Nasdaq has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase all equity interests in LeveL Markets LLC, a major U.S. off-exchange equity trading venue. Announced on August 11, 2026, the acquisition supports Nasdaq’s strategy of building continuous, always-available market infrastructure that bridges traditional markets and emerging digital assets.
LeveL Markets operates one of the leading Alternative Trading Systems in the United States. Its platform processes hundreds of millions of shares daily and connects with more than 2,500 buy-side and sell-side clients. It now ranks as the third-largest ATS in the U.S. by trading volume, handling activity across more than 7,000 symbols each day. Following its 2022 combination with Luminex, LeveL serves over 300 institutional buy-side firms and reaches clients through more than 15 order and execution management system connections. Average daily volume increased 56 percent year-over-year in 2025.
After closing, LeveL Markets will continue functioning as a distinct trading venue with its own management team. It will sit within Nasdaq’s newly created Digital Liquidity Networks organization while remaining a registered ATS under FINRA supervision. Roland Chai, who has led Nasdaq’s digital assets efforts since early 2026, will head the new group. The transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals, and financial terms were not disclosed.
Separately, Options Technology has expanded its AtlasFeed and raw market data coverage after a record first half of 2026. The infrastructure provider added new U.S. options depth feeds, connectivity to the now-live Texas Stock Exchange, and broader access to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, Dubai Financial Market, and Borsa Istanbul. Options Technology said June averaged 76.4 million U.S. options contracts traded per day, increasing demand for normalized data and infrastructure capable of processing large market data volumes.
TXSE moved into production in July, began live trading in NMS securities on July 10, and completed its phased rollout across listed symbols by July 31. Options Technology already provided its AtlasInsight platform for network monitoring and analytics across TXSE’s trading infrastructure. Danny Moore, President and CEO of Options Technology, said the expansion helps clients stay ahead of market fragmentation as options volumes rise and the number of execution venues grows.
