Nasdaq has reached a final agreement to buy the remaining stake in Level Markets, the United States’ third-largest alternative trading system operator. Fintech Futures reported the acquisition is part of Nasdaq’s strategy to build always-on global market infrastructure. The closing date and purchase price were not disclosed. Level Markets runs an anonymous dark pool for institutional block trades. Nasdaq has also sought to extend trading hours for NMS stocks and ETPs to 23 hours a day, with implementation planned for early in the third quarter of 2026.

U.S. bitcoin miner Riot Platforms sold 4,300 bitcoins and plans to use the proceeds to expand a datacentre network for AI workloads. The move comes as mining profitability weakens, with Riot’s second-quarter mining revenue down 19.3 percent amid higher power prices and a sharp fall in hashprice. The company still holds $548.9 million in cash and 11,380 bitcoins, and is pursuing long-term infrastructure contracts, including a proposed 20-year lease with expected revenue of $9.1 billion.