Alpaca Blog | Developer-First API for Stocks, Options, and Crypto

How Raenest is Empowering Nigerian Professionals with Access to US Markets

Megha Bhattacharya — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 12:30:45 GMT

Across Africa, there is a growing appetite for innovation, especially within financial services. This transformation, however, is often hindered by fragmented payment systems.¹

As more African professionals earn income from global markets, there is increased interest in investing in global assets, particularly US stocks. However, professionals are left navigating multiple platforms to receive earnings, convert currencies, and execute trades. These barriers introduce additional costs, delays and friction, making it more difficult for Africans to access and invest in global markets. ^2,3

Africa also remainsthe most expensive region in the world to send money because of third parties and foreign exchange fees, with an average remittance cost of 8.37% in Sub-Saharan Africa in Q2 2024.⁴ This is happening at a time of increased economic growth in Africa. Their digital economy was projected to reach $180 billion by 2025, up from $115 billion in 2020, even as financial infrastructure continues to lag behind the needs of its digital-native workforce.⁵

Founded in 2022 by Victor Alade, Richard Oyome, and Sodruldeen Mustapha, Raenest was built to help eliminate these barriers by providing multi-currency accounts that allow users to manage payments, finances, and investing in one place. We recently spoke with Tobi Otokiti, the Vice President of Product at Raenest, to understand the mission behind Raenest, their launch of US stocks in Nigeria, and high-yield cash.

Building a Unified Investment Experience

For many African creators, freelancers, and remote professionals, earning in global markets is complicated by fragmented access, slow payments, high fees, and limited investment opportunities.⁶ Victor Alade, CEO and Co-Founder of Raenest, experienced these challenges firsthand while working as a remote software engineer in Lagos.⁷

Like many remote professionals in Africa, he frequently encountered delays receiving payments from US employers and lost a significant part of his income due to cross-border fees and unfavorable exchange rates. This inspires one of Raenest’s core beliefs that money shouldn’t stop at earning. It should also enable them to build and grow wealth globally.

“Through user engagement and the active community we've built, we heard the same story repeatedly,” said Otokiti. “Our users who wanted to invest in US stocks had to navigate multiple platforms: one to receive their earnings, another to convert currencies, and another to actually invest. Every step in that chain came with fees, delays, and friction that quietly ate into their returns before they even made a single trade. With Raenest, everything lives in one place. No unnecessary conversions, no hidden costs, no jumping between apps. Our users can receive their dollars, manage their multi-currency account, and invest, all without leaving the platform.”

Partnering With Alpaca to Bring US Stocks to Nigeria

To bridge this gap and give Nigerian users more efficient access to global markets, Raenest partnered with Alpaca.

“Our customers work hard for their money. They need to know their investments are sitting on reliable, regulated infrastructure. Alpaca gives us exactly that, so our customers can invest with confidence,” added Otokiti.

By integrating with Alpaca’s Broker API, Raenest can now enable its users to:

Buy US Stocks and ETFs directly from their existing accounts
Earn yield on their idle cash with the help of high yield cash accounts*
Eliminate unnecessary currency conversions and platform switching

"The partnership with Alpaca is a significant step forward for Raenest,” said Otokiti. “We’re providing our users access to an investment experience within the platform they already trust to manage their finances. This opens up the ability for every Raenest customer to invest in what matters to them, from big tech and leading AI companies to dividend-paying stocks and ETFs.”

“Partnering with Alpaca allows us to expand what’s possible for our users on Raenest. We’re moving beyond helping people receive and manage global income to helping them grow wealth. Now, anyone on Raenest can invest in US stocks and ETFs that match their interests and goals, all within a familiar and trusted experience,” said Majemu Olowodola, Senior Product Manager, Raenest.

“We’re very excited to support Raenest in redefining cross-border banking and global investments for Africans,” said Yoshi Yokokawa, Co-founder and CEO of Alpaca. “We really appreciate the opportunity to work with Raenest. It’s exciting to see them bring access to US markets directly into their products, and we’re glad to support them behind the scenes so they can stay focused on building great experiences for their users.”

Engineering the Future of Wealth Access

Building on this partnership and their newly launched investment capabilities, Raenest now looks to scale its offerings beyond the initial rollout in Nigeria. The company is currently exploring expansion into other key markets, aiming to extend access to US investing tools to a broader user base.

“The launch in Nigeria is the first step in a broader mission to provide wealth access to every Raenest customer. We continue to develop our platform to offer more financial products and services that meet the economic realities of the region,” added Otokiti.

By leveraging Alpaca’s infrastructure, Raenest is also working to enable 24/5 trading for users, providing them with the flexibility to trade US stocks beyond standard hours.

Contact Alpaca

About Alpaca

Alpaca is a US-headquartered, self-clearing broker-dealer and a global leader in brokerage infrastructure APIs providing access to stocks, ETFs, options, fixed income, and crypto. Alpaca delivers embeddable finance solutions for tokenization, fully paid securities lending, high-yield cash, 24/5 trading, Shariah-compliant investing, and more. Today, Alpaca powers over 10 million brokerage accounts across hundreds of fintechs and institutions in 40+ countries with over $320M in funding.

About Raenest

Raenest is a global financial platform built for individuals and businesses to manage money across borders faster, securely, and affordably. Users can open multi-currency accounts in USD, GBP, and EUR, send and receive international payments, receive USDC and USDT deposits, spend globally with dollar cards, and invest in U.S. stocks, all in one place. Their mission is to empower users to stay in control of their finances wherever their journey takes them.

References

*Alpaca Securities offers a cash management program pursuant to the FDIC Bank Sweep. Customer funds are treated differently and are subject to separate regulatory regimes depending on whether customer funds are held in their brokerage account or within the FDIC Bank Sweep. Alpaca Securities is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), which protects securities customers of its members up to $500,000 (including $250,000 for claims for cash). The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insures up to $250,000 per deposit against the failure of an FDIC member bank. Customer funds held in brokerage accounts are SIPC insured, but are not eligible for FDIC insurance coverage. Funds maintained in the FDIC Bank Sweep are intended to be eligible for pass-through FDIC insurance coverage but are not covered by SIPC. FDIC insurance does not protect against the failure of Alpaca, Alpaca Securities, or their affiliates, nor against malfeasance by their employees. Program banks that participate in the FDIC Bank Sweep are not members of SIPC, and therefore, funds held in the Program are not SIPC protected. Please see alpaca.markets/disclosures for important additional disclosures regarding Alpaca Securities brokerage offering, as well as FDIC Bank Sweep terms and conditions.

The content of this blog is for general informational purposes only. All examples are for illustrative purposes only.

Alpaca and Raenest are not affiliated and neither is responsible for the liabilities of the other.

Securities brokerage services are provided by Alpaca Securities LLC (dba "Alpaca Clearing"), member FINRA/SIPC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AlpacaDB, Inc. Technology and services are offered by AlpacaDB, Inc.

All investments involve risk and the past performance of a security, or financial product does not guarantee future results or returns. There is no guarantee that any investment strategy will achieve its objectives. Keep in mind that while diversification may help spread risk, it does not assure a profit, or protect against loss. There is always the potential of losing money when you invest in securities, or other financial products. Investors should consider their investment objectives and risks carefully before investing.

Orders placed outside regular trading hours (9:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET) may experience price fluctuations, partial executions, or delays due to lower liquidity and higher volatility. Orders not designated for extended hours execution will be queued for the next trading session. Additionally, fractional trading may be limited during extended hours. For more details, please review Alpaca Extended Hours & Overnight Trading Risk Disclosure.

The testimonials, statements, and opinions presented on the website are applicable to the specific individuals. It is important to note that individual circumstances may vary, and may not be representative of the experience of others. There are no guarantees of future performance or success. The testimonials are voluntarily provided and are not paid, nor were they provided with free products, services or any other benefit in exchange for said statements.

Fractional share trading allows a customer to buy and sell fractional share quantities and dollar amounts of certain securities. Fractional share trading presents unique risks and is subject to particular limitations that you should be aware of before engaging in such activity. See Alpaca Customer Agreement at https://alpaca.markets/disclosures for more details.

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.

Fixed income securities can experience a greater risk of principal loss when interest rates rise. These investments are also subject to additional risks, including credit quality fluctuations, market volatility, liquidity constraints, prepayment or early redemption, corporate actions, tax implications, and other influencing factors.

Alpaca does not make any representation that its products or services are Shariah-compliant. Customers are solely responsible for determining whether any offering meets their own Shariah requirements.

Please read Important Risk Disclosures With Respect To Participating In Fully Paid Securities Lending Transactions carefully before deciding whether to participate in lending Fully Paid Securities or agreeing to enter into a Master Securities Lending Agreement with Alpaca Securities LLC.

These disclosures describe important characteristics of, and risks associated with engaging in, securities-lending transactions.

Alpaca's Instant Tokenization Network is owned and developed by AlpacaDB, Inc. and Alpaca Crypto LLC.

Additional geographic restrictions may apply for tokenization services based on local regulatory requirements. Neither Alpaca Crypto LLC nor Alpaca Securities LLC are the issuer of, nor directly involved in, the tokenization of any assets. Tokenization is performed by a third party. Tokenized assets do not represent direct equity ownership in any underlying company or issuer. Instead, tokenized assets generally provide economic exposure to the equity securities of an underlying issuer. As such, holders of tokenized assets have no voting rights, dividend entitlements, or legal claims to the underlying company shares or any residual assets in the event of the underlying company’s liquidation or insolvency, unless explicitly stated otherwise. All investments involve risk. For more information, please see our Tokenization Risk Disclosure.

Cryptocurrency is highly speculative in nature, involves a high degree of risks, such as volatile market price swings, market manipulation, flash crashes, and cybersecurity risks. Cryptocurrency regulations are continuously evolving, and it is your responsibility to understand and abide by them. Cryptocurrency trading can lead to large, immediate and permanent loss of financial value. You should have appropriate knowledge and experience before engaging in cryptocurrency trading. For additional information, please click here.

Cryptocurrency services are made available by Alpaca Crypto LLC ("Alpaca Crypto"), a FinCEN registered money services business (NMLS # 2160858), and a wholly-owned subsidiary of AlpacaDB, Inc. Alpaca Crypto is not a member of SIPC or FINRA. Cryptocurrencies are not stocks and your cryptocurrency investments are not protected by either FDIC or SIPC. Please see the Disclosure Library for more information.

This is not an offer, solicitation of an offer, or advice to buy or sell securities or cryptocurrencies or open a brokerage account or cryptocurrency account in any jurisdiction where Alpaca Securities or Alpaca Crypto, respectively, are not registered or licensed, as applicable.

CUSP Wealth Launches US Stocks and Savings Accounts, Redefining WealthTech Across the GCC

Megha Bhattacharya — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 12:00:27 GMT

CUSP Wealth, a Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) regulated WealthTech and investment company, recently announced the launch of their hybrid advisory model for US stock and ETF trading in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The launch is powered by a strategic partnership with Alpaca, a global leader in brokerage infrastructure APIs, providing access to options, stocks, ETFs, and fixed income.

The GCC region’s financial wealth is expected to grow 4.7% annually to $3.5 trillion by 2027, up from $2.8 trillion in 2022.¹ However, complex barriers to entry continue to exclude a significant portion of the population from professional wealth management.²

Traditional wealth management firms in the region have historically prioritized serving high-net-worth clients, often requiring minimum deposits of $200,000 and high fees.³ This creates significant barriers for individuals who want to start small, even with modern robo-advisor options. These challenges are even more prominent for those who want to invest in Shariah-compliant assets. CUSP Wealth is addressing these barriers by offering low entry thresholds with curated portfolios starting at $25 and fractional investing for as little as $1, as well as both traditional and Shariah-compliant assets.

"While investing in global markets is common in the region, we are focused on helping people reach their financial goals, regardless of their starting capital. Our hybrid approach of AI-driven optimization combined with financial advisors delivers wealth management-quality service to everyone,” said Fedor Panteleev, Chief Product Officer at CUSP Wealth.

By offering conventional and Shariah-compliant assets in one interface, CUSP Wealth eliminates the need for multiple accounts across various platforms while ensuring the user experience and fee structure remains the same across both trading experiences. CUSP Wealth’s Shariah-compliant infrastructure is formally verified with a Fatwa certification from Amanie Advisors, ensuring cultural and religious expectations for faith-aligned investing.

With Alpaca’s Broker API, CUSP Wealth is powering its core investment infrastructure to offer:

Direct investing in 10,000+ US stocks and ETFs with zero basic trading fees* and no per-transaction minimums
AI-powered portfolio advice combined with financial advisors
Optional High Yield Cash program enabling clients to earn on uninvested funds and deploy capital instantly

“The technology we've built on Alpaca's Broker API is what enables our pricing strategy. By combining AI-driven portfolio optimization with automated operations, we've reduced the cost structures that force traditional platforms to charge high fees or impose large minimums,” explained Panteleev. “With Alpaca, we are championing structural changes to how wealth management works in the GCC with the vision that everyone should have access to build their wealth with clarity and confidence."

“There’s a growing sophistication among retail investors in the GCC as the region continues their advancement and diversification into US markets,” said Yoshi Yokokawa, Co-founder and CEO of Alpaca. “To keep pace, digital infrastructure and entry barriers need to improve. We’re proud to be CUSP Wealth’s infrastructure partner, working together to empower their users to start investing at lower costs while aligning with the needs of the region. This collaboration paves the way for more investors to get started, aligning with our shared goal of making financial services more accessible and less restrictive."

Contact Alpaca

About Alpaca

About CUSP Wealth

CUSP Wealth Ltd is an investment company regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) in the UAE that helps individuals build long‑term wealth with clarity, confidence, and zero trading fees. CUSP combines human expertise with AI‑driven insights to create CUSP Personalised portfolios, smart investing tools, and seamless access to over 10,000 global assets, including US stocks and ETFs. Guided by transparency and innovation, CUSP Wealth also provides Shariah‑compliant options for investors who want their money to stay aligned with their values. For more information, visit www.cuspwealth.com

*Zero basic trading fees apply to trade executions made on the Cusp Wealth app. Other charges, such as portfolio advisory fee, or other third-party banking fees may apply depending on the service used. Refer to the Fees Schedule of Cusp Wealth for more information. T&Cs apply.

References

The content of this blog is for general informational purposes only.

Alpaca Securities LLC (dba "Alpaca Clearing") and CUSP Wealth are not affiliated and are not responsible for the liabilities of others.

Alpaca Securities offers a cash management program pursuant to the FDIC Bank Sweep. Customer funds are treated differently and are subject to separate regulatory regimes depending on whether customer funds are held in their brokerage account or within the FDIC Bank Sweep. Alpaca Securities is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), which protects securities customers of its members up to $500,000 (including $250,000 for claims for cash). The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insures up to $250,000 per deposit against the failure of an FDIC member bank. Customer funds held in brokerage accounts are SIPC insured, but are not eligible for FDIC insurance coverage. Funds maintained in the FDIC Bank Sweep are intended to be eligible for pass-through FDIC insurance coverage but are not covered by SIPC. FDIC insurance does not protect against the failure of Alpaca, Alpaca Securities, or their affiliates, nor against malfeasance by their employees. Program banks that participate in the FDIC Bank Sweep are not members of SIPC, and therefore, funds held in the Program are not SIPC protected. Please see alpaca.markets/disclosures for important additional disclosures regarding Alpaca Securities brokerage offering, as well as FDIC Bank Sweep terms and conditions.

These disclosures describe important characteristics of, and risks associated with engaging in, securities-lending transactions.

Alpaca's Instant Tokenization Network is owned and developed by AlpacaDB, Inc. and Alpaca Crypto LLC.

Wallace Finance Partners with Alpaca to Launch Direct Indexing and Custom ETFs Platform for Retail Investors

Megha Bhattacharya — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 13:00:12 GMT

Wallace Finance, an AI-driven investing fintech, today announced the launch of its trading platform, enabling retail investors to create, manage, and share hyper-personalized investing strategies through modified direct indexing. The launch is powered by Alpaca, a global leader in brokerage infrastructure APIs, providing access to options, stocks, ETFs, and fixed income.

Traditional ETFs provide broad market exposure but generally offer limited flexibility to adjust the underlying portfolio holdings. As a result, investors typically hold the index weightings determined by the ETF’s methodology, which can be seen as a one-size-fits-all structure.^1,2

Direct indexing is designed to address this by allowing investors to own and customize the individual companies within an index, rather than buying a pre-packaged fund.³ Historically, direct indexing strategies were primarily used by institutional and high-net-worth investors. Wallace Finance aims to close this gap by embedding direct indexing tools into its app, enabling users to modify the underlying securities in an index or ETF.

"Wallace Finance gives you the power of Wall Street in your pocket with expert tools and algorithms to manage the market your way," said Matt Baldwin, Founder of Wallace Finance. "We hear from investors all the time that they want diversification, but don’t like how a specific index is weighted. Or simply want to remove a company from an ETF. We created Wallace to solve this by allowing everyday investors to modify existing indexes and investment strategies or create their own in a simple, intuitive app. Building with Alpaca has allowed us to scale our vision and offer personalized investment strategies that were once unavailable to the average trader.”

By utilizing Alpaca’s Broker API, Wallace Finance can now provide access to US stocks and ETFs, where users can:

Customize ETFs holdings by adding or removing specific companies from existing index strategies.
Adjust weightings to favor specific sectors or high-conviction stocks.
Start investing in fractional amounts, without the barriers of high share prices

"Alpaca is building the infrastructure that makes sophisticated investing accessible to all," said Yoshi Yokokawa, Co-founder and CEO of Alpaca. "By engineering core systems that help unlock market possibilities for our partners, we’re excited to support Wallace Finance as they offer a modern, personalized solution for investors."

Contact Alpaca

About Alpaca

About Wallace

Wallace is an AI-driven investing platform where retail investors can create, manage, and share hyper-personalized investing strategies with just a thought. For more information, visit: https://www.wallacefinance.io/

References

The content of this blog is for general informational purposes only.

Alpaca Securities LLC (dba "Alpaca Clearing"), and Wallace Finance are not affiliated and are not responsible for the liabilities of others.

These disclosures describe important characteristics of, and risks associated with engaging in, securities-lending transactions.

Alpaca's Instant Tokenization Network is owned and developed by AlpacaDB, Inc. and Alpaca Crypto LLC.

How Vesto is Expanding Financial Access in Spain and Andorra with Alpaca

Megha Bhattacharya — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 13:00:40 GMT

Achieving financial independence is a universal goal, but for many investors in Spain and Andorra, the current landscape presents specific challenges. According to a BlackRock study, participation in capital markets remains low in countries such as France and Spain, with only about 29% of adults investing.¹ The primary reasons for low participation include the perceived lack of money and a lack of financial knowledge.

Another report claims that while 98% of adults have bank accounts, only 19% of Spaniards achieve high scores in financial literacy.² This, combined with barriers to retail investing such as lack of availability to US markets due to regulatory restrictions and conversion fees, has deterred many investors from global markets.³ This gap may create a reliance on traditional savings accounts that often fail to keep pace with inflation.

Vesto aims to bridge this gap through its mission to democratize investing, making it simple, accessible, and inclusive. With the app, they aim to guide Spanish and Andorran investors towards financial independence by building a community-driven platform that helps empower the next generation of European investors with clear education and intuitive tools.

We recently spoke with Sabrina Guzman, the CEO of Vesto, to discuss their founding story, commitment to financial education, and how their partnership with Alpaca is fueling their expansion across Spain and Andorra.

Bridging the Gap in Regional Financial Literacy

Founded in 2021 in Barcelona, Spain, Vesto has developed a mobile-first finance app, expanding access to over 30,000 Spanish investors.⁴ Core pillars of their product include fractional investing, normalizing saving among millennials with their high-yield cash accounts, and financial education.

In regards to education, Guzman emphasizes that understanding the "why" behind an investment is as important as the investment itself.

"People need to understand what other investors are doing, including why they’re investing, where they’re investing, and the motivations behind those decisions," Guzman explains. “At Vesto, we’ve prioritized making it ridiculously easy to use and built a community of investors, experts, and investors who openly share their experiences and provide a framework for users to learn as they grow.”

This focus on education has a key impact on how they choose to build and deliver new products. “Our goal has always been to gradually introduce new products, step by step, to ensure they are implemented in the best possible way. We believe in growing thoughtfully, making sure each addition truly benefits our users,” Guzman added.

Engineering a Modern Investment Infrastructure with Alpaca

Looking for an infrastructure partner to help them scale, Vesto partnered with Alpaca to build a platform that supports these goals.

“Alpaca offers excellent service and a strong selection of financial products, which made them an ideal partner for us. The team has always been incredibly helpful and professional, making the collaboration seamless and productive,” Guzman added.

By utilizing Alpaca’s Broker API, Vesto has scaled its offerings to include:

US Stocks: Enabling their users to invest directly in companies and sectors they know, making investing more accessible and easy to understand. Users can start investing at fractional amounts for as low as €5⁵
Fixed Income: Helping users diversify their portfolio to include assets that are low risk and regular interest payments
High-Yield Cash: Empowering users to earn on their savings and invest in a currency different from the Euro

"The addition of fixed income products opens a significant opportunity for our investors to add a higher level of quality and stability to their diversified portfolios,” explained Guzman.

"We are proud to support Vesto and their team as they empower their community with traditional investment tools built on modern infrastructure," said Yoshi Yokokawa, Co-Founder and CEO of Alpaca. “With their focus on education and their intentional approach to product design, we are working collaboratively to increase financial access and market participation among Spanish and Andorran investors.”

What’s Next for Vesto

Vesto looks to continue expanding its reach. The next phase of growth involves moving beyond US-denominated assets to include local European markets. This expansion includes stocks from Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands, allowing users to diversify their currency exposure and invest in familiar local sectors. Furthering the partnership, Vesto plans to continue integrating new Alpaca product features as they become available.

For now, Guzman says Vesto is also focused on helping its 30,000 users grow their existing assets under management (AUM).

Contact Alpaca

About Alpaca

Alpaca is a US-headquartered, self-clearing broker-dealer and a global leader in brokerage infrastructure APIs providing access to stocks, ETFs, options, fixed income, and crypto. Alpaca delivers embeddable finance solutions for tokenization, fully paid securities lending, high-yield cash, 24/5 trading, Shariah-compliant investing and more. Today, Alpaca powers over 9 million brokerage accounts across hundreds of fintechs and institutions in 40+ countries with over $320M in funding.

References

The content of this blog is for general informational purposes only. All examples are for illustrative purposes only.

Alpaca and Vesto are not affiliated and are not responsible for the liabilities of others.

These disclosures describe important characteristics of, and risks associated with engaging in, securities-lending transactions.

Alpaca's Instant Tokenization Network is owned and developed by AlpacaDB, Inc. and Alpaca Crypto LLC.

Alpaca Names Nasdaq Data as Preferred Market Data Provider for Broker API

Luke West — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 13:00:00 GMT

Nasdaq Data named preferred market data provider for Alpaca’s Broker API, connecting global partners to high‑quality market data.

Alpaca, a global leader in brokerage infrastructure APIs, providing access to options, stocks, ETFs, and fixed income, today announced that Nasdaq Data has been named our preferred market data provider for Alpaca’s Broker API.

This collaboration builds on our Nasdaq Exchange Membership received last October and strengthens our global brokerage infrastructure.

Nasdaq Data delivers premier and reliable market data that supports accurate price discovery, transparent execution, and institutional-grade system performance. With Nasdaq Data as our preferred provider, we’re connecting our partners building trading applications, embedded investing experiences, and enterprise brokerage platforms to the depth and reliability of Nasdaq’s catalog of 250+ datasets.

Nasdaq Data is widely used by financial institutions, especially the retail brokerage community globally, and is recognized for its operational rigor and data quality standards. Access to Nasdaq Data supports Alpaca’s global partner ecosystem as it continues to scale across asset classes and geographies.

“Designating Nasdaq Data as our preferred provider demonstrates our commitment to connecting our partners to the highest standard of institutional-grade market data capabilities and further aligns our infrastructure with global market expectations,” said Yoshi Yokokawa, Co-Founder and CEO of Alpaca. “This partnership advances our vision of establishing Alpaca as the global standard for modern brokerage infrastructure and expanding access to financial markets worldwide.”

Alpaca operates globally and supports partners across more than 40 countries. As demand for embedded brokerage and cross-border investing grows, Alpaca continues to engineer ground-up systems that scale across jurisdictions and regulatory environments. With Nasdaq as our preferred data provider, Alpaca further reinforces its position as an enterprise-ready brokerage infrastructure partner.

Contact Alpaca

About Alpaca

Alpaca is a US-headquartered, self-clearing broker-dealer and a global leader in brokerage infrastructure APIs providing access to stocks, ETFs, options, fixed income, and crypto. Alpaca delivers embeddable finance solutions for tokenization, fully paid securities lending, high-yield cash, 24/5 trading, Shariah-compliant investing and more. Today, Alpaca powers over 7 million brokerage accounts across hundreds of fintechs and institutions in 40+ countries with over $170M in funding.

About Nasdaq

Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) is a leading technology platform that powers the world’s economies. We architect the world’s most modern markets, power the innovation economy, and build trust in the financial system. We empower economic opportunity by designing and deploying the technology, data, and advanced analytics that enable our clients to capture opportunities, navigate risk, and strengthen resilience.

Nasdaq® is a registered trademark of Nasdaq, Inc. The information contained above is provided for informational and educational purposes only, and nothing contained herein should be construed as investment advice, either on behalf of a particular security or an overall investment strategy. Neither Nasdaq, Inc. nor any of its affiliates makes any recommendation to buy or sell any security or any representation about the financial condition of any company. Statements regarding Nasdaq-listed companies or Nasdaq proprietary indexes are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investors should undertake their own due diligence and carefully evaluate companies before investing. ADVICE FROM A SECURITIES PROFESSIONAL IS STRONGLY ADVISED.

The content of this blog is for general informational purposes only.

Alpaca and Nasdaq are not affiliated and are not responsible for the liabilities of others.

These disclosures describe important characteristics of, and risks associated with engaging in, securities-lending transactions.

Alpaca's Instant Tokenization Network is owned and developed by AlpacaDB, Inc. and Alpaca Crypto LLC.

Introducing Automated Portfolio Transfers with Alpaca

Satoshi Ido — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 12:55:30 GMT

Thinking about making a switch to a new brokerage or consolidating your assets? Transferring your portfolio can feel like a daunting task. Whether it’s the paperwork, the emails and phone calls, or the fees, it's enough to make anyone second-guess the decision.

But what if it didn't have to be that way? What if you could transfer your assets easily, securely, and receive an added incentive? We're excited to introduce our fully automated Portfolio Transfer capability for Trading API, designed to simplify switching brokerages, and easily accessible on your Alpaca dashboard.

Transfer Your Portfolio to Alpaca Without the Hassle

With our new Portfolio Transfer feature, we’ve automated the entire process through the industry-standard ACATS (Automated Customer Account Transfer Service) system. Instead of manually liquidating and repurchasing your securities, Portfolio Transfer enables a smooth, automated transfer process. Alpaca allows you to easily transfer stocks, ETFs, and cash balances from your old brokerage firm to Alpaca.

This means:

Transfer Your Investments, Maintain Your Strategy: You may be able* to transfer your existing holdings to your new account without having to sell them, helping you maintain your current investment approach.
Tax Considerations: Typically transferring assets through the ACATS system is not considered a taxable event. However, you should consult a tax professional to understand any potential tax implications based on your specific situation.

You can initiate the transfer and track its progress directly from your Alpaca dashboard, giving you visibility throughout the entire process.

The Incentives of Transferring to Alpaca

We're offering two special incentives for new and existing clients who use our new Portfolio Transfer feature:

Transfer Fee Reimbursement**: Transferring your portfolio to Alpaca is free; however, your outside brokerage may charge you a transfer fee. Alpaca will reimburse you $50 for transfers of $10,000 or more per account and outside brokerage.
Reduced Margin Rates***: If you initiate and complete your first Portfolio Transfer of $30,000 or more in total assets, you’ll be eligible for a reduced margin interest rate (base rate**** + 1.0%) for a period of six months. You’ll also be eligible for Alpaca Elite^, unlocking all the benefits of the $30,000 deposit tier including high interest stock lending^^ and the Elite Smart Router for institutional-grade trading. Save on margin interest rates and potentially reduce your borrowing costs allowing more flexibility in managing your investment strategy.

Ready to Make the Switch?

Looking to transfer funds from another broker to Alpaca? Sign up for an account or log in to your Alpaca dashboard and start your transfer today. Take control of your financial future and experience a streamlined way to manage your investments.

If you have not created a live trading account, please check out the tutorial guides on How to open a live trading account as a US resident? or How to open a live trading account as a non-US resident?

Have questions? Learn more about Portfolio Transfer in our FAQs or contact us at support@alpaca.markets.

*Fractional shares and other non-deliverable assets may need to be liquidated as part of the ACAT process.

**This reimbursement applies only to the first qualifying transfer of $10,000 or more (per account type and brokerage firm). The $50 credit will be applied within 30 calendar days after the transfer is fully settled. Alpaca reserves the right to modify or discontinue this offer at any time without prior notice.

***This offer applies only to the first qualifying transfer of $30,000 or more. After the 6-month period, standard margin rates will apply automatically. Accounts must remain in good standing throughout the promotional period to maintain eligibility. This offer is not combinable with other margin rate promotions unless explicitly stated.

****Base rate refers to the Fed Funds Rate

^For more information on Alpaca Elite, please refer to the terms and conditions.

^^Please read Important Risk Disclosures With Respect To Participating In Fully Paid Securities Lending Transactions carefully before deciding whether to participate in lending Fully Paid Securities or agreeing to enter into a Master Securities Lending Agreement with Alpaca Securities LLC.These disclosures describe important characteristics of, and risks associated with engaging in, securities-lending transactions.

The content of this article is for general information only and is believed to be accurate as of posting date but may be subject to change. Alpaca does not provide investment, tax, or legal advice. Please consult your own independent advisor as to any investment, tax, or legal statements made herein.

Securities brokerage services are provided by Alpaca Securities LLC ("Alpaca Securities"), member FINRA/SIPC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AlpacaDB, Inc. Technology and services are offered by AlpacaDB, Inc.

This is not an offer, solicitation of an offer, or advice to buy or sell securities or open a brokerage account in any jurisdiction where Alpaca Securities is not registered or licensed, as applicable.

How Midas is Leveling the Playing Field for Turkish Investors

Luke West — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 13:49:19 GMT

For decades, the path to global wealth for retail investors in Turkey was obstructed by high fees and fragmented platforms.¹ While institutional investors have navigated international markets with less friction, individual Turkish citizens often find themselves restricted to a limited set of financial tools. This was not just a gap in infrastructure and technology; it was a gap in financial accessibility.

The Turkish financial landscape is uniquely dynamic. In recent years, the region has navigated significant macroeconomic shifts, including high inflation and currency volatility, which has increased the demand for diversified global assets.^2,3 For many investors in Turkey, access to global markets, including US equities, options, and other financial products, has become an important way to diversify portfolios and explore opportunities beyond domestic markets.

We recently spoke with Ege Eryılmaz, the VP of Business at Midas, about how Midas transformed from a promising startup into a dominant force in the region’s fintech landscape by engineering a product-first experience that prioritizes clarity and speed.

Breaking Down Barriers with Product-First Design

Founded in 2021 by Egem Eraslan, Midas was built on a singular, ambitious mission: to make investing accessible, affordable, and seamless for everyone. Whether someone is investing for the first time or actively managing a portfolio, they believe the experience needs to feel intuitive and reliable.

The challenges the Midas team had to overcome to achieve this were multi-faceted. For years, investing in global markets felt overly complex and out of reach. Many traditional institutions structured global access across separate platforms or account types, making the experience feel fragmented. Investors often had to open accounts across multiple systems to access local equities, US markets, or digital assets. Today, investors increasingly expect a more unified, intuitive experience when accessing global markets.

"We focus on removing the traditional barriers to investing, starting with offering very low-cost access to global markets. We also place a strong emphasis on simplifying the user experience through product design," explains Eryılmaz. "Before Midas, retail investors in Turkey largely accessed US markets through banks, with high commissions and fragmented user experiences. We entered the market with pricing that was significantly more affordable and a product that was much easier to use.”

Through this approach, Midas has scaled into one of the largest retail investing platforms in the region. “In just a few years we’ve grown our user base from tens of thousands to close to 4 million users, with nearly $4 billion in assets under management (AUM),” continued Eryılmaz.

With their recent Series B of $80 million, the most capital ever raised by a Turkish fintech company, Midas looks to consistently launch products, scale them quickly, and build a platform that users rely on across various market cycles.³

Building and Scaling Products Across Retail and Sophisticated Traders

While product experience was important, Midas recognized that it needed more than just an intuitive user interface; it needed a partner with the technical rigor to support massive scale and complex product sets. They found that partner in Alpaca.

Leveraging Alpaca's Broker API, Midas launched US stocks in 2021. Since then, product adoption has been exponential: "Today, Midas holds over half of the US equities market share in Turkey, making it the clear market leader and reflecting strong retail penetration and high user retention," said Eryılmaz.

Midas has continued to launch several products with Alpaca, including options and 24/5 trading in 2025. This expansion has focused on gradually supporting more active and sophisticated trading features which have become essential for the modern Turkish investor:

High-Yield Cash: A regulated feature that makes idle capital productive, ensuring that every dollar in a user's account is working toward their financial future.
US Options: Strategic tools that help empower active traders to implement sophisticated strategies, providing a level of functionality previously reserved for professionals.
24/5 Trading: This allows users to engage with US markets nearly around the clock, aligning their trading activity with global news cycles rather than being limited to traditional market hours.

“We’ve built leading product experiences across multiple asset classes and consistently expanded what our users can do on the platform. Offering high-yield accounts empowers our users to keep growing in periods where they may be less active,” explained Eryılmaz. “Options were strategic for us as we started building features more intentionally for active and experienced traders, giving them access to tools that support more advanced portfolio strategies. 24/5 trading, meanwhile, has been important from an accessibility perspective, allowing users to engage with global markets beyond traditional trading hours.”

Since the launch of options, adoption has been strong, particularly among more experienced users. As of today, options trading on Midas averages around 500,000 contracts per month, indicating strong usage from their audience.

In addition to the products offered with Alpaca, Midas also provides access to Turkish equities, mutual funds, crypto, and derivatives. The variety of financial tools address different investor needs, but all share the same expectations around affordability, speed, and ease of use.*

“Our users don’t separate their financial lives into local and global silos. They want access to different asset classes and markets within a single, streamlined experience so they can apply different strategies and build more comprehensive portfolios,” stated Eryılmaz. “Offering more products means users can handle more of their investing in one place, which naturally increases how often they use the platform.”

As they scale, Midas’s focus continues to prioritize product expansion, growth, and reliable infrastructure.

Building a Resilient, Integrated Infrastructure Foundation with Alpaca

The philosophy underlying the partnership between Midas and Alpaca is the shared commitment to developing tools from the ground up. This includes engineering core systems from scratch to ensure they can scale alongside the evolving needs of the market.

"Alpaca's API-first infrastructure made them a natural partner from day one. Their technology allowed us to move quickly, launch US stocks early, and continuously expand our offering without compromising stability,” said Eryılmaz. “Just as important, Alpaca understood how we wanted to build the product and the pace we needed to move at, which made it a strong long-term fit for us.”

Eryılmaz continued, “the Alpaca team has consistently been responsive, technically strong, and open to evolving alongside our needs. As we’ve moved into more complex products and higher volumes, that level of partnership has been critical.”

"The Midas team has built a platform that bridges cultural and economic gaps, honoring the realities of the Turkish community while providing world-class access and product experiences,” said Yoshi Yokokawa, Co-Founder and CEO of Alpaca. "The impact Midas has made in the region has been groundbreaking as we all are witnessing it. We look forward to supporting their infrastructure needs as they continue to massively scale, and working collaboratively towards more innovation."

The partnership between Midas and Alpaca represents a collaborative effort to architect a more inclusive financial future. By combining global market access with strong infrastructure and a proactive growth mindset, we are working together to ensure that the next generation of Turkish investors has the tools they need to navigate the complexities of the global economy with confidence.

Looking Ahead: Engineering the Future of Wealth

Midas's growth has been historic. For years, Midas has been product-focused, engineering strong tools and a reliable user experience, supported by performance marketing, partnerships, and word of mouth. This approach led them to achieve healthy engagement and retention while keeping the product experience at the center of growth.

For the next stage of growth, Midas looks to invest more aggressively in marketing. “While the product remains core, we’re placing greater emphasis on marketing and growth initiatives, including brand building and increasing Midas’s visibility across different channels,” explained Eryılmaz. “The aim is to complement our product strength with a more structured and consistent growth strategy.”

Additionally, their product roadmap for 2026 and beyond is focused on deepening everyday usage for retail investors while also expanding their offering for more sophisticated traders.

For retail investors, Midas is looking to expand access to European equities. Additionally, they want to add features like Midas Card and easier money transfers. For the sophisticated audience, Midas looks to introduce Turkish derivatives (VIOP) and build a web-based trader and API access for advanced users who want more flexible trading interfaces. Within their crypto product, Midas is also looking to add more advanced token selection and trading systems to support more active strategies.

The overarching vision for Midas is to evolve from an investment app into a comprehensive financial ecosystem that supports every facet of a user’s economic reality. Together, Midas and Alpaca continue to pave the way for expansion, proving that product-led financial tools with the right infrastructure partner can dismantle the barriers to global markets once and for all.

Contact Alpaca

About Alpaca

Alpaca is a US-headquartered, self-clearing broker-dealer and a global leader in brokerage infrastructure APIs providing access to stocks, ETFs, options, fixed income, and crypto. Alpaca delivers embeddable finance solutions for tokenization, fully paid securities lending, high-yield cash, 24/5 trading, Shariah-compliant investing, and more. Today, Alpaca powers over 9 million brokerage accounts across hundreds of fintechs and institutions in 40+ countries with over $320M in funding.

About Midas

Founded in 2020, Midas is Turkey’s leading investment platform. It offers access to Turkish and US equities, mutual funds, and cryptocurrencies through a single platform. Since launch, Midas has grown rapidly and now serves more than 3.5 million users.

Midas enables trading on US exchanges at a competitive flat fee of $1.50 per transaction, while permanently eliminating all commissions and account-related charges, including clearing and custody fees, for Borsa Istanbul. In addition, the platform provides real-time market data at no cost to its users.

Sources:

*Midas also provides access to Turkish equities, mutual funds, crypto, and derivatives that are not offered through Alpaca

The content of this article is for general informational purposes only. All examples are for illustrative purposes only.

Alpaca and Midas are not affiliated and are not responsible for the liabilities of others.

These disclosures describe important characteristics of, and risks associated with engaging in, securities-lending transactions.

Alpaca's Instant Tokenization Network is owned and developed by AlpacaDB, Inc. and Alpaca Crypto LLC.

trii Launches US Stock Trading in Chile, Expanding Global Investment Access with Alpaca

Megha Bhattacharya — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 12:30:14 GMT

trii, a leading investing app in Latin America, today announced the launch of US stock trading in Chile, introducing a mobile-first solution that aims to remove traditional barriers to investing in the Chilean market. The launch is powered by Alpaca, a global leader in brokerage infrastructure APIs, providing access to options, stocks, ETFs, fixed income, and crypto.

Retail investors across Latin America have faced significant hurdles to market participation, high commission fees, limited financial education, and limited technological and market infrastructure. In Chile, while interest in wealth creation is growing, many potential investors remain intimidated by traditional brokerages. Recent data shows that more than 62% of Chileans find it difficult to invest their money, citing a lack of knowledge and awareness of accessible tools.

trii is addressing these challenges through their intuitive interface, low commissions and fees, and integrated financial education. Through the partnership between trii and Alpaca, hundreds of thousands of Chilean retail investors can now access the US markets, diversify away from local currency risks and political cycles, and gain global exposure. By making investing affordable, trii is making wealth building accessible into their user’s everyday financial life, not a one-time, high-pressure decision.

"US stocks open a completely different level of opportunity for our customers. By giving access to the US market, we have removed the constraints of investing only in the local market while exposing customers to a broader set of companies with better liquidity and more efficient pricing. That alone already changes the investing experience," said Carlos Guayara, Founder of trii.

“By working with Alpaca, an API-driven infrastructure partner, it gave us the flexibility to integrate US stock trading without compromising on simplicity or speed,” continued Guayara. “This allowed us to move faster and focus on what we do best, which is product, education, and user experience, while relying on proven execution and market access on the backend. With Alpaca, we are building trii to be an investment marketplace where people across LATAM can access reliable, scalable investment services while keeping a consistent experience for our customers."

"We are thrilled to support trii as they expand into Chile," said Yoshi Yokokawa, Co-founder and CEO of Alpaca. "trii and Alpaca share a similar belief that investing should be more accessible and less complex. We're committed to providing trii the innovative technology and reliable infrastructure needed to help them grow and open financial access to more customers across LATAM.”

With the launch of US stocks, trii is aiming to increase the number Chilean investors while taking another step in its broader strategy to become LATAM’s brokerage of choice.

Contact Alpaca

About Alpaca

Alpaca is a US-headquartered, self-clearing broker-dealer and a global leader in brokerage infrastructure APIs providing access to stocks, ETFs, options, fixed income, and crypto. Alpaca delivers embeddable finance solutions for tokenization, fully paid securities lending, high-yield cash, 24/5 trading, Shariah-compliant investing, and more. Today, Alpaca powers over 9 million brokerage accounts across hundreds of fintechs and institutions in 40+ countries with over $320M in funding. For more information, visit: alpaca.markets

About trii

trii is a mobile-first investment platform dedicated to democratizing access to the stock market in Latin America. Through its easy-to-use app, trii offers local and international stock trading, educational content, and low-cost entry points for retail investors. For more information, visit https://trii.co/

References:

The content of this blog is for general informational purposes only. All examples are for illustrative purposes only.

Alpaca and trii are not affiliated and are not responsible for the liabilities of others.

The content of this blog is for general informational purposes only. All examples are for illustrative purposes only.

Alpaca and {insert partner name}. are not affiliated and are not responsible for the liabilities of others.

These disclosures describe important characteristics of, and risks associated with engaging in, securities-lending transactions.

Alpaca Securities offers a cash management program pursuant to the FDIC Bank Sweep. Customer funds are treated differently and are subject to separate regulatory regimes de on whether customer funds are held in their brokerage account or within the FDIC Bank Sweep. Alpaca Securities is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), which protects securities customers of its members up to $500,000 (including $250,000 for claims for cash). The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insures up to $250,000 per deposit against the failure of an FDIC member bank. Customer funds held in brokerage accounts are SIPC insured, but are not eligible for FDIC insurance coverage. Funds maintained in the FDIC Bank Sweep are intended to be eligible for pass-through FDIC insurance coverage but are not covered by SIPC. FDIC insurance does not protect against the failure of Alpaca, Alpaca Securities, or their affiliates, nor against malfeasance by their employees. Program banks that participate in the FDIC Bank Sweep are not members of SIPC, and therefore, funds held in the Program are not SIPC protected. Please see alpaca.markets/disclosures for important additional disclosures regarding Alpaca Securities brokerage offering, as well as FDIC Bank Sweep terms and conditions.

Alpaca's Instant Tokenization Network is owned and developed by AlpacaDB, Inc. and Alpaca Crypto LLC.

OpenAI Integrates Alpaca’s Market Data Functionality as Part of ChatGPT for Financial Services

Luke West — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 22:11:25 GMT

Today, OpenAI announced their new financial data integration in ChatGPT, empowering analysts and developers to synthesize market data and research into decision-ready analysis. Alpaca is included as one of the first integrations, bringing market data directly into the ChatGPT experience.

This launch marks an important step in how developers, traders, and data-driven teams can interact with financial markets using natural language. With Alpaca’s integration, ChatGPT users can explore market data across stocks, options, and crypto by simply asking questions, without switching tools or writing code.

This helps empower anyone to retrieve historical and real-time market data such as quote prices, snapshots, option chains, Greeks, and bar data with just a simple prompt.

Example prompts include:

“How has AAPL performed this quarter compared to GOOG?”
“Show me the SPY option chain that expires next Friday.”
“What is the latest 15 minute bar data for BTC/USD?”

By combining Alpaca’s market data with ChatGPT’s conversational interface, users can move quickly from curiosity to insight, changing how information can be analyzed and strategies can be implemented.

The integration with ChatGPT is an extension of Alpaca’s MCP Server, which connects AI interfaces to Alpaca’s Trading API capabilities through the Model Context Protocol. While Alpaca’s integration with ChatGPT prioritizes market data access, Alpaca’s MCP Server is also available as a self hosted solution for developers who want to build more AI driven trading workflows across their own tools and environments.

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This launch reflects Alpaca’s continued focus on meeting developers where they already work, while supporting the growing ecosystem of AI powered applications.

Get started

You can start using Alpaca’s integration today by visiting ChatGPT’s apps directory and enabling Alpaca from your ChatGPT Plus plan.

If you’re a developer and interested in the full capabilities of Alpaca’s MCP Server, including self hosted deployments, visit Alpaca’s official MCP Server page. You can also log in or sign up for a Trading API account and connect it to the AI tools you already use.

Still have questions? Learn more in our API documentation or contact us at support@alpaca.markets.

The symbols used for demonstration purposes and should not be considered investment advice.

Insights generated by our MCP server and connected AI agents are for educational and informational purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice. Alpaca does not recommend any specific securities or investment strategies. Past performance from models does not guarantee future results. Please conduct your own due diligence before making any decisions. All firms mentioned operate independently and are not liable for one another.

The content of this article is for general informational purposes only. All examples are for educational and illustrative purposes only.

AlpacaDB, Inc., the parent company of Alpaca Clearing and Alpaca Crypto LLC, provides services and technology, including the brokerage infrastructure API supporting Alpaca’s financial services.

Securities brokerage services are provided by Alpaca Securities LLC (dba Alpaca Clearing), member FINRA/SIPC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AlpacaDB, Inc. Technology and services are offered by AlpacaDB, Inc.

This is not an offer, solicitation of an offer, or advice to buy or sell securities or cryptocurrencies or open a brokerage account or cryptocurrency account in any jurisdiction where Alpaca Clearing or Alpaca Crypto, respectively, are not registered or licensed, as applicable.

Alpaca Adds Good ‘Til Cancelled (GTC) Orders for Options via Trading API

Satoshi Ido — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 14:55:01 GMT

Good ’Til Cancelled (GTC) orders for options are now available through Alpaca’s Trading API. This release is designed for traders and developers who want their intent to persist beyond the trading day without rebuilding positions every morning. With GTC orders, your options trades stay live until they’re filled or you explicitly cancel them.

For active options traders, this may unlock a more natural way to trade within market dynamics. Options liquidity can appear suddenly, volatility regimes can shift quickly, and fills don’t always happen during a narrow intraday window. GTC orders help let you place your levels once and allow the market to come to you, whether that opportunity shows up today, tomorrow, or next week.

For algorithmic strategies, GTC orders can allow traders to define entries and exits in advance.. By defining entries and exits ahead of time, you can potentially reduce the chance of emotional overrides and operational risk. Your strategy logic lives at the broker, not just in your running process, so even if your system restarts or markets gap at the open, your orders remain active and enforce your predefined risk rules.

This launch is another step toward fully automated, production-grade options trading. GTC orders reduce the need to manually re-enter orders each trading day. Just persistent orders, cleaner workflows, and tighter alignment between strategy design and execution.

While GTC orders add automation, they also introduce new considerations. Because these orders remain active across sessions, an order may fill at a time or price that no longer reflects your original intent. For this reason, GTC orders are best paired with regular reviews, volatility-aware pricing, and clear cancellation rules, ensuring your automation enhances discipline without becoming a source of unintended risk.

To get started, read our guide on how to place your first GTC options order or explore the updated options documentation and start deploying GTC orders in your trading stack today.

*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 in options.

Please note that this article is for general informational purposes only and is believed to be accurate as of the posting date but may be subject to change.

All investments involve risk, and the past performance of a security, or financial product does not guarantee future results or returns. There is no guarantee that any investment strategy will achieve its objectives. Please note that diversification does not ensure a profit, or protect against loss. There is always the potential of losing money when you invest in securities, or other financial products. Investors should consider their investment objectives and risks carefully before investing.

Alpaca’s Vision for a “Global Financial OS” | Co-Founder Hitoshi Harada on the Story Behind Tokenized Stocks

Megha Bhattacharya — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 15:10:14 GMT

Note: This article was translated from Japanese by Alpaca. Read the original interview by CoinPost.

Alpaca, a brokerage infrastructure company founded in the US by Yoshi Yokokawa and Hitoshi Harada, raised $150 million USD in January 2026, reaching a unicorn valuation of $1.15 BN USD.

Providing brokerage infrastructure APIs to more than 300 financial institutions across 40 countries, Alpaca commands an estimated 94% global market share in tokenized US equities. Through partnerships with major projects such as Ondo Finance and xStocks (Kraken), the company is rapidly strengthening its presence as critical infrastructure connecting traditional finance (TradFi) and on-chain finance.

CoinPost spoke with Hitoshi Harada, Alpaca’s Co-Founder, Chief Technology Officer, and Chief Product Officer, about bridging TradFi and on-chain finance, the innovation behind Alpaca’s Instant Tokenization Network (ITN), its outlook for the Japanese market, and its long-term vision as a global financial infrastructure provider.

Hitoshi Harada studied computer science and financial engineering at Keio University and served as CTO of Forcia from 2006 to 2011. He contributed to the development of the globally adopted database software PostgreSQL and later led core architecture design for big data and distributed systems at US-based Pivotal.

Alpaca as a Bridge Between TradFi and On-chain Finance

CoinPost: Alpaca has grown rapidly by providing API-first brokerage infrastructure under the vision of making financial services easily accessible to anyone. How do you position Alpaca’s role as a bridge between traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi)?

Hitoshi: This is the core of our mission. The crypto and on-chain space has long been driven by vague concepts, but what truly matters now is upgrading real-world assets (RWAs) in a practical way.

Equities, particularly US stocks, were the most natural starting point, and momentum has really picked up over the past year. That said, tokenizing RWAs requires proper management of the underlying assets. Equities are especially complex: corporate actions such as stock splits, dividends, and other events occur regularly and must be handled correctly.

When you bring assets that underpin the US capital markets into a decentralized environment, existing crypto-native approaches simply don’t work. Regulatory requirements, AML, and operational controls must all be addressed. Someone needs to clearly define what can be handled within traditional frameworks, and then realistically connect that to what can be achieved in a blockchain-based setting.

Alpaca understands both TradFi and the digital asset economy. We saw this convergence coming three to four years ago and spent that time thinking through what kind of infrastructure would be needed. Now, it feels like the timing has finally aligned.

Instant Tokenization Network (ITN) and Liquidity Enhancement

CoinPost: The Instant Tokenization Network (ITN) has drawn attention as an infrastructure that enables institutional investors to tokenize equities around the clock. How does ITN contribute to improving liquidity in the tokenized equities market?

Hitoshi: As a starting point, liquidity is essential for real-world asset (RWA) tokenization to gain traction, yet only a handful of players have been able to provide it effectively so far.

The tokenization of equities has gained momentum precisely because the underlying spot markets are already deep and liquid. Price discovery is well established, so you can rely on it. If you start tokenization from scratch with other asset classes, you immediately run into the question of who will make the market. With stocks, that problem largely disappears. The liquidity and price discovery already exist. In that sense, they resemble stablecoins backed one-to-one by real assets.

This creates arbitrage opportunities. In the traditional equity market, pricing is tightly regulated, for example, in the US, rules like NBBO limit spreads. On the crypto side, however, trades can still occur even with wider spreads. Say you buy Tesla shares at USD 100 on the stock market, while the tokenized version is trading at USD 101 on a crypto exchange. You can buy at 100 and sell at 101. ITN enables this swap to happen instantly.

Once that’s possible, market makers can profit from arbitrage, which in turn helps keep token prices closely pegged to the underlying assets. It’s not just about injecting capital; this mechanism is what stabilizes prices. Lessons from failed stablecoins like UST have shown how critical it is to have a structure that can maintain the peg. As long as there are participants with economic incentives to correct price discrepancies, price formation holds. That’s what ultimately builds trust and makes these assets usable at scale.

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The Instant Tokenization Network (ITN)

The Instant Tokenization Network (ITN) is Alpaca’s infrastructure for minting and redeeming tokenized equities. Designed for US-regulated institutional clients and market makers, ITN enables the conversion of traditional equities into on-chain counterparts through a single API.

Available 24/7/365, the network removes delays associated with traditional cash-based settlement. Its primary goal is to enhance liquidity for US equities tokenized on blockchains such as Ethereum and Solana.

CoinPost: How fast does the tokenization process actually happen in practice?

Hitoshi: Conceptually, you buy shares in the traditional securities market, and within seconds, the tokenized version is delivered to your wallet. The flow is straightforward: equities are deposited with Alpaca, converted into tokens, and then sent to a pre-registered wallet address.

Alpaca provides this globally in compliance with local regulations. As a US-licensed broker-dealer, we first onboard clients through standard brokerage accounts. Customers then deposit US dollars and purchase shares. When an API call is made to tokenize those shares, the tokens are issued and delivered to the registered wallet address almost immediately.

CoinPost: Alpaca has captured a 94% share of the market for tokenized US equities and ETFs. What factors enabled you to build such a strong lead? And how have partnerships with major projects like Ondo Finance and Kraken shaped the broader ecosystem?

Hitoshi: Alpaca has been preparing for this shift from the very beginning. We knew this convergence was coming and invested early in building crypto-related products with that future in mind.

Three factors came together. First, on the TradFi side, we operate a full self-clearing model. Second, we had already built the capability to process crypto transactions and use stablecoins on the same platform to purchase underlying equities. Third, our systems are designed for real-time processing and flexible API-based integration.

When you put all of that together, there really wasn’t anyone else offering the same stack. When demand emerged, it became a simple decision: “Alpaca could do it, others couldn’t.” That naturally led to our position today.

In terms of ecosystem impact, I think many of these initiatives would have been hard to realize without a stack like Alpaca’s. When new ideas emerged, partners could move from concept to execution in a matter of months, and that speed was only possible because the underlying infrastructure was already in place.

💡

Self-clearing

Self-clearing refers to a brokerage model in which a firm handles the entire trade lifecycle from execution to clearing and settlement internally. While most broker-dealers outsource these functions to third-party clearing firms, doing so in-house enables greater efficiency, faster processing, and lower costs.

In the United States, only broker-dealers that pass stringent FINRA reviews are permitted to operate under a self-clearing license. Alpaca has direct memberships with the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC), and the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation (FICC). This infrastructure allows Alpaca to provide clearing and settlement across equities, options, and fixed-income markets.

CoinPost: How do you view the tokenization of RWAs beyond US equities, such as real estate or bonds?

Hitoshi: Fixed income is certainly a viable category. Ondo Finance, for example, has been tokenizing US Treasuries for some time. That said, in terms of mindshare and retail investor interest, equities still attract far more attention.

Real estate tokenization is also gaining traction, including in Japan. In places like the United Arab Emirates, governments are actively promoting real estate tokenization as part of their national strategy. Saudi Arabia is moving in a similar direction, particularly around tokenizing *sukuk* (Islamic bonds). These are likely the next wave after US equities.

There are also more experimental use cases emerging. One startup in Turkey is looking to tokenize bank credit limits, essentially receivables tied to post-dated checks, turning paper-based claims into digital tokens that can be fractionalized and used as a means of payment. In another scenario, real estate owners could tokenize future rental income and use those tokens to purchase tokenized equities. That’s when you really start to see a true token economy take shape.

Outlook for the Japanese Market

CoinPost: Alpaca also operates through its Japanese subsidiary. How do you see the potential for RWA tokenization and the broader Web3 space in the Japanese market?

Hitoshi: From a business perspective, Japan is an important market for Alpaca, both for US equity brokerage and for digital asset–related businesses. Talent is another key factor. While many international professionals are interested in working in Japan, there are relatively few roles that truly meet their expectations. Companies like Alpaca, which hire globally on a fully remote basis, can be very attractive, and Japan is already one of our talent hubs.

Personally, I hope we move toward a truly borderless world. For Japan in particular, it’s important to avoid becoming isolated. The way “Web3” is sometimes discussed domestically can be risky. Trying to solve everything within Japan, by Japanese stakeholders alone, doesn’t work in a global system.

Take the debate around 24-hour equity trading. The key question isn’t how Japan’s market should operate in isolation, but how it connects smoothly to global flows that are constantly moving in and out. Alpaca wants to contribute by sharing information and global perspectives, including the recent developments related to DTCC. Japan shouldn’t end up with systems that work only domestically and are unusable elsewhere.

CoinPost: What specific strengths does Alpaca have when it comes to expanding its business in the Japanese market?

Hitoshi: Japan holds a vast pool of assets. We’re starting to seriously think about a world where products that were previously accessible only to institutional investors, such as private funds, can be tokenized, fractionalized, and purchased not just in Japan, but even by a university student in Indonesia.

There’s a lot Alpaca can do on the distribution side to make that possible. Being able to conduct business in Japanese is also a real advantage in this market. Rather than waiting for things to happen, we want to actively engage, go into the market, have direct conversations, and create new business opportunities on the ground.

Looking Ahead: Toward a Global Financial Operating System

CoinPost: Alpaca has grown into a unicorn company. Looking ahead five to ten years, what is your vision for the ultimate form of global financial infrastructure that Alpaca aims to build?

Hitoshi: Internally, I often describe our ambition as becoming an ‘operating system” like Windows or Android.

Before Windows, hardware came from different manufacturers, each with its own specifications. Windows abstracted all of that. As long as you build on the same SDK, the software will run the same way on a Toshiba PC or an NEC PC. Nothing like that exists in global finance yet. Regulations differ between the UK and Japan, and vendors exist in both markets, but the infrastructure isn’t portable.

If Alpaca’s infrastructure becomes that abstraction layer, expansion would move much faster. A fintech company overseas could simply say, “Let’s launch in Japan,” or “Let’s expand into Africa,” and those decisions could be executed far more quickly. When new fintech ideas emerge, they could be tested rapidly and with minimal capital. Instead of spending enormous time securing licenses and preparing regulatory capital, teams could build an app from a single idea and launch it wherever demand exists.

Looking further ahead, today’s focus is on tokenizing already-listed public equities. But eventually, the question becomes: ”Why do companies need to list on traditional stock exchanges at all?” Some public companies are already considering issuing a portion of their shares directly on-chain. If disclosure, transparency, and trust can be established natively on-chain, it’s not inconceivable that we might question the relevance of a traditional IPO and choose to issue directly on-chain.

Even in that world, brokers remain essential. Someone has to handle settlement across multiple chains, provide leverage, and underwrite trust. That is the broker’s core function. Firms that cling to the old models of the past 10 or 20 years may be left behind, but Alpaca intends to keep pushing forward. That’s our vision for the next five to ten years.

Contact Alpaca

About Alpaca

Alpaca is a US-headquartered, self-clearing broker-dealer and a global leader in brokerage infrastructure APIs providing access to stocks, ETFs, options, fixed income, and crypto. Alpaca delivers embeddable finance solutions for tokenization, fully paid securities lending, high-yield cash, 24/5 trading, Shariah-compliant investing and more. Today, Alpaca powers over 9 million brokerage accounts across hundreds of fintechs and institutions in 40+ countries with over $320M in funding.

The content of this blog is for general informational purposes only. All examples are for illustrative purposes only. Alpaca does not recommend any specific investments or investment strategies. Alpaca does not provide investment, tax, or legal advice.

Alpaca and Coinpost are not affiliated and are not responsible for the liabilities of others.

Alpaca's Instant Tokenization Network is owned and developed by AlpacaDB, Inc. and Alpaca Crypto LLC.

These disclosures describe important characteristics of, and risks associated with engaging in, securities-lending transactions.

Musaffa Expands Faith-Aligned Investing With Their Global Halal Investment Platform for US Markets

Megha Bhattacharya — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 13:30:05 GMT

Musaffa, a leading fintech platform dedicated to Shariah-compliant investment research and Islamic Finance Education, recently announced the launch of its Global Halal Investment Platform. This new solution provides 600,000+ Muslim investors across 200+ countries with expanded access to US capital markets via regulated and scalable trading and investment infrastructure while embedding Shariah compliance directly into the investing experience.¹ The launch is powered by Alpaca, a global leader in brokerage infrastructure APIs, providing access to options, stocks, ETFs, and fixed income.

Muslim investors continue to face significant barriers when attempting to access global markets, including fragmented tools, limited access, or a lack of clear regulatory oversight.² The absence of a unified system can lead to classification inconsistencies, where a stock may lose its Shariah-compliant status without the investor's immediate knowledge, putting the trust of the end-user at risk.³

At the same time, demand for Shariah-compliant investing is increasing, with global Islamic finance assets projected to reach $9.7 trillion USD by 2029, marking an average annual growth rate of 10%.⁴ Islamic fintech now represents 3% of total assets, signaling opportunities for digital platforms to integrate faith-aligned financial services alongside modern trading practices.⁵

To address both the barriers and opportunities, Musaffa integrated with Alpaca’s Broker API.

“Traditionally, Muslim investors have relied on multiple disconnected tools, including separate platforms for screening, trading, purification calculations, and zakat tracking. This fragmentation creates unnecessary manual effort and high levels of uncertainty,” explained Dilshod Jumaniyazov, Co-Founder and CEO of Musaffa. “By partnering with Alpaca, Musaffa is expanding access to US capital markets via modern, scalable trading infrastructure while embedding Shariah compliance directly into the investing experience. This launch represents a unique step forward, helping make transparent, trustworthy, and faith-aligned investing more accessible for investors who have been underserved.”

By reducing manual processes and ambiguity, Musaffa is helping investors engage with the market more confidently while remaining aligned with their religious values.

“We’re proud to empower partners like Musaffa in bridging the gap between the rapidly growing demand for faith-aligned access to US markets without friction,” said Yoshi Yokokawa, Co-Founder and CEO of Alpaca. “Providing infrastructure that partners use to build embeddable Shariah-compliant solutions is important for Alpaca as we expand financial accessibility globally. We’re honored to support Musaffa in enabling transparent, faith-aligned trading experiences to hundreds of thousands of investors worldwide.”

Musaffa looks to expand to 24/5 trading access in the near future.

Contact Alpaca

About Alpaca

Alpaca is a US-headquartered, self-clearing broker-dealer and a global leader in brokerage infrastructure APIs providing access to stocks, ETFs, options, fixed income, and crypto. Alpaca delivers embeddable finance solutions for tokenization, fully paid securities lending, high-yield cash, 24/5 trading, Shariah-compliant investing, and more. Today, Alpaca powers over 9 million brokerage accounts across hundreds of fintechs and institutions in 40+ countries with over $320M in funding. For more information, visit: alpaca.markets

About Musaffa

Based in New York City, Musaffa is a Halal Investment Research Platform that empowers investors to make informed, confident financial decisions. The platform provides comprehensive tools to screen stocks and ETFs for compliance with Islamic principles and ethical standards, offers financial education resources, and enables users to invest in halal and ethical financial products via a simple, user-friendly interface. Recognized as one of the 30 Notable Islamic Fintechs for three consecutive years, Musaffa currently serves 600,000+ members across 200+ countries and is on a mission to make halal, values-driven investing accessible to millions worldwide. For more information, visit: musaffa.com/

References:

The content of this blog is for general informational purposes only.

Alpaca Securities LLC (dba "Alpaca Clearing"), and Musaffa are not affiliated and are not responsible for the liabilities of others.

These disclosures describe important characteristics of, and risks associated with engaging in, securities-lending transactions.

Alpaca's Instant Tokenization Network is owned and developed by AlpacaDB, Inc. and Alpaca Crypto LLC.

How Bitso is Empowering Investors in Mexico with Commission-Free Trading of US Stocks

Luke West — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 17:57:58 GMT

Across Latin America (LATAM), access to wealth-building tools remains a privilege of the few. Traditional financial systems often exclude the majority of the population due to the lack of financial infrastructure¹ leading to high minimums, complex requirements, and restrictive market hours². In many countries across the region, only 2-3% of people participate¹ in the stock market. This significant gap leaves millions of individuals without the means to grow their savings or protect their capital against local economic volatility.

We recently spoke with Alex Mehrdad, General Manager of Retail at Bitso, LATAM’s leading digital financial services company,³ about their launch of US stocks and ETFs in Mexico, and their partnership with Alpaca.

Expanding Asset Classes and Financial Tools for 9 Million Clients

Founded in 2014, Bitso began as a pioneer in the cryptocurrency space with the mission to make investing more accessible and useful for everyday life. While crypto is still a core pillar for financial transformation across LATAM, it is only one part of a larger journey toward financial freedom. Today, Bitso has evolved into a comprehensive investment platform with a community of over 9 million clients,⁴ empowering users to build long-term wealth across crypto* and US equities.

"Our broader goal is to help people build wealth through a diversified set of financial tools," explained Mehrdad. "By adding US stocks to our platform, we expand the range of asset classes available to our users and meet them at different stages of their investment journey."

The challenges to invest in the US market in Latin America are largely structural. High minimum investment requirements often act as a wall with many investors believing they need thousands of dollars to start,² which keeps the market perceived as an elite activity. Additionally, the standard hours of global exchanges do not always align with the reality of workers in the region who may manage multiple jobs or non-traditional schedules.

Bitso aims to dismantle these barriers by shifting the perception of investing from something exclusive to something accessible for everyone.

Engineering Global Access with Alpaca

To turn this into reality, Bitso partnered with Alpaca to integrate US stock and ETF trading directly into its platform. By utilizing Alpaca’s Broker API, Bitso launched commission-free trading and fractional investing, lowering minimum trade requirements to as little as $1 USD or roughly 18 pesos**. This infrastructure allows first-time investors across Mexico to enter global markets without the burden of large fees or upfront capital.

“Features like fractional shares significantly lower the barrier to entry with customers no longer needing $1,000 just to get started,” explained Mehrdad. “By removing trading commissions and lowering minimum investment requirements, we reduce key barriers to entry and make it easier for first-time investors to access global markets and start building wealth. They can begin investing with small amounts, learn over time, and gradually build a diversified portfolio in a simple and inclusive way.”

Caption: Bitso launches US stock trading within their app

The partnership also enables critical features like 24/5 trading, providing customers with the flexibility to engage with the market whenever it fits their routine. Together, commission-free trading, 24/5 access, and fractional trading help empower users to manage risk effectively and start investing without large sums of upfront capital.

“In regions like Latin America, where people often combine multiple jobs or operate outside standard market hours, that flexibility is essential to making investing practical,” said Mehrdad. “Together, these features democratize access. They empower users to participate gradually, manage risk more effectively, and integrate investing into their daily financial lives, rather than treating it as a one-off or elite activity.”

On working with Alpaca on the integration, Mehrdad noted, "Working with Alpaca has been a structured and efficient process, consistent with what you’d expect from a mature SaaS partner, enabling us to build and launch our product smoothly and on schedule. The collaboration demonstrates how modern infrastructure can bridge cultural and economic gaps to create a more fair monetary system for everyone."

"Alpaca is proud to support Bitso's expansion into US stocks and their commitment to regional empowerment," says Yoshi Yokokawa, Co-Founder and CEO of Alpaca. "With the shared goal of making investing more accessible, we look forward to continuing to work collaboratively together as their infrastructure partner."

Architecting the Future of Finance

The launch of US stocks is only the beginning of Bitso’s journey to provide wider access to global markets through their comprehensive investment platform. The company continues to pave the way for wider adoption of sophisticated financial products across the region while serving its community.

“Our primary focus is on delivering a strong product experience, expanding access to investing, and sustainably growing adoption among our customers over time,” says Mehrdad.

Looking ahead, Bitso and Alpaca plan to deepen their partnership to unlock even more market possibilities. The roadmap includes the addition of advanced features such as options and tokenized US equities. These upcoming tools will provide Latin American investors with even greater flexibility to navigate global markets and build resilient portfolios for the future.

Contact Alpaca

About Alpaca

Alpaca is a US-headquartered, self-clearing broker-dealer and a global leader in brokerage infrastructure APIs providing access to stocks, ETFs, options, fixed income, and crypto. Alpaca delivers embeddable finance solutions for tokenization, fully paid securities lending, high-yield cash, 24/5 trading, Shariah-compliant investing, and more. Today, Alpaca powers over 9 million brokerage accounts across hundreds of fintechs and institutions in 40+ countries with over $320M in funding.

“How much is invested in the stock market in each country?”. TradingPRO, May 6, 2025
“Latin Americans remain distant from stock market investments, and the gap with the U.S. is widening.”, May 9, 2025
“Bitso Business Becomes Latin America's First Stablecoin Payments Platform to Surpass $80 Billion in Annual TPV”, December 18, 2025
“The New Bitso: Discover what your money is capable of”, Bitso, December 9, 2025

*Crypto services are provided through Bitso

**Please note that this conversion rate is effective as of date of publication and is subject to change and may not be the conversion rate on the date this is read

The content of this blog is for general informational purposes only. All examples are for illustrative purposes only.

Alpaca and Bitso are not affiliated and are not responsible for the liabilities of others.

These disclosures describe important characteristics of, and risks associated with engaging in, securities-lending transactions.

Alpaca's Instant Tokenization Network is owned and developed by AlpacaDB, Inc. and Alpaca Crypto LLC.

Waldo Launches Modern Treasury Platform for Startups, SMBs, and Enterprises Through Partnership with Alpaca

Megha Bhattacharya — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 09:47:04 GMT

Waldo is a treasury cash management platform for startups, SMBs, and enterprises that allows entities to generate yield and manage risk on their company’s cash without having to switch banks. The offering is powered in partnership with Alpaca, a global leader in brokerage infrastructure API, providing access to options, stocks, ETFs, fixed income, and crypto.

According to the 2025 AFP Liquidity Survey, 30% companies are considering adjusting their cash policies to prioritize safety, yield and liquidity¹ with the majority of deposits still held in conservative bank products exposing them to depository risk and limiting their ability to generate returns on idle cash.

Waldo aims to change this by providing a modern treasury cash management platform that allows entities to generate yield on company cash without minimums or having to switch banks. With Waldo, firms can access a broader range of assets and implement risk management strategies designed to generate yield that is aligned with their risk tolerance and liquidity needs.

“Current bank treasury products often charge high fees to invest company cash into a single mutual fund, while offering little control or help” says Ryan Belanger-Saleh, Co-Founder of Waldo. “With Waldo, companies can select an investment strategy across thousands of assets, including US and international treasuries, investment grade and non-investment grade fixed income, equities, crypto, stablecoins, currencies, and more, matching their target return, risk profile, and liquidity needs.”

With Alpaca’s Broker API, Waldo can:

Provide access to US fixed income and other asset tracking equities and ETFs
Automate clients’ portfolio rebalancing based on selected allocations and triggers.
Leverage entity accounts to help businesses manage their funds efficiently and engage in investment activities tailored to their business objectives.

“Having previously built Gatsby, a retail options trading platform that was acquired in 2022, we’ve experienced how complicated brokerage infrastructure can be. With Waldo, we chose Alpaca because of their portfolio management functionality and innovative tools that make onboarding as a correspondent really simple," Belanger-Saleh added.

“Corporate treasury management is moving beyond single-asset cash strategies,” said Yoshi Yokokawa, CEO and Co-founder of Alpaca. “Companies are building thoughtful solutions for businesses that want to manage cash and assets in more modern ways. We’re grateful that Alpaca’s Broker API can play a small part in supporting what Waldo is building as they scale multi-asset trading and treasury capabilities for their customers.”

Contact Alpaca

About Alpaca

Alpaca is a US-headquartered, self-clearing broker-dealer and a global leader in brokerage infrastructure APIs providing access to stocks, ETFs, options, fixed income, and crypto. Alpaca delivers embeddable finance solutions for tokenization, fully paid securities lending, high-yield cash, 24/5 trading, Shariah-compliant investing and more. Today, Alpaca powers over 9 million brokerage accounts across hundreds of fintechs and institutions in 40+ countries with over $320M in funding.

About Waldo.ai

Waldo is a US-regulated investment Advisor that offers a full suite of tools to treasury teams for startups, SMBs and enterprises to select an investment strategy across thousands of assets (including US and international treasuries, investment grade and non-investment grade fixed income, equities, crypto, stablecoins, currencies and more) that matches their target return, risk profile and liquidity needs. They can also chat with your AI Advisor for insights and strategies to hedge risk specific to their business, like specific currency, risk, interest rate risk or sector exposure.

2025 AFP Liquidity Survey, Association for Financial Professionals (AFP), 2025

The content of this blog is for general informational purposes only. All examples are for illustrative purposes only.

Alpaca and Waldo.ai are not affiliated and neither is responsible for the liabilities of the other.

All product descriptions, comparisons, platform features referenced, and images above were provided by Waldo.ai. This information has not been independently verified and does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement by Alpaca. Investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principal. Past performance, whether actual or backtested, is not indicative of future results.

These disclosures describe important characteristics of, and risks associated with engaging in, securities-lending transactions.

Alpaca's Instant Tokenization Network is owned and developed by AlpacaDB, Inc. and Alpaca Crypto LLC.

Alpaca Expands Fixed Income Offering to Include Corporate Bonds

Megha Bhattacharya — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 09:52:27 GMT

We're excited to announce that we now offer US corporate bonds through Alpaca’s Broker API, advancing our fixed income trading solution beyond our initial release of US Treasury Bills (T-bills). This launch allows our partners to offer over 229 tradable T-bills and 500 investment-grade and high-yield US corporate bonds, expanding access to US markets while providing global investors with opportunities to pursue income and diversify their portfolios.

Why We’re Expanding Into Corporate Bonds

Fixed income is the world’s largest asset class, valued at $145.1 trillion, with US markets accounting for $58.2 trillion (40.1%) of the total value.¹ Within this, foreign holdings of US corporate bonds have steadily increased to over $4.4 trillion with a 10-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.2%.²

Trading value of US treasuries and corporate bonds has also surged, with the average daily volume reaching almost $908 billion and $52 billion in 2024, up 19.4% and 21.1% YoY, respectively.³ Overall, the growth in fixed income ADV is comparable with US equity trading, which has a total average daily volume of over $607 billion, an 18% YoY increase.⁴With the expansion into corporate bonds, Alpaca:

Enables partners to capture value across the asset class universe (stocks, ETFs, options, crypto, and fixed income) through our Broker API
Help meet growing demand from prospects for diversified portfolios and securities designed to deliver income opportunities

Our recent Fixed Income Clearing Corporation (FICC) membership enables us to have full control over the trading lifecycle. By building our clearing infrastructure from the ground up, we can minimize clearing and settlement costs while providing global partners with greater workflow flexibility, real-time post-trade visibility, and fast trade processing.

Why Integrate Corporate Bonds with Alpaca’s Broker API

Diversified Offering

Partners can provide access to a diversified range of asset classes, including US equities, options, fixed income, and crypto, all with Alpaca’s Broker API. With this launch, fixed income assets include T-Bills and corporate bonds, including callable bonds. We plan to expand our universe to include putable, Reg S, 144a, and convertible corporate bonds, as well as fractional trading, in the coming months.

Streamlined Integration

Our integration process follows a similar structure to equities trading, making it easier to extend existing Alpaca integration and add new asset classes.

Equities-Like Trading Experience

We aggregate quotes from our network of fixed income liquidity providers and route orders to the most competitive bid/ask price available. Orders placed outside of US bond market hours will be queued and executed once the market opens. Users also get access to real-time pricing and detailed bond market data, all through Alpaca’s infrastructure.

Competitive Pricing

Our pricing for corporate bonds is designed to be fair, transparent, and competitive, giving partners the flexibility to set markups that align with their strategy and customer needs. We support both price-based markup or yield-based markup models, allowing partners to choose the structure that best matches their business model and customer base.

Lowering Interest Rates

With the Federal Reserve having lowered interest rates twice in recent months, existing bonds may become more attractive as their previously issued yields can compare favorably to those on newly issued securities. At the same time, lower returns on cash and short-term instruments may lead some investors to explore income-oriented fixed-income options.

By incorporating fixed income into their platforms during periods of declining rates, providers can address rising investor interest in income-focused and diversified strategies, while offering access to products that may help support portfolio stability and long-term engagement

What’s Next

The launch of corporate bonds trading was a critical step in our fixed income roadmap. With US T-bills and corporate bonds live under Alpaca’s Broker API, we’re planning to add more fixed income products including Treasury notes, Treasury bonds, and foreign corporate bonds in the coming months.

“Expanding our fixed income offering to include corporate bonds was the next natural step,” said Hakan Bayraksan, Senior Director of Product at Alpaca. “As we expand our universe of fixed income securities, we continue to build a full-stack brokerage infrastructure, enabling partners around the world to increase access to US markets.”

We also continue to build towards a fractional fixed-income investing feature, allowing people to invest at lower costs.

This launch is another step forward for Alpaca as we further our mission of opening financial services to everyone on the planet.

Get Started

Interested in learning more about fixed income at Alpaca? For prospective partners, please reach out to Alpaca’s Sales team at sales@alpaca.markets or fill out the form below.

For existing partners, please contact your Customer Success Manager (CSM) or email the Success team at customersuccess@alpaca.markets.

Contact Alpaca

About Alpaca

Alpaca is a US-headquartered, self-clearing broker-dealer and a global leader in brokerage infrastructure APIs providing access to stocks, ETFs, options, fixed income, and crypto. Alpaca delivers embeddable finance solutions for tokenization, fully paid securities lending, high-yield cash, 24/5 trading, Shariah-compliant investing and more. Today, Alpaca powers over 9 million brokerage accounts across hundreds of fintechs and institutions in 40+ countries with over $320M in funding.

“2025 Capital Markets Fact Book”, SIFMA, page 7, July 2025
“2025 Capital Markets Fact Book”, SIFMA, page 31, July 2025
“2025 Capital Markets Fact Book”, SIFMA, page 56, July 2025
“2025 Capital Markets Fact Book”, SIFMA, page 60, July 2025

The content of this blog is for general informational purposes only. All examples are for illustrative purposes only.

These disclosures describe important characteristics of, and risks associated with engaging in, securities-lending transactions.

Alpaca's Instant Tokenization Network is owned and developed by AlpacaDB, Inc. and Alpaca Crypto LLC.

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Alpaca Expands Fixed Income Offering to Include Corporate Bonds

Why We’re Expanding Into Corporate Bonds

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