The London Stock Exchange (LSE) will open a new venue outside of its regular market hours, a move to offer "near-continuous trading" and better compete with the 24/7 trading espoused by crypto platforms.

The new offering, which will be called LSE 24, will operate from 5 pm until 7:50 am in London and is expected to be ready for client testing by the end of 2026, according to a statement Tuesday. It will operate separately from the bourse's main market, which will continue to operate as usual.

Exchange-traded products, or ETPs, will be the first tradable assets on the platform expected in the first half of 2027.

LSE 24 will provide clients with "greater flexibility beyond traditional trading hours", as well as enhanced liquidity and market participation, said LSE CEO Julia Hoggett.

The new offering will have "the flexibility to expand into equities as the next step", the statement said. The push comes with younger investors embracing the round-the-clock offerings from crypto companies such as Coinbase Global.

The move comes at a turbulent time for the 300-year-old exchange. Initial public offerings became a point of focus for LSE as the venue struggled to attract new listings, culminating in the platform falling out of the top 20 globally in the first nine months of 2025 before a late flurry prompted optimism for a long-awaited recovery in 2026.

That revival appeared to slow in July as a number of companies including Waterstones Booksellers Ltd considered delaying their listings until 2027.