24/7 trading requires far more than extending market hours.
In this video, Horizon CTO Olivier Masdebrieu explains the operational, technological, and infrastructure challenges involved in supporting continuous markets.
Video transcript
What are the main challenges of 24/7 trading and where does Horizon stand today?
(0:12) The main challenges of 24-7 is moving from a day-based system to a continuous system. (0:19) That means like the usual end-of-day boundaries, the reset of the platform, the change of date, (0:25) the purge of the orders, all of these kind of things need to happen either during the (0:28) day at any time or not at all anymore. (0:32) That’s being a big shift for most of the industry.
(0:34) It has been a first step a few years ago with a 24-by-5, with global trading, already removing (0:40) some of the boundaries client-facing. On the venue, exchange side, it’s happening now. (0:47) So we need to move to that direction as well. (0:49) Horizon is underway on this and already doing a lot of work on the platform to remove all (0:55) these boundaries.
(0:56) We are already covering from a people point of view. (0:59) We have like follow-the-sun model for like support and coverage and the platform is getting (1:03) there very soon.
What role do daily reset play today, and how is this evolving ?
(1:12) The daily restart was critical for the health of the system during the week.(1:16) We have actions to be done in the evening around shifting the day, purging orders, position (1:21) shift to the next day, but also kind of like making sure that all the batch process would (1:26) happen during that time. (1:27) Most of these actions are no longer required. (1:29) We can do it during the day, on the fly, and some of them will have to happen on a scheduled break.
(1:34) With digital asset and the exchange opening 24-7, it’s becoming critical that the stability (1:39) stays and the functional stay up and running 24-7.
What's the impact of removing daily restart particularly on digital assets clients ?
(1:50) From a functional point of view, there should be no difference during the day. (1:54) The same level of functionality, same level of stability, same level of operational support (1:59) should be there 24-7.
(2:01) That will allow connectivity to the venues which are already operating 24-7, accepting (2:06) client orders, servicing clients 24-7, which is becoming the norm in most of our clients (2:11) and most of the venues, especially around digital assets.
How will Horizon manage upgrades and maintenance in a 24/7 environment ?
(2:22) Upgrade and maintenance is a tricky part on that equation. (2:25) Coverage, as I said, is doable and easy to do.
(2:29) Platform will be able to operate 24-7, no problem at all. (2:32) But even when that’s done, we still need to do upgrade and maintenance once in a while. (2:37) And that becomes very difficult.
(2:39) It’s almost like changing the engine in a plane while it’s still flying, which is a bit tricky (2:44) to do most of the time. (2:46) We are looking at different scenarios, running upgrades, and most of the time we’ll have (2:49) to have a discussion with our client and discuss with them what’s the best approach, given (2:54) their risk appetite, their requirements from compliance, and their risk team, and we’ll (2:59) adjust and we’ll work with them to do it.
Beyond Technology, how prepared is Horizon operationally ?
(3:09) You’re right, technology is not the only challenge around 24-7.
(3:13) We also have to have the people in place for support, escalation. (3:16) We already have most of that with different regions. (3:19) We have employees in Asia, employees in Europe, employees in North America.
(3:24) We’re strengthening the teams in all regions to allow our clients to have proper coverage, (3:28) regardless of the time and the day.
