Key Takeaways:
- MEMX’s "market as a service" model provides a superior alternative to traditional technology licensing for exchanges and trading venues.
- The model allows clients to focus on their business while MEMX handles the technology, reducing upfront costs and enabling quicker time-to-market.
- MEMX’s technology has been chosen by several high-profile clients, including InPlay Global and 24X Exchange, to power their trading platforms.
- The company is experiencing growth and is in discussions with clients about setting up venues for new asset classes and expanding into international markets.
- MEMX is committed to providing operational support and constantly upgrading its technology to meet the evolving needs of its clients.
Introduction to MEMX’s Model
David Mellor, head of market technology at MEMX, believes that the company’s "market as a service" model is a superior alternative to traditional technology licensing for exchanges and trading venues. This model allows clients to focus on their business while MEMX handles the technology, reducing upfront costs and enabling quicker time-to-market. MEMX has built a reputation for delivering world-class technology, operating a U.S. equity exchange and an options exchange, with regulatory approval to launch a second options venue in 2026.
Competitive Advantage
Mellor claims that MEMX’s "market as a service" model is a key competitive advantage. Instead of licensing software to clients, MEMX provides a managed service for their venue, handling everything from data center space to hardware. This approach gives clients the confidence that they will get the outcome they want, without having to worry about the underlying technology. Firms that want to build their own technology to launch a new exchange need to invest millions of dollars before they start earning any money from their business, but MEMX’s service helps reduce this upfront cost, enabling new venues to come to market more quickly.
Client Success Stories
MEMX’s technology has been chosen by several high-profile clients, including InPlay Global and 24X Exchange, to power their trading platforms. InPlay Global, which is developing the first marketplace for Performance Securities, selected MEMX Technology for its planned alternative trading system (ATS), subject to regulatory approval. Troy Kane, president and chief operating officer of InPlay Global, said that the partnership with MEMX is crucial to enabling the quick deployment of InPlay Global’s Performance Securities. 24X Exchange, the first national U.S. exchange approved for 23-hour weekday trading of U.S. stocks, went live after being built with MEMX Technology, and Paul Adcock, head of equities at 24X National Exchange, praised the company’s help in building a high-performance system.
Operational Support
Once the venues are live, MEMX constantly upgrades the technology, looks after the data centers, and provides business functionality within the software. The company provides market and technical operations to support the client’s own team, without disintermediating them from their users. Mellor stressed that the client is still in charge of their venue and maintains the relationships with their users. MEMX enables clients to run their business to the best of their ability and express their defining features, such as 24/7 trading. Blue Ocean ATS, which trades US stocks overnight, and the Long-Term Stock Exchange (LTSE) for companies committed to long-term value creation, both migrated to MEMX technology in 2024 to improve performance and scalability.
Growth and Expansion
Mellor said that MEMX is in discussions with clients about setting up venues for new asset classes, venues for 24/7 trading, as well as options exchanges and equities ATSs. The company is agnostic to the asset class and is talking to international exchanges, with a global opportunity for growth. MEMX is open to entering other parts of the trade lifecycle if there is an opportunity that is right for the client and for MEMX. In 2026, the company will be busy working on launching its second options exchange in the first half of the year, with its options business performing well, including a record average daily volume traded of 2.78 million contracts in November last year.