Stock Exchange

The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, founded in 1602 for trading shares of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), was the world's first securities market, enabling capital pooling and risk-sharing with over 1,000 initial investors buying shares worth 6.5 million guilders. By introducing continuous secondary markets and dividend payments, it laid the foundation for modern capitalism, with its principles used in financing 80% of global infrastructure projects today. The exchange's $4.5 trillion annual trading volume now rivals the GDP of many nations.