Why Nasdaq surveillance cannot settle the fight over 24/7 tokenized markets

The debate over transitioning traditional financial markets to 24/7 tokenized operations faces significant hurdles regarding market surveillance and regulatory oversight. While proponents argue that blockchain technology enables continuous trading, Nasdaq's existing surveillance infrastructure is designed for traditional market hours and settlement cycles. The core conflict lies in the inability of current monitoring tools to effectively detect market manipulation or illicit activity in a non-stop, decentralized environment. Integrating real-time surveillance into tokenized ecosystems requires a fundamental shift in how exchanges manage liquidity and order flow. This challenge is critical for the RWA market because institutional adoption depends on maintaining the same level of market integrity found in legacy systems. Without robust, automated surveillance solutions, regulators remain hesitant to approve the full-scale migration of high-value assets to 24/7 blockchain rails. Consequently, the industry must reconcile the speed of tokenized settlement with the rigorous compliance standards required by global financial authorities.