribution over a longer period. “This is more of an art than a science. We’re committed to testing and adapting as necessary,” he added.

Despite the attention directed by the Brazilian stock exchange to crypto assets, Finkelsztain stated that their primary focus at the moment lies in bolstering the traditional capital market infrastructure.

B3 Digitas, the digital arm of the largest stock exchange in Latin America, launched a crypto exchange last year in June that allows direct trading of Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, Litecoin, and XRP.

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