This Steven Cohen-Backed Startup Wants You To Be Able To Buy/Sell Tesla Stock On A

A startup backed by hedge fund billionaire and New York Mets owner Steven Cohen plans to launch a stock exchange that would enable investors to trade in stocks such as Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) 24 hours a day, similar to the round-the-clock trading possible in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE).

What Happened: Cohen’s venture-capital fund Point72 Ventures is leading a $14 million funding round for 24 Exchange, a Bermuda-based crypto and foreign exchange trading platform, CNBC reported Sunday.

24 Exchange is reportedly seeking approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to run a round-the-clock stock exchange and expects a decision in the summer of 2022.

24 Exchange hopes to attract the retail investors, who already trade in cryptocurrencies round the clock, to trade in more stocks. The company also sees strong interest from overseas investors in U.S. stocks.

“If Elon Musk tweets something on Saturday, people would want to buy or sell Tesla stock,” Dmitri Galinov, founder and CEO of 24 Exchange, was quoted by CNBC as saying.

See Also: How To Buy Dogecoin (DOGE)

Why It Matters: Trading sessions in the U.S. stock market are from 9:30 a.m to 4 p.m. Eastern Time on weekdays, while extended trading allows investors to trade in the early morning and late evening. No trading in stocks is possible on weekends and holidays.

Retail traders made their presence increasingly felt in the stocks markets last year amid the pandemic as boredom from the coronavirus lockdowns and the industry-wide decision to drop commissions encouraged them to invest in stocks.

These investors drove up the stock prices of heavily shorted stocks like AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (NYSE:AMC) and GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Musk, who is a frequent user of Twitter, and was the most active CEO on the microblogging platform during a twelve-month period, it was reported last year.

The Tesla CEO is a big proponent of Dogecoin and his tweets sometimes have an overwhelming impact on the price of cryptocurrencies.

Price Action: Tesla shares closed 6.4% lower in Friday’s regular trading session at $1,014.97 and further lost almost 0.7% in the after-hours session to $1,008.00.