Nasdaq will invest in alternative trading system’s technology, client offering, and long-term growth.
Nasdaq has signed a definitive agreement to acquire “all the equity interests of LeveL Markets, LLC,” and will be investing in the off-exchange equity execution venue, officials say. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
The “institutionally connected execution platform” LeveL processes “hundreds of millions of shares daily and reaches more than 2,500 buy-side and sell-side clients,” officials say. “Nasdaq intends to invest in LeveL Markets’ technology, client offering, and long-term growth while maintaining continuity of operations and execution quality for existing clients.”
Nasdaq made an initial, strategic minority investment in LeveL Markets in 2021.
“Since then, the platform has grown into the third-largest [alternative trading system] ATS in the United States by trading volume, executing across more than 7,000 symbols daily. Following its merger with Luminex in 2022, LeveL Markets serves more than 300 institutional buy-side firms and reaches more than 2,500 clients through more than 15 order and execution management system integrations,” officials say. “LeveL Markets continues to increase the scale and capacity of its platform, with average daily volume growing 56 percent year over year in 2025.”
“As part of Nasdaq, we will have an even greater ability to invest in our solutions, expand opportunities for clients across asset classes and around the globe, and continue driving innovation through collaboration,” says Steve Miele, CEO of LeveL Markets, in a prepared statement.
“Following the closing of the transaction, LeveL Markets will continue to operate as a trading venue with its own dedicated management team within Digital Liquidity Networks, maintaining structural separateness, participant confidentiality, and operational integrity that are fundamental to its role in the institutional equity market,” officials say. “LeveL Markets will remain a registered ATS, subject to FINRA oversight.”
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