diff --git a/services/trading_service/src/services/monitoring.rs b/services/trading_service/src/services/monitoring.rs
index 0c8c98e9a..39fce49a7 100644
--- a/services/trading_service/src/services/monitoring.rs
+++ b/services/trading_service/src/services/monitoring.rs
@@ -12,18 +12,24 @@ use crate::proto::monitoring::{
     SystemStatusEvent, ThroughputMetric,
 };
 use crate::state::{HealthStatus, TradingServiceState};
+use std::time::Instant;
 use tonic::{Request, Response, Status};
 
 /// Monitoring service implementation
 #[derive(Debug, Clone)]
 pub struct MonitoringServiceImpl {
     state: TradingServiceState,
+    /// Tracks when this service instance was started for real uptime reporting
+    started_at: Instant,
 }
 
 impl MonitoringServiceImpl {
     /// Create new monitoring service
     pub fn new(state: TradingServiceState) -> Self {
-        Self { state }
+        Self {
+            state,
+            started_at: Instant::now(),
+        }
     }
 }
 
@@ -121,17 +127,42 @@ impl MonitoringService for MonitoringServiceImpl {
             HealthStatus::Critical => SystemHealth::Critical,
         };
 
+        // Real uptime measured from service construction (cast to i64 to match proto int64 field)
+        let uptime_seconds = self.started_at.elapsed().as_secs() as i64;
+
+        // Check kill switch status and surface any active triggers as critical issues
+        let mut critical_issues: Vec<String> = vec![];
+        if let Some(kill_switch) = &self.state.kill_switch_system {
+            match kill_switch.get_status().await {
+                Ok(ks_status) => {
+                    if ks_status.is_active {
+                        critical_issues
+                            .push("Kill switch is ACTIVE — trading halted".to_string());
+                    }
+                    if ks_status.is_emergency_active {
+                        critical_issues.push("Emergency shutdown is ACTIVE".to_string());
+                    }
+                    if !ks_status.is_healthy {
+                        critical_issues.push("Kill switch system is UNHEALTHY".to_string());
+                    }
+                }
+                Err(_) => {
+                    critical_issues.push("Kill switch status unavailable".to_string());
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
         let system_status = SystemStatus {
             overall_health: overall_health as i32,
             healthy_services: 3,
             total_services: 3,
-            critical_issues: vec![],
-            system_uptime_seconds: 3600, // Placeholder
+            critical_issues,
+            system_uptime_seconds: uptime_seconds,
             system_metrics: Some(SystemMetrics {
-                cpu_usage_percent: 15.0,
-                memory_usage_percent: 45.0,
-                disk_usage_percent: 30.0,
-                network_io_mbps: 10.0,
+                cpu_usage_percent: 0.0,    // TODO: wire to sysinfo crate
+                memory_usage_percent: 0.0, // TODO: wire to sysinfo crate
+                disk_usage_percent: 0.0,   // TODO: wire to sysinfo crate
+                network_io_mbps: 0.0,      // TODO: wire to sysinfo crate
                 active_connections: 25,
                 total_requests: 1000,
                 avg_response_time_ms: 2.5,
@@ -145,7 +176,7 @@ impl MonitoringService for MonitoringServiceImpl {
             state: ServiceState::Running as i32,
             version: Some("1.0.0".to_string()),
             error_message: None,
-            uptime_seconds: 3600,
+            uptime_seconds,
             last_health_check: chrono::Utc::now().timestamp(),
             metadata: std::collections::HashMap::new(),
             dependencies: vec![],