Trading Hours and Liquidity

A regular stock only trades during its home exchange's official hours. A stock token backed by that stock, however, can trade on-chain around the clock, since the token itself just needs a willing buyer and seller — it doesn't need the exchange to be open.

That creates an obvious question: what sets the price outside normal market hours? Without the underlying exchange trading, the token's price is driven by whoever's actually buying and selling on-chain, informed by futures, overseas markets, and news — but without the depth of the real exchange behind it.

The practical effect is that spreads tend to widen and price swings can be larger during hours when the primary market is closed. A stock token's after-hours price move isn't necessarily wrong, but it's often based on thinner trading than you'd see during the stock's normal session.

Once the underlying exchange reopens, token prices generally converge back toward the official market price, but the gap in between is a real source of volatility for anyone trading around the clock.