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

Alpaca Reports Sharp Growth in API Trading as AI Reshapes Market Access

Luke West — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 20:40:00 GMT

Q1 2026 API usage growth accelerated nearly 4x quarter-over-quarter, as AI-driven and agent-based market participation gained momentum

As artificial intelligence reshapes how people access and interact with financial markets, Alpaca is seeing strong growth in API trading.

Historically, interacting with financial markets through APIs was largely limited to developers. AI is changing that. As natural-language interfaces and AI-assisted tools lower the technical barrier, more people can translate ideas, logic, and workflows into market actions without needing to write software from scratch. As access becomes easier and more personalized, the importance of the underlying infrastructure only increases, making APIs the critical foundation for this next generation of market interaction.

That shift is already visible across Alpaca’s platform. In Q1 2026, API usage growth accelerated nearly 4x quarter-over-quarter, with monthly growth rates rising from single digits in Q4 2025 to roughly 30% in Q1 2026. This level of acceleration mirrors the adoption curves seen across AI, as a much broader set of users begin accessing financial markets through AI- and agent-driven interactions with APIs.

“APIs once gave developers direct access to financial markets. AI is now broadening that access to a much larger group of users,” said Yoshi Yokokawa, Co-Founder and CEO of Alpaca. “People no longer need to build everything from scratch in code to express trading logic and interact with financial systems. As AI becomes the front door, APIs become even more important as the foundation underneath.”

To support this shift, Alpaca is introducing new tools designed to make it easier to connect AI systems directly to financial markets, including a new command-line interface (CLI) and an enhanced MCP Server. Together, these tools give builders and AI systems more direct and efficient access to Alpaca’s trading infrastructure, reducing friction between expressing a strategy and executing it in the market.

These capabilities support a new class of applications, from automated strategies to AI agents, that can access market data, make decisions, and interact with markets in real time.

Financial market access has evolved from paper to platforms to APIs. AI is now becoming the next interface layer, making the underlying infrastructure more important than ever. Alpaca was built on the belief that APIs would become a core layer of financial services. As AI accelerates automated and agent-driven market participation, Alpaca is positioning itself as the infrastructure behind the next generation of trading.

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.

Insights generated by our CLI, 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Alpaca Introduces CLI for Trading API, Furthering Agentic AI Capabilities

Luke West — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 13:00:32 GMT

Today, we’re releasing Alpaca’s CLI (command-line interface) for Trading API, providing access to 108 trading functions across stocks, options, crypto, market data, and account management, available directly from your terminal and AI agent. This launch, in combination with the recent updates to Alpaca’s MCP Server, makes it easier for traders to leverage Alpaca’s infrastructure in agentic trading.

Key Features of the Alpaca CLI:

Extensive Capabilities: Provides access to 108 trading functions across stocks, options, crypto, market data, and account management.
Simplified Onboarding: Turns the Trading API into a first-class terminal interface with explicit commands and structured output, eliminating the need for hand-written HTTP requests. Authentication for paper trading and market data uses OAuth, requiring no API keys, config files, or environment variables to get started. You can execute your first paper trade in just three commands: install, login, submit.
Structured Automation & Composability: Every API command returns structured JSON by default, with flags like --csv and --jq available for filtering and reshaping the output. This allows the output to pipe natively into other tools, making it ideal for shell scripts, cron jobs, and CI pipelines.
Spec-Driven Reliability: The CLI is generated directly from Alpaca’s public OpenAPI specifications, ensuring the interface, commands, flags, and descriptions are consistent and that the tool will automatically reflect updates to the Trading API.
Designed for AI Agents: Connect an agent to the CLI to empower it to place trades, query data, and manage your account with short, explicit commands.

Set Up Alpaca’s CLI in Three Simple Commands

Alpaca’s CLI turns the Trading API into a first-class terminal interface: explicit commands, typed flags, structured output, and no hand-written HTTP requests. With the CLI, you can submit orders, pull market data, manage positions, and inspect your account the same way you use git or curl – from a shell, a script, a CI pipeline, or an AI agent session.

You can go from opening an account to placing your first paper trade in just three commands: install, login, submit. Authentication happens via OAuth for market data and paper trading with no API keys to generate, no config files to write, and no environment variables to set.

go install github.com/alpacahq/cli/cmd/alpaca@latest 
# or 
# brew install alpacahq/tap/cli 
alpaca profile login
alpaca order submit --symbol AAPL --side buy --qty 10 --type market

Note: The release of the CLI today is a preview under active development. Expect breaking changes as we iterate and respond to community feedback.

The Capabilities of Alpaca’s CLI

With the CLI, you can check your account, place an order, pull a quote, and export your positions into a CSV file, all from the terminal:

alpaca account get
alpaca order submit --symbol AAPL --side buy --qty 1 --type market
alpaca data latest-quote --symbol AAPL
alpaca position list --csv > positions.csv

Every API command returns structured JSON by default, with --csv and --jq for filtering and reshaping output.

alpaca account get
alpaca order submit --symbol AAPL --side buy --qty 1 --type market
alpaca data latest-quote --symbol AAPL
alpaca position list --csv > positions.csv

A few ways it can be integrated into your workflow:

Exploring the API: Authenticate with OAuth, browse commands with --help, and start making calls. No SDK setup, no boilerplate.
Shell Scripts and Automation: Pipe JSON output into jq, chain commands together, and run them on a schedule with cron.
CI Pipelines: Check positions, cancel open orders, or validate account state as part of a GitHub Actions workflow.
AI Agent Sessions: Connect an agent to the CLI, empowering it to place trades, query data, and manage your account with short, explicit commands.

Why We Built Alpaca’s CLI

Alpaca’s Trading API covers multiple asset classes, order types, and data sources. The CLI gives that API surface a structured way to access all of it: named commands with clear parameters, built-in help, per-command schemas, and JSON output you can pipe into scripts or other tools.

The recent release of Alpaca’s MCP Server V2 achieves a similar goal. Both tools are generated from Alpaca’s OpenAPI specifications, and both provide an explicit interface in front of the API. Where they differ is in how and when they can be used (more on that below).

How Alpaca’s CLI Was Built

The CLI started as an experiment: how quickly can someone go from signing up for Alpaca to placing their first API call? The answer was to let traders interact with Alpaca’s Trading API directly from the terminal and agentic tools like Cursor and Claude, without assembling HTTP requests by hand.

The earliest iteration of the CLI had hard-coded commands for each endpoint. That approach was replaced almost immediately with code generation from OpenAPI specs. Rather than maintaining a hard-coded command per endpoint, a purpose-built CLI generator reads the specs and generates commands, flags, type definitions, and response schemas from it.

Alpaca’s OpenAPI specs are public, meaning you could generate your own tooling from them. Our CLI exists so you don’t have to. Simply install it and start making API calls.

The Spec Is The Source of Truth

Building the CLI had an unexpected side effect: it surfaced discrepancies in our own OpenAPI specification.

When every command name, flag, description, and help string is derived from the spec, spec quality directly affects product quality. In the agentic era, this matters more than it used to as AI tools that consume API specs and documentation depend on accurate descriptions, consistent naming, and complete type information.

The spec is no longer just documentation; it is the interface.

Design Decisions

The CLI started with more features than it has now. The path to its current design was a series of deliberate trade-offs.

No Confirmation Prompts. The CLI doesn’t ask "are you sure? (Y/N)" because it is designed for agents, scripts, and automation.
Minimal Client-Side Validation. This avoids a class of bugs where the CLI rejects something the API would allow.
JSON-Only Output. Early iterations rendered human-friendly tables alongside JSON, but this was a second output format that couldn’t be easily generated from the OpenAPI specs.
No Positional Arguments. alpaca order get ORDER_ID became alpaca order get --order-id ORDER_ID. Explicit flags are unambiguous and self-documenting.
No Command Aliases. Shortcuts like alpaca buy and alpaca price were included in the original design, but they created a second surface that drifts from the canonical commands.

Each design decision was driven by the same question: does this move toward or away from a spec-driven CLI? Features that required hand-maintenance were removed. Features that could be generated were prioritized.

How Alpaca’s CLI and MCP Server Differ

AI tooling is evolving quickly. We built the CLI and the MCP servers as two distinct product experiences because developers and agents reach for different interfaces in different contexts.

Here is where we see the differences today:

Invocation Model: The MCP server runs as a background process that the host communicates with over the course of an entire session. The CLI is a terminal command. Each invocation starts, executes a single operation, and exits. This makes it easy to use in cron jobs, CI pipelines, and shell scripts.
Context Window Cost: An MCP server exposes its full set of tool schemas to the AI model, which consumes tokens in the context window. A CLI command is a short string, meaning the agent only needs to know the command it wants to run, not the schema of every available tool.
Composability: The MCP tool calls are discrete function invocations that the AI model orchestrates sequentially. CLI output pipes natively into other tools. For example, alpaca position list --csv > positions.csv exports your portfolio to a spreadsheet in one line.
No AI Host Required: The MCP server needs an MCP client (Claude, Cursor, etc.). The CLI runs in any terminal, with or without an AI agent, including cron jobs, GitHub Actions, and simple bash scripts.
Reproducibility: MCP tool calls happen inside an AI session, which makes them harder to extract and replay outside that context. A CLI command is a string. You can log it, share it, paste it in a runbook, or replay it exactly every time.

In practice, the MCP server aligns with long-lived agent sessions where the host benefits from tool schemas, shared context, and multi-tool orchestration. Meanwhile the CLI complements workflows like shell scripts, cron jobs, CI pipelines, copy and paste runbooks, and focused agent actions. They solve adjacent problems, and we believe developers can make use of both.

Important Considerations

When using the CLI, there are some important considerations to remember for account security and risk protection:

Paper Trading Default: In this CLI preview release, OAuth login is restricted to paper trading. Live trading will require your API keys.
API Key Security: Your API keys are used to authenticate each request to Alpaca's Trading API. Keep them secure and never share them. Treat them like passwords.
Paper Trading for Testing: Test strategies on paper trading first. Paper trading uses the same API but does not execute real orders or affect real capital.
No Confirmation Prompts: Trading commands executed in the CLI happen immediately. Bulk operations like alpaca order cancel-all and alpaca position close-all do not ask for confirmation before acting. It’s important to exercise caution before execution.
Whitelisting Bypasses Confirmation: When an AI agent uses the CLI, the host application (Cursor, Claude, etc.) may ask for confirmation before executing commands. You can whitelist CLI commands for the agent to skip these prompts for faster execution, but this removes a safety layer. An agent with whitelisted order commands can place, cancel, or close trades without any human confirmation.
Order Execution Risk: Orders placed through the CLI execute directly from Alpaca's Trading API. Ensure you review any order before confirming, as unintended orders can result in real financial loss.
Latency and Slippage: Market orders may experience price slippage, especially for less liquid symbols or during high-volatility periods. Limit orders help control execution price but may not fill immediately.
API Rate Limits: Alpaca's API has rate limits per account. Repeatedly querying market data or attempting high-frequency order placement may trigger rate limiting.

Open Questions

We’re building the CLI and MCP server in the open. While we have an initial direction, we want to build what developers and agents really need.

If you’re testing with either, we’d love to hear from you about:

What would you prefer to build with it? We want to know what workflows matter to you.
How do you choose between the CLI or MCP server? We built both because we think they solve different problems. We’re curious where developers draw that line today, and whether it’s shifting as AI tooling matures.
What should we add first? The issues tab is available on both the CLI GitHub and MCP GitHub. Tell us what would make these tools indispensable for your workflow.
How are you integrating AI agents with Trading API? The CLI was designed for agents, but we’re still learning how developers actually wire these tools together. If you’re building something interesting, we want to see it.

If you have preferences between either interface or see any gaps, we want to hear about them! Please share feedback by opening an issue on GitHub, join the conversation in our community Slack, or posting in Alpaca’s official subreddit.

Get Started

Remember, you can sign up for Alpaca's Trading API and install the CLI with go install or Homebrew and make your first API call in under a minute with the below command.

alpaca account get
alpaca order submit --symbol AAPL --side buy --qty 1 --type market
alpaca data latest-quote --symbol AAPL
alpaca position list --csv > positions.csv

Already using the MCP server? The CLI uses the same API keys. Set them as environment variables and both tools work together.

The CLI is open source under Apache 2.0. Feedback, issue submission, and design discussion is welcome on GitHub.

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

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

Alpaca Joins The Digital Chamber to Advance the Future of Global Financial Infrastructure

Luke West — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 13:30:24 GMT

We’ve joined The Digital Chamber, the largest digital asset and blockchain trade association in the United States, as a member, further strengthening our commitment to shaping the future of financial services.

At Alpaca, our mission has always been to open financial services to everyone on the planet by building the global infrastructure for investing, including bringing them on-chain. As a leader in brokerage infrastructure for tokenized US stocks, joining The Digital Chamber represents an important step in advancing that mission alongside leaders working to define the next era of finance.

Bridging TradFi and On-Chain Finance

We believe the financial system is evolving. The lines between traditional finance and digital assets are converging, and it’s happening at a rapid pace.

We’re seeing this convergence firsthand with partners like Ondo Finance, Kraken (xStocks), and Dinari. Our brokerage infrastructure and Instant Tokenization Network is designed to connect traditional financial systems with emerging on-chain technologies through APIs, helping facilitate interoperability between fiat and digital asset ecosystems.

Why The Digital Chamber

The Digital Chamber plays a critical role in advocating for policies and frameworks that support responsible innovation in blockchain and digital assets. As regulation, infrastructure, and adoption continue to evolve, collaboration between industry leaders is more important than ever.

By joining The Digital Chamber, Alpaca aims to:

Contribute to policy discussions shaping the future of digital assets
Support responsible innovation across global markets
Collaborate with industry leaders building the next generation of financial infrastructure

About the membership, Edward Nasti, our VP of Legal, said: "The convergence of traditional finance and on-chain systems calls for thoughtful dialogue between innovators and regulators to ensure these systems can scale responsibly. By joining The Digital Chamber, Alpaca is reinforcing its commitment to participating in industry conversations that support a more open and globally accessible financial system."

“We’re excited to welcome Alpaca to The Digital Chamber,” said Cody Carbone, CEO of The Digital Chamber. “Their work bridging traditional financial systems with digital asset infrastructure reflects the kind of innovation we’re proud to support and plays an important role in the growth of the ecosystem. We look forward to collaborating as part of our member community.”

Building the Financial System of the Future

We believe the future financial system will not be defined by silos, but by interoperability. A system where traditional assets, digital assets, and global access coexist. That future requires robust, compliant, and developer-first infrastructure, the foundation Alpaca has been building since day one.

Joining The Digital Chamber is a natural extension of our work: helping bridge worlds that were once separate, and accelerating the transition toward a more open, programmable, and globally accessible financial system.

Building on this momentum, our Co-Founder and CEO, Yoshi Yokokawa, recently spoke at The Digital Chamber’s 2026 DC Blockchain Summit. We look forward to continuing to engage with the community through future events, and collaborate with fellow members to help shape what comes next.

Contact Alpaca

About Alpaca

About The Digital Chamber

The Digital Chamber is a non-profit organization committed to promoting global blockchain adoption. We envision a fair and inclusive digital and financial ecosystem where everyone has the opportunity to participate. Access to digital assets is not merely a technological advancement but a fundamental human right, crucial for economic and social empowerment. Through targeted education, advocacy, and strategic collaborations with government and industry stakeholders, we drive innovation and shape policies that create a favorable environment for the blockchain technology ecosystem.

Major partners and affiliates of The Digital Chamber include: CryptoUK and Digital Power Network.

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

Alpaca and The Digital Chamber 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

Alpaca Expands into Europe with WealthKernel Acquisition and Launch of European Equities Trading

Luke West — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 08:00:08 GMT

Alpaca has completed its acquisition of WealthKernel, enabling it to offer investment and wealth management services in the UK and EU

In parallel, Alpaca is launching European equities trading, starting with Germany’s Xetra exchange, with additional markets to follow

Alpaca is expanding into Europe and entering its next phase of global growth. Today, we’re announcing two key milestones.

We have completed our acquisition of European fintech WealthKernel, which will now operate as Alpaca Europe, establishing a regulated presence in the UK and EU.

Separately, we’re beginning the rollout of equities trading across European markets, enabling partners to offer cross-border investing through a single integration.

Alpaca Completes Acquisition of WealthKernel

With the acquisition complete, Alpaca Europe operates on an established regulatory and operational foundation, built on WealthKernel’s licensed brokerage infrastructure.

WealthKernel brings established UK and EU licenses, providing Alpaca with a fully authorized framework to operate as a broker-dealer in the region and expand its wealth management and investment product capabilities across Europe.

This includes local brokerage and custody infrastructure, as well as tax-advantaged products such as ISAs and SIPPs. Combined with Alpaca’s API-driven platform, this creates a unified infrastructure layer for financial institutions and fintechs building investment products across Europe.

“Completing the WealthKernel acquisition is a major step in Alpaca’s expansion into Europe,” said Yoshi Yokokawa, CEO and Co-Founder of Alpaca. By combining Alpaca’s US-headquartered, fully licensed and self-clearing brokerage infrastructure with our licensed operations in the UK and EU, we’re making it easier for companies to build and scale investment products across regions and reducing the complexity of cross-border investing.”

Leading European financial institutions are supporting Alpaca’s expansion. BNP Paribas, through its venture arm Opera Tech Ventures, which participated in Alpaca’s recent Series D, commented via Vincent Baillin, Managing Director and Co-Head of Opera Tech Ventures: “We are excited to support Alpaca’s growing presence in Europe and look forward to helping expand access to modern, scalable investment infrastructure across the region.”

Karan Shanmugarajah Appointed CEO of Alpaca Europe

Karan Shanmugarajah, CEO of WealthKernel, has been appointed CEO of Alpaca Europe and will lead the company’s regional operations. He will oversee the expansion of Alpaca’s presence across Europe, bringing deep experience in building and operating regulated investment infrastructure in the region.

The WealthKernel team has joined Alpaca as part of the acquisition, adding regulatory, operational, and product expertise to support partners entering and scaling in European markets.

This combination of local leadership and global infrastructure provides continuity for existing partners while positioning Alpaca to operate effectively within Europe’s regulatory landscape.

“This is an exciting step not just for Alpaca, but for the broader European investment ecosystem,” said Karan Shanmugarajah, CEO of Alpaca Europe. “By combining local regulatory expertise with global, API-driven infrastructure, we are well positioned to help partners build, launch, and scale investment products across Europe with greater speed and efficiency.”

Introducing European Equities Trading

Alongside the acquisition, Alpaca is beginning the rollout of equities trading across European markets, expanding its capabilities beyond the US markets.

As of today, Alpaca supports trading on Germany’s Xetra exchange, one of Europe’s largest equity markets, with additional markets, including Euronext markets and the London Stock Exchange (LSE), expected to follow.

Additional markets beyond Europe are also in development, including the Hong Kong Exchange (HKEX) and Middle Eastern exchanges, including the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul) and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), as Alpaca continues to expand its global market coverage.

Through a single API integration, Alpaca reduces the complexity of cross-border investing, including execution, custody, and settlement, enabling fintechs and financial institutions to offer investing across markets without the traditional operational overhead.

This infrastructure is supported by leading global financial institutions, ensuring reliability and scalability as partners expand internationally.

Scaling Global Investment Infrastructure

Alpaca powers trading infrastructure for hundreds of fintech companies and financial institutions globally.

In the US, the company has also emerged as a leader in tokenized equities, holding a 94% market share in tokenized US stocks and ETFs.

This growth reflects increasing demand for modern investment infrastructure that allows companies to build and scale investing products more efficiently.

Looking Ahead

Global investing remains fragmented across regions, regulators, and infrastructure providers. For most companies, expanding internationally still requires rebuilding brokerage, custody, and compliance capabilities market by market.

Alpaca’s approach is to reduce that fragmentation by building a unified, API-driven brokerage infrastructure across jurisdictions.

With a regulated presence in both the US and Europe, and European equities trading now live, Alpaca is laying the foundation for a platform that enables companies to launch and scale investment products across borders without rebuilding the underlying stack in each market.

For prospective partners, please contact the Alpaca Sales team at sales@alpaca.markets or complete the form below.

For existing partners, please reach out to your Customer Success Manager or email the Success team at customersuccess@alpaca.markets.

Contact Alpaca

About Alpaca

Alpaca Europe is a trading name of WealthKernel Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under reference number 723719. It is registered in England and Wales under number 09686970 with the registered office at 41 Luke Street, London, EC2A 4DP.

WealthKernel Spain, A.V., S.L.U. is authorised and registered with the Comision Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV), Official Registry No. 328, with registered office at Avda Manoteras 8, Portal 4, Floor 4, Number B, 28050 Madrid, Spain.

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 Launches Configurable Crypto Commission Model for Broker API Partners

Luke West — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 13:14:42 GMT

We’ve launched a fully configurable fee model for crypto trading. This new model lets partners design spreads, commissions, and revenue-sharing models easily without code deployments or operational complexity.

At Alpaca, we continue to position ourselves as one of the foundational infrastructure partners in the crypto-as-a-service market, helping solve a fundamental tension in crypto trading: cost sensitivity for traders while maintaining platform sustainability.

Benefits of Alpaca’s Fully Programmable and Flexible Crypto Fee Engine

With Alpaca’s fee engine for crypto, our partners can now dynamically switch between spread models, commission models, or hybrid structures, giving you more options on how fees are disclosed. The following table highlights the core advantages of our new commission-based framework.

Feature	Benefit to Partners
Configurable Model	Configure commissions by venue, volume tier, and types of digital assets (stablecoins vs crypto).
Customizable Fee Structures	Choose the fee structure that works for your business with flexible pricing models either incorporating fees in commissions or spreads.
Automatic Tiering	Fees adjust automatically based on 30-day rolling volume, with historical tier preservation for compliance and auditability
Flexible Revenue Sharing	Share revenue on trading fees, deposits, and withdrawals. Revenue can be structured in two-way or three-way arrangements, enabling ecosystem partnerships, partner relationships, and regional distribution models.

As the crypto market matures, high-volume traders and professional retail investors are increasingly transitioning into crypto trading. By making commission models more flexible, partners can display tighter spreads and choose the structure that aligns with their business.

Built for Scale: Engineering a Modern Financial Foundation

Alpaca is uniquely positioned to solve the complexity of global crypto brokerage. We empower partners to build bespoke commercial frameworks that scale.

Our infrastructure manages the complexity of fee configuration, rolling tier logic, and compliance tracking.

Add crypto commission tiering without adding integration friction. One API, every asset class, with total flexibility.

A New Standard for Crypto Brokerage Infrastructure

The launch of configurable crypto commissions is a significant milestone in our product roadmap. We continue to build the infrastructure that allows financial institutions to remain proactive in volatile markets.

"Our mission is to open financial services for everyone on the planet and empower partners to architect the exact trading experience their communities demand," said Hitoshi Harada, Co-Founder, CTO, and CPO of Alpaca. "By delivering the most flexible fee configuration engine in crypto-as-a-service, we are setting a new industry standard for how brokers can scale revenue while prioritizing the user experience.”

Get Started

Are you interested in learning more about configurable crypto commissions at Alpaca? For prospective partners, please contact the Alpaca Sales team at sales@alpaca.markets or complete the form below.

For existing partners, please reach out to your Customer Success Manager or email the Success team at customersuccess@alpaca.markets.

Contact Alpaca

About Alpaca

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.

Anchored Finance Launches US Tokenized Stocks to Expand Global Investor Access

Megha Bhattacharya — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:00:03 GMT

Anchored, the global digital operating system for real-world assets, today announced the launch of its first product, tokenized US stocks on Monad's high-performance Layer 1 network, starting with the top 10 Nasdaq-listed equities via its Monday Trade integration. The launch is powered by Alpaca, a leading global provider of brokerage infrastructure APIs and an infrastructure layer supporting tokenized stocks, offering access to options, stocks, ETFs, fixed income, and crypto.

The total value of tokenized US equities has grown nearly 300%¹ since early 2025, with Alpaca as the leading infrastructure powering them*. This growth highlights a critical shift in how global markets manage and trade value.

Anchored provides end-to-end infrastructure for the full capital formation lifecycle: origination, compliance, issuance, distribution across both DeFi and centralized platforms, secondary market liquidity, and redemption. Tokenized US equities represent the platform's first product vertical, offering 1:1 asset backing, real-time price alignment with underlying markets, and institutional-grade compliance infrastructure.

With its platform, Anchored purchases the underlying US equities, tokenizes them, and issues fully backed on-chain representations, leveraging the partnership with Alpaca while reducing the need for intermediaries. This brings the transparency, instant settlement, and operational efficiency of blockchain technology to traditional equities under a compliance-first framework, ensuring institutional partners and investors operate within a fully regulated environment.

Expansive Asset List: Investors gain access to the top 10 US Nasdaq stocks by market cap, with plans to exceed 100 tokenized stocks in the coming months
24/7 Transferability: Assets that can be transferred peer-to-peer anytime and anywhere, eliminating the constraints of traditional market hours
Institutional-Grade Liquidity: Liquidity access comparable to traditional exchanges, ensuring execution for their investors
Full Collateralization: Every tokenized stock is 1:1 backed by actual US stocks
DeFi Composability: Tokenized assets that are programmable and usable across DeFi protocols, unlocking new capital efficiency opportunities
Stablecoin Funding: The system uses USDC deposits and withdrawals for daily settlement

“Capital formation is moving on-chain, and the infrastructure needs to be institutional-grade from day one. The current financial system relies on infrastructure that was not built for a digital-first world,” said Wenny Cai, Co-Founder and CEO of Anchored. “With Anchored, investors can access fully backed tokenized US stocks through their existing digital asset infrastructure while trading 24/7, settling instantly, and deploying these assets programmatically within DeFi. The opportunity we're building for is the full picture spanning US equities, Hong Kong equities, and institutional fund products in one stack, distributed to the investors who need access to them most.”

"The global financial system is undergoing a massive shift from the simple computerized infrastructure to on-chain systems,” said Yoshi Yokokawa, Co-Founder and CEO of Alpaca. “We are moving toward a future defined by atomic settlement, real-time transparency, and structurally reduced systemic risk. Through our collaboration with partners like Anchored, we’re proud to support institutions leading this transition to on-chain infrastructure while expanding global market access.”

This launch marks the first milestone in Anchored's mission to build end-to-end infrastructure for RWA issuance, distribution, and trading with Hong Kong equities, ETFs, and tokenized fund products to follow.

Contact Alpaca

About Alpaca

About Anchored

Anchored is the global digital operating system for real-world assets, providing the end-to-end infrastructure for tokenizing, distributing, and trading real-world assets on-chain. The platform supports the full asset lifecycle, from origination and compliance through issuance, distribution across DeFi and CeFi, secondary market liquidity, and redemption. Operating under a compliance-first, globally scalable architecture, Anchored serves institutional investors, market makers, and DeFi protocols seeking on-chain access to public equities and fund products.

References:
1. https://app.rwa.xyz/stocks

*As of April 2026

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

Alpaca Securities LLC (dba "Alpaca Clearing") and Anchored 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 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.

Alpaca Launches V2 of MCP Server

Satoshi Ido — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 13:00:36 GMT

Today, we're announcing Alpaca's MCP Server Version 2 (V2), a complete rebuild designed for scale and maintainability. V2 expands tool coverage from 43 to 61 endpoints, introduces toolset filtering to control what your AI assistant can access, and uses OpenAPI specs to stay automatically in sync with Alpaca's Trading API. https://alpaca.markets/blog/alpaca-launches-mcp-server-v2

What's New in V2?

More capabilities: V2 supports 61 actions compared to V1's 43. New endpoints include order replacement, full option chain browsing, market screeners, account activity history, and more.
Easier onboarding: Add your API keys to your MCP client config and restart. No init commands or additional configuration needed. When used with AI coding IDE like Cursor, set it up by copying the GitHub link to clone it easily.
Granular control: The new ALPACA_TOOLSETS setting lets you limit the server to specific capabilities. For example, you can choose only account info and order management or only market data endpoints. You have full control over what tools are accessible.
Stays in sync with the Alpaca Trading API: V2 reads from Alpaca's published OpenAPI specs directly. When Alpaca's Trading API adds a new field or endpoint, V2 picks it up automatically without requiring a code change.
Increased reliability: Fewer dependencies and direct REST API communication means less indirection and fewer potential failure points.

What is Alpaca’s MCP Server?

Alpaca's MCP Server connects Claude, Cursor, and major IDEs and MCP clients to Alpaca's Trading API through a unified interface. Once connected, your AI assistant can read account information, query live market data, and execute orders on your behalf, all from the chat window.

Here's what that looks like in practice:

Check your account: Ask "What's my buying power?" or "Show me all my open positions" to get live data directly in the conversation.
Research before trading: Request "Show me how AAPL performed this week" for daily price bars, or "What are the options Greeks for this TSLA put?" for delta, gamma, theta, vega, and IV all in plain English.
Place and manage orders: Commands like "Buy 10 shares of NVDA at market" or "Set a stop-loss on my TSLA position at $300" execute directly. Stocks, options, and crypto orders are supported, including market, limit, stop, trailing stop, and multi-leg spreads.
Monitor and react: Pull live screeners with "What are the most active stocks right now?" or track specific symbols like "BTC/USD orderbook" for bid/ask depth.
Build watchlists: Create lists like "Tech Earnings with AAPL, MSFT, NVDA, and GOOGL" and track upcoming dividends or splits.
Test strategies on paper: Use your paper trading API keys to iterate on strategies in the chat without risking capital. When ready, swap in your live keys.

Installation and Usage Demo

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The History of the Alpaca MCP Server

V1: Hand-Crafted, Powerful, but Tightly Coupled

When we first built the Alpaca MCP Server in April of 2025, MCP itself was a young standard and the ecosystem was still taking shape. Our approach was straightforward: hand-write a Python function for every Alpaca Trading API endpoint we wanted to expose as a tool.

That meant custom input validation, custom parameter schemas, custom response formatters, and custom error handling, written once per endpoint, for each of the 43 tools we shipped. The result was a single server.py file just over 4,000 lines long.

V1 worked well. Users could trade stocks, options, and crypto, query market data, manage positions and watchlists, and pull portfolio history through natural language. The community responded with enthusiasm, and over 30 pull requests followed, adding coverage, fixing edge cases, and extending the server's reach. Additionally, there were 100+ forks, and hundreds of stars.

But V1 had a structural problem: it described Alpaca's Trading API in Python code. Every tool was a hand-written translation of what the Trading API accepted and returned. That meant every time the API changed - either a new field, a renamed parameter, or a new endpoint - the MCP server needed a corresponding code change. Nearly half of those 40+ PRs were reactive: not adding new features, but keeping pace with changes upstream.

The gap was always there. Between an API update and a merged PR, the server was out of date.

V2: The OpenAPI Spec as the Source of Truth

Alpaca already publishes machine-readable OpenAPI specs for the Trading API and Market Data API. These specs describe every endpoint, every parameter and every response schema in a format a program can read and act on.

The insight behind V2 is simple: stop describing the API in Python. Read the spec instead.

V2 uses FastMCP's from_openapi() function to parse Alpaca's OpenAPI specs at process startup and create in-memory MCP tools directly from them. No code generation step. No pre-build. No intermediate files. The server starts, reads the spec, and the tools exist.

The result: tool coverage grew from 43 to 61 tools — not because we wrote more code, but because the spec had endpoints V1 never got around to hand-crafting. Account activities, order replacement, full option chain, do-not-exercise instructions, market movers, and more — all available in V2 because the spec described them, and the server read the spec.

How the Architecture of Alpaca’s V2 MCP Server Works

Summary of the efficiency increases in V2 of Alpaca’s MCP Server

V2 is fundamentally different from V1 in its architecture. Instead of hand-writing Python functions for each endpoint, V2 reads Alpaca's OpenAPI specs at startup and generates tools directly from them. This approach unlocks three advantages.

Tools Generated from Specs

When the server starts, it loads Alpaca's bundled OpenAPI specs and constructs MCP tools directly from them. Each set of tools (Trading API, Market Data API) gets its own HTTP client configured with your API credentials. Tool generation runs in milliseconds at startup, and calling a tool becomes a direct HTTP pass-through to Alpaca's API.

Toolset Filtering for Precision

V2 maintains an explicit allowlist of operation IDs per named toolset. By default, all toolsets are active (account, trading, stock data, crypto data, options data, and more). Restrict what's available with a single environment variable:

{
  "env": {
    "ALPACA_TOOLSETS": "stock-data,crypto-data"
  }
}

With that setting, the server exposes only market data tools. This matters because MCP clients have limits on concurrent tools, and fewer tools reduce the likelihood of models selecting the wrong action.

Hand-Crafted Overrides for Complex Endpoints

Alpaca's order placement endpoint accepts fundamentally different request shapes depending on asset class: stocks support trailing stops and brackets; crypto uses GTC/IOC time-in-force and notional sizing; options can be single or multi-leg. A single auto-generated tool would be confusing for an LLM.

V2 excludes these endpoints from auto-generation and replaces them with hand-crafted tools:

place_stock_order: market, limit, stop, stop-limit, trailing stop, bracket orders
place_crypto_order: market, limit, stop-limit with GTC/IOC
place_option_order: single-leg or multi-leg

Out of 61 tools, only a handful are hand-crafted. The rest come directly from the spec.

Staying Automatically in Sync

This project pulls directly from Alpaca’s API specifications. When the API changes, you can download the latest version.

From the root of the repository, run this in your terminal:

scripts/sync-specs.sh

After running the script, review the changes (for example, using git diff), update your allowlist if needed, and run your build or tests to confirm everything is working as expected. Existing endpoints require no changes, the spec change handles everything.

Continuous Integration (CI) checks this process on every push. If your allowlist references an endpoint that no longer exists in the specification, you’ll see an error during the build so you can correct it before deployment.

For a more detailed workflow, including automation guidance, see `AGENTS.md`.

Built for Reliability and Testing

MCP servers are challenging to test because tools are generated at startup, they call external APIs, and the contract between the spec and code can drift silently. V2 uses a three-layer test suite to catch issues at every level.

Integrity tests: Verify that the toolset allowlist, tool names, and OpenAPI specs are all in sync.
Construction tests: Build the server with mock credentials and confirm the right tools are exposed.
Integration tests: Run real calls against Alpaca's paper trading API end-to-end.

The first two layers need no credentials or network and run in seconds, catching the majority of issues: renamed endpoints, misconfigured toolsets, and silent schema mismatches. Integration tests handle the rest but only run on merges to main.

Important Considerations

API Key Security: Your API keys are used to authenticate each request to Alpaca's Trading API. Keep them secure and never share them. Treat them like passwords.
Order Execution Risk: Orders placed through the MCP Server execute directly against Alpaca's Trading API. Ensure you review any AI-generated order before confirming, as unintended orders can result in real financial loss.
Latency and Slippage: Market orders may experience price slippage, especially for less liquid symbols or during high-volatility periods. Limit orders help control execution price but may not fill immediately.
API Rate Limits: Alpaca's API has rate limits per account. Repeatedly querying market data or attempting high-frequency order placement may trigger rate limiting.
Paper Trading for Testing: Test strategies on paper trading first. Paper trading uses the same API but does not execute real orders or affect real capital.

Get Started

To use Alpaca's MCP Server, you need an Alpaca Trading API account. Visit alpaca.markets to sign up, or log in to your existing account.

Both new and existing traders can learn more through our MCP Server documentation and API reference.

Still have questions? Contact us at support@alpaca.markets or visit our documentation portal.

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. Any symbols referenced are for demonstration purposes and should not be considered 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.

How PASHA Capital and Birbank Invest are Expanding Global Market Access in Azerbaijan

Megha Bhattacharya — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 12:00:13 GMT

Individual investors in Azerbaijan often face significant barrierswhen looking to access global financial markets.¹ Geographic limitations, underdeveloped capital markets, complex onboardingrequirements, and limited product availability have made it difficult for everyday investors to participate in global investing.²

However, since 2020, holdings of US equities in Azerbaijan have increased from $2 billion USD to just over $9 billion USD, according to the US Department of Treasury.³ This growth emphasizes both the increase in demand and access, as Azerbaijan has made progress in financial inclusion, driven in part by the adoption of digital solutions.⁴ Despite this growth, there remains a significant opportunity to expand access to digital financial services and increase the number of mobile trading apps.^5,6

To address this, Kapital Bank collaborated with PASHA Capital to launch Birbank Invest, the country’s first bank-backed mobile investment app, designed to connect first-time investors and professional traders with global markets.⁷ We recently spoke with Rauf Farajli, Product Owner at Birbank Invest, and Elshad Ibrahimov, Head of the Treasury Department at Kapital Bank, about how Birbank Invest is helping redefine how Azerbaijani investors engage with the global economy.

Identifying the Gaps in Local Investment

Founded in 2025, Birbank Invest was created to simplify the experience and address the need for a more accessible investment framework. By creating an app within the Birbank brand, which has over 3.5 million active users*, Birbank Invest aims to make investing more accessible, affordable, and intuitive for the region.⁸

“The regional financial landscape has been historically defined by administrative friction and a lack of transparent options for everyday investors,” Farajli added. “Many existing solutions relied on complex derivatives, such as contracts for difference (CFDs), rather than providing direct equity ownership. This created a gap between the desire of local citizens to build international portfolios and the practical reality of the tools available to them.”

The launch of Birbank Invest was more than just a product release. It represented a new, transparent, and secure way to access global financial markets for local investors.

“As mobile investing in Azerbaijan continues to develop, we see significant growth potential and remain focused on building a platform that is simple for newcomers and efficient for experienced investors,” added Farajli.

Engineering a Global Solution with Alpaca

To develop their platform, PASHA Capital and Kapital Bank collaborated with Alpaca, leveraging our Broker API technology to enable Azerbaijani users to invest directly in US markets through a localized mobile experience

“The key to successful digital banking in the modern world lies in strong integration and reliable partnerships,” said Ibrahimov. “Our primary goal wasn't just to provide market access, but to make the process as safe, fast, and seamless as possible for our customers.”

Birbank Invest screens for US stocks

Access to over 12,000 US stocks and ETFs from their mobile devices
Fractional share trading, allowing users to start investing with as little as $1 USD
Direct ownership of US equities, rather than CFDs
Real-time portfolio tracking
Instant funding from Birbank cards or bank accounts
Streamlined, fully digital onboarding processes
SIPC Insurance Coverage of up to $500,000*

Additionally, the platform offers transparent pricing and competitive commission rates, and high-level security protocols.

“The success of Birbank Invest rests on three powerful pillars: the trusted banking infrastructure of Birbank, the trademark of Kapital Bank, which serves millions of users, the licensed professional brokerage expertise of PASHA Capital, and the cutting-edge API technology of Alpaca,” added Ibrahimov. “It is Alpaca’s innovative infrastructure that enabled Birbank to offer users direct access to US stock markets without ever leaving the app. This streamlined integration helped reduce complex account opening procedures, mountainous paperwork, and geographic barriers, making the investment process as simple as a daily bank transfer."

"We are proud to support Birbank Invest as they build a more inclusive financial ecosystem in Azerbaijan,” said Yoshi Yokokawa, Co-founder and CEO of Alpaca. “By leveraging our global brokerage infrastructure, initiatives like Birbank Invest are paving the way for millions of users to participate in the global economy.”

As we move further into the year, the platform's performance and surging user interest serve as a testament to the timeliness of the collaboration.

Future of Investment in Azerbaijan

Since its launch on the App Store and Google Play, Birbank Invest has been downloaded by over 90,000 users and has been ranked among the top financial apps in Azerbaijan. The early traction reflects a broader trend: strong demand for accessible, mobile-first investment tools in emerging markets.

“The rapid adoption and popularity of Birbank Invest confirm that we are on the right path,” said Ibrahimov. “The collaboration between Birbank Invest, PASHA Capital, and Alpaca did more than just create an app. It laid the foundation for a new investment culture in Azerbaijan. Today, for every Azerbaijani, being part of the global economy is just a tap away.”

By removing geographic barriers and simplifying the entry process, Birbank Invest is making global market participation a reality for local Azerbaijani investors. The company's broader mission is to deliver more investment products to the local market and increase financial literacy and long-term financial stability in Azerbaijan.

Contact Alpaca

About Alpaca

About Kapital Bank

Founded in 1874 and headquartered in Baku, Kapital Bank is a financial institution with the largest service network in Azerbaijan. Kapital Bank serves more than 5 million individuals and more than 27,000 legal entities. The Bank’s Birbank mobile app, with over 3 million users, plays a transformative role in shaping digital banking behaviors in the country. In line with its innovation agenda, Kapital Bank is a founding pillar of the Bir ecosystem, the first fully integrated digital ecosystem in the Caucasus region, delivering advanced digital financial solutions that enhance the customer experience beyond traditional banking.

About PASHA Capital

Founded in 2012, PASHA Capital Investment Company is one of the leading investment companies in Azerbaijan, catering to retail and wholesale clients. Services include brokerage, margin trading, underwriting, and financial advisory, with products including fixed income securities, foreign exchange, equities, and different types of derivatives.

About Birbank Invest

Birbank Invest is Azerbaijan’s first bank-backed investment app, created by Kapital Bank in collaboration with PASHA Capital Investment Company. Designed for both beginner and experienced investors, the app offers a secure, simple, and fully digital gateway to global financial markets.

References:

*Alpaca Securities LLC has purchased an additional insurance policy through Lloyd's of London to supplement SIPC protection known as Excess SIPC Coverage. The additional insurance becomes available to customers in the event that SIPC limits are exhausted. The excess coverage provides protection for any Alpaca Securities customer up to $75 million in securities and $75 million in cash, and is covered at an aggregate limit of $250 million across all Alpaca Securities customer accounts. Similar to SIPC protection, this additional insurance does not protect against a loss in the market value of securities.

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

Alpaca is not affiliated with Pasha Capital, Kapital Bank, nor Birbank Invest, and none of the entities are 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 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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.