New York, NY / Kuwait City – July 8, 2025 – Alpaca, a self-clearing broker-dealer and brokerage infrastructure API, and ZAD, a leading Kuwait-based investment platform for Shariah-compliant US stocks and ETFs, today announced their strategic partnership to expand access to Shariah-compliant investment products. This partnership continues to open financial access for investors seeking to align their financial growth with Islamic principles.
With global Islamic finance assets surpassing $5.5 trillion USD in 2024, a report from Standard Chartered forecasts they could reach $7.5 trillion USD by 2028. This is largely from key markets like Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Kuwait, and the UAE, with countries across Southeast Asia and Africa seeing increased demand for Shariah-compliant financial solutions.
Recognizing this, ZAD is expanding access to their local Kuwait market and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) markets like Saudi Arabia. Their expansion plans and commitment to making Shariah-compliant investing accessible has been a cornerstone of their success.
“If we were a conventional investment application, we would not have reached the growth levels that we have in the past couple of years. It’s very important for the people in the region. They really appreciate it, they want it, and they’re very careful with what they buy,” says Abdullah Alotaibi, ZAD’s Co-Founder and Deputy CEO of Fintech Brokerage.
ZAD has partnered with Alpaca to build these products, including Shariah-compliant Instant Funding, which was launched recently. They are also collaborating to deliver margin trading, options trading, and high-yield cash accounts, becoming one of the leading platforms to offer these products in a Shariah-compliant way.
While building Shariah-compliant infrastructure has presented unique challenges, the solutions developed with Alpaca’s Broker API are scalable across other Islamic regions. For instance, the margin trading product is an asset-backed lending model rather than interest-based, adhering to Islamic law. "There are service providers that tell you, ‘this is what we have, take it or leave it.’ Not Alpaca," says Abdullah. "They listen to us. They understand the region well. They're helping us offer the best possible products to our clients."
"We’re grateful to be innovating with ZAD in the rapidly growing Islamic finance and are excited to be their partner in delivering Shariah-compliant margin trading, options trading, instant funding, and more. Shariah-compliance is a key focus at Alpaca as we look to support and expand financial accessibility globally," says Yoshi Yokokawa, CEO and Co-Founder of Alpaca.
About Alpaca
Alpaca is a US-headquartered self-clearing broker-dealer and brokerage infrastructure for stocks, ETFs, options, fixed income, and 24/5 trading– raising over USD170 million in funding. Alpaca is backed by top-tier investors globally, including Portage Ventures, Spark Capital, Tribe Capital, Social Leverage, Horizons Ventures, Unbound, SBI Group, Derayah Financial, Elefund, and Y Combinator.
About ZAD
ZAD is a Kuwait-based digital investment platform, offered by The Securities House, that provides global stock market access and offers Shariah-compliant products. ZAD aims to simplify the investment and trading process for people who adhere to the principles of Shariah.
Options trading is not suitable for all investors due to its inherent high risk, which can potentially result in significant losses. Please read Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options before investing.
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