SEC Kills 25-Year Day-Trading Minimum, Shifts to Real-Time Margin Rules

On April 14, the SEC approved sweeping changes to day-trading restrictions: eliminating the $25,000 equity minimum that has gated retail trading since the early 2000s and replacing it with a 25 percent continuous maintenance margin requirement. Under the new intraday standard, brokers must monitor margin adequacy throughout trading hours rather than at settlement. The shift removes a binary gate favoring wealthier accounts while placing real-time monitoring burden on traders and platforms alike.