Crypto for Broker API #

Alpaca supports crypto trading 24 hours a day, every day. Crypto is available for testing in sandbox, in case you want to allow your users to trade crypto please reach out to the Sales or Developer Success team.

Crypto trading is currently available for eligible international participants and participants in all US jurisdictions with the exception of New York.

Enabling Crypto #

To enable crypto trading for an account, the crypto agreements must be signed by the user. All account balances will represent the crypto trading activities.

In the case of new users, the crypto agreement can be submitted via the Accounts API where crypto_agreement is part of the agreements attribute.

Part of the request

{
    "agreements": [
        {
        "agreement": "crypto_agreement",
        "signed_at": "2021-09-11T18:09:33Z",
        }
    ]
}

In the case of existing users the account has to be updated with the crypto_agreement which can be submitted on the PATCH /v1/accounts/{account_id} endpoint.

Request

{
  "agreements": [
    {
      "agreement": "crypto_agreement",
      "signed_at": "2021-10-11T18:13:44Z",
      "ip_address": "185.13.21.99"
    }
  ]
}

Once the crypto agreement is added to the user account no further edits can be made to the agreements.

To determine whether the account is all set to start trading crypto, use the crypto_status attribute from the Account API endpoint response object.

Response example

{
  "id": "9feee08f-22d2-4804-89c1-bf01166aad52",
  "account_number": "943690069",
  "status": "ACTIVE",
  "crypto_status": "ACTIVE",
}

Crypto Status

Supported Assets #

The number of supported cryptocurrencies is above 20 on the Alpaca platform. We constantly evaluate the list and aim to to grow the number of supported currencies.

New Trading Pairs for Brokers coming soon!

We are rolling out crypto trading pairs which will allow your users to trade additional crypto assets with BTC and USDT as base assets on top of the current default USD pairs. The largest impact this new trading feature brings to brokers is a change in crypto pair symbol convention. For example, BTCUSD would now be represented as BTC/USD.

Changes have been made to APIs to be backwards compatible with the old representation of crypto symbols (e.g. BTCUSD). This should minimize disruption for any brokers not actively looking to support new pairs. Should you encounter any problems due to this change please reach out to support.

We will be sending early communication when new crypto pairs will be availble for brokers to provide for their users.

For more information and context, see Crypto Trading API documentation

Tradable cryptocurrencies can be identified through the Assets API where the asset entity has class = crypto and tradable = true.

{
    "id": "64bbff51-59d6-4b3c-9351-13ad85e3c752",
    "class": "crypto",
    "exchange": "FTXU",
    "symbol": "BTCUSD",
    "name": "Bitcoin",
    "status": "active",
    "tradable": true,
    "marginable": false,
    "shortable": false,
    "easy_to_borrow": false,
    "fractionable": true
}

Please note that the symbol appears with USD, such as BTCUSD instead of BTC.

All cryptocurrency assets are fractionable but the supported decimal points vary depending on the cryptocurrency.

Note these values could change in the future.

Supported Orders #

When submitting crypto orders through the Orders API, Market, Limit and Stop Limit orders are supported while the supported time_in_force values are gtc, and ioc. We accept fractional orders as well with either notional or qty provided.

Required disclosures #

Below you will find required disclosure templates to safely support crypto in your applications as a broker with Alpaca.

Onboarding Disclosures #

When onboarding your users as a broker offering crypto the following disclosure is required. During your onboarding flow make sure the user is able to read and affirmatively acknowledge, such as through a separate checkbox, the following text:

I have read, understood, and agree to be bound by Alpaca Crypto LLC and [your legal entity] account terms, and all other terms, disclosures and disclaimers applicable to me, as referenced in the Alpaca Crypto Agreement. I also acknowledge that the Alpaca Crypto Agreement contains a pre-dispute arbitration clause in Section 26.

Buy/Sell Order Screen Disclosures #

As a broker enabling the placement of cryptocurrency orders, the following disclosures should appear on the user’s order entry screen, on the app or website, immediately prior to the user submitting the buy or sell order.

Buy Order Disclosure #

By placing an order to buy [$ amount of / number of ] [cryptocurrency], you are directing and authorizing Alpaca Securities LLC to transfer funds necessary to cover the purchase costs from your Alpaca Securities LLC account into your Alpaca Crypto LLC account. Cryptocurrency services are facilitated by Alpaca Crypto LLC. Cryptocurrencies are not securities and are not FDIC insured or protected by SIPC. Disclosures.

Sell Order Disclosure #

By placing an order to sell [$ amount of / number of ] [cryptocurrency], you are directing and authorizing Alpaca Crypto LLC to transfer settled funds from the sale into your Alpaca Securities LLC account. Cryptocurrency services are facilitated by Alpaca Crypto LLC. Cryptocurrencies are not securities and are not FDIC insured or protected by SIPC. Disclosures.

Margin and Short Selling #

Cryptocurrencies are non-marginable. This means that you cannot use leverage to buy them and orders are evaluated against non_marginable_buying_power.

Cryptocurrencies are not shortable.

Trading Hours #

Crypto trading is offered for 24 hours everyday and your orders will be executed throughout the day.

Market Data #

Alpaca provides crypto data from multiple venues but currently routes all orders to FTX.

Crypto exchanges supported by Alpaca:

FAQ #

Is crypto available across 50 states? Crypto is currently available in 49 states with the exception of New York.

Is crypto available in all countries? Alpaca is supported in all countries listed here.

Can I use crypto only in my app? Yes. If you want to enable crypto trading only for your users, you can do so by showing only the crypto assets within the product.

Does the portfolio history support crypto 24/7? The portfolio history does not yet support a 24/7 cycle.

Are the same documents available for crypto as for equities? Monthly statements and trade confirmations are not generated for crypto trading. Tax documents (1099-MISC) will be provided for the crypto trades by Alpaca.

Can I add my own markup to the spread? Yes, Alpaca can set your preferred percentage to add the markup/premium to the crypto spread.

Can I transfer cryptocurrency into/out of Alpaca? Users can buy and sell cryptocurrency on Alpaca. However, we do not support transferring crypto into or out of accounts at this time.