Market Metrics That Matter: U.S. Cash Equities March Volume Briefing

March 2026 Highlights

Market Activity Increases Amid Shift from Off-Exchange to Lit Venues

• U.S. equities total market Average Daily Volume (ADV) rose 2.3% month-over-month to 20.5 billion shares, surpassing February 2026 record volume and up 27.8% year-over-year.
• Trade Reporting Facility (TRF) as a percentage of Total Consolidated Volume (TCV) decreased 133 basis points to 46.5%, showing a shift toward lit venues.
• Cboe's overall market share increased 21 basis points to 10%.

Premium Products and Innovation

• Cboe premium execution products saw record adoption in the first quarter of 2026. In March, use of Periodic Auctions on Cboe BYX® Equities Exchange (BYX) increased 62% and Quote Depletion Protection (QDP) volume on EDGA® Equities Exchange (EDGA) increased 72.5% year-over-year.
• With 47.8 million combined shares in QDP ADV, members are successfully leveraging Cboe’s non-displayed liquidity to minimize performance decay. QDP consistently predicted quote instability, with 74.5% correct predictions, disabling member discretionary range.
• A record 1,751 stocks were entered in Periodic Auctions in March, with 1,133 trading, demonstrating a continued shift toward more sophisticated, protection-oriented liquidity sourcing strategies.

EDGA Equities Exchange

EDGA market share grew 12.8 basis points to 0.94% in March, the highest market share since transitioning to a marker taker model in November 2024.

• EDGA has no tiers and features competitive rebates for displayed and hidden liquidity
• Customers receive a -$.0027 rebate for display adding and a -$.003 rebate for display National Best Bid or Offer (NBBO) adding.
• Customers also receive a -$.0025 rebate for adding hidden or midpoint liquidity.

Upcoming Changes and Key Notices

• April 10, 2026 | Cboe Launches Retail Price Improvement Program on EDGX

The launch of Retail Price Improvement (RPI) on Cboe EDGX® Equities Exchange (EDGX) will further strengthen Cboe's premium products, offering a new way to capture retail volume. Members can now enter orders in sub-penny price (in $0.001 increments) to retail attested remove orders.

• Cboe Files Proposal with the SEC to Launch Near 24x5 U.S. Equities Trading
• Reminder - Cboe Equities Exchanges Announce Release and Weekend Testing Dates for BOEv3 Protocol
• Expanding Market Access: Why Cboe Plans to Launch Near 24x5 U.S. Equities Trading this Year

New Listings

In March 2026, Cboe added 23 new ETF listings to Cboe BZX® Equities Exchange (BZX).

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