David Mellor, head of market technology at MEMX, believes the technology-driven exchange operator’s model of delivering technology though ‘market as a service’ is a superior model and positions the firm for growth across geographies and asset classes. Mellor told Markets Media that MEMX has an established reputation because it has built the technology to run […]
David Mellor, head of market technology at MEMX, believes the technology-driven exchange operator’s model of delivering technology though ‘market as a service’ is a superior model and positions the firm for growth across geographies and asset classes.
Mellor told Markets Media that MEMX has an established reputation because it has built the technology to run its own exchanges, which he described as “ world class.” MEMX operates a U.S equity exchange and an options exchange, and has regulatory approval to launch a second options venue in 2026.
He claimed that another competitive advantage is MEMX Technology’s market as a service model. Instead of licensing software to the client, MEMX provides a managed service for their venue.
David Mellor, MEMX
“They run the business and we run the technology,” added Mellor. “Do they really want to focus on data center space or on hardware? By delivering technology as a package, clients get the confidence that they will get the outcome that they want.”
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. Mellor argued that MEMX’s service helps reduce this upfront cost, and so enables new venues to come to market more quickly, as it typically takes between six and nine months to build a new venue.
“They can rely on us to build the infrastructure, help them test, take it forward and work with them on connectivity to their clients, many of whom are already very comfortable using MEMX technology on our own exchanges,” Mellor added.
InPlay Global and 24X Exchange
InPlay Global, which is developing the first marketplace for Performance Securities, said in November last year that it had chosen MEMX Technology for its planned alternative trading system (ATS), which is subject to regulatory approval. InPlay Markets is a regulated marketplace and will have a central limit order book matching engine with risk protections and similar functionality to other equities exchanges and ATSs.
Troy Kane, president and chief operating officer of InPlay Global, told Markets Media that InPlay reviewed a number of technology providers that have proven track records with building equity exchanges and/or ATSs and received several proposals.
Troy Kane, InPlay Global
Kane said: “Our partnership with MEMX is crucial to enabling the quick deployment of InPlay Global’s Performance Securities. Demand amongst investors for a means of participation in the fast-growing market for real-time trading of college and professional sports teams is incredibly high.”
In addition to being able to get to market quickly, other key criteria for InPlay included a proven platform, and the ability to scale with the business over time to meet the needs of customers. Kane said this made MEMX Technology a “clear choice.”
In October last year 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.
Paul Adcock, head of equities at 24X National Exchange, said: “With the help of MEMX Technology, we have been able to build our global platform, the first to offer 23-hour weekday trading of U.S. equities, into a high-performance system.”
Operational support
Once the venues are live, MEMX constantly upgrades the technology, looks after the data centers and the business functionality within the software. MEMX provides market and technical operations to support the client’s own team as Mellor stressed that MEMX does not want to disintermediate anyone from their users.
“If their client speaks to their first line support and there is something they cannot work out, we have a seasoned and experienced operational team sitting behind them who have experience in solving these problems,” he added.
Mellor stressed that the client is still in charge of their venue, and still maintains the relationships with their users. “We enable 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 in order to improve performance of their venues and make them more scalable.
Growth
Mellor said 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. He added: “We are agnostic to the asset class.”
MEMX Technology’s existing clients are based in the U.S but Mellor said the business is talking to international exchanges. He continued: “There is a global opportunity for us.”
Mellor said 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. He added: “I have no doubt that we will progress into other areas.”
In 2026 MEMX will also be busy working on launching its second options exchange in the first half of this year. Mellor added: “Our options business is going terrifically well at the moment, so that is a really important release for us.”
MEMX reported that options activity remained strong in November last year, with average daily volume traded of 2.78 million contracts, including five days trading over three million contracts. The exchange said: “MEMX Options regular-electronic market share rose to 7.8% (ranking second) in penny issues and 12.5% (ranking first) in non-penny issues.”
