Nasdaq Ventures bets on One Trading in push toward round-the-clock equity futures

One Trading has secured a strategic investment from Nasdaq Ventures, in a deal the two firms say could open the door to a partnership focused on round-the-clock equity futures trading. The size of the investment was not disclosed.

One Trading is a regulated European derivatives venue developing technology for markets that never close. Its operating entity, One Trading Exchange B.V., builds markets for digital assets and derivatives and runs an Organised Trading Facility regulated under MiFID II, holding authorisation from the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) and De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB). Through its in-house high-performance infrastructure, the firm offers direct regulated access to derivatives, covering listing, trading, custody and settlement.

At the heart of the offering is a single deterministic system that handles trading, risk and settlement together. It is built to enable netting across collateral, settlement on a continuous basis and automatic liquidations at scale — an approach the company says ties up less margin and removes the requirement for a shared default fund. The platform blends traits more typically found in digital asset markets, such as non-stop trading and automated liquidations, with the oversight and openness expected of a regulated European venue.

As part of the deal, Nasdaq and One Trading will look at ways of pairing Nasdaq's track record in building sophisticated market infrastructure, along with its worldwide distribution network and client base, with One Trading's low-latency trading and risk engine, which runs in the cloud. Areas under review include upgrading the infrastructure that underpins derivatives markets and broadening the range of instruments on offer to traders, such as futures with longer maturities.

Nasdaq Ventures global head Gary Offner said the firm looks for teams building disruptive technologies that are uniquely positioned to expand liquidity and transparency while addressing market participants' needs, and that One Trading has developed a differentiated approach to integrating trading, risk management and settlement. One Trading CEO Joshua Barraclough framed the investment as a shared belief that markets must continue to evolve to support clients' liquidity and capital needs, and said the two companies see an opportunity to explore new approaches to derivatives innovation.