Crypto Trading #

We offer crypto trading through API and the Alpaca web dashboard! Trade all day, seven days a week, as frequently as you’d like.

Currently (as of November 18, 2022), cryptocurrency trading is open to select international jurisdictions. and only the following U.S. jurisdictions. To view the supported US regions for crypto trading, click here.

New users in approved jurisdictions can sign up for an account here to start trading crypto now.

Crypto Pairs Trading Learn Content

See Triangular Arbitrage with Coin Pair Trading for hands-on code examples in Python to trade crypto pairs.

Supported Assets #

Alpaca supports over 20+ unique crypto assets across 48 trading pairs. Current trading pairs are based on BTC, USD, and USDT with more assets and trading pairs coming soon.

To query all available crypto assets and pairs you can you use the following API call,

curl --request GET 'https://api.alpaca.markets/v2/assets?asset_class=crypto' \
--header 'Apca-Api-Key-Id: <KEY>' \
--header 'Apca-Api-Secret-Key: <SECRET>'

Below is a sample trading pair object composed of two assets, BTC and USD.

{
  "id": "276e2673-764b-4ab6-a611-caf665ca6340",
  "class": "crypto",
  "exchange": "FTXU",
  "symbol": "BTC/USD",
  "name": "BTC/USD pair",
  "status": "active",
  "tradable": true,
  "marginable": false,
  "shortable": false,
  "easy_to_borrow": false,
  "fractionable": true,
  "min_order_size": "0.0001",
  "min_trade_increment": "0.0001",
  "price_increment": "1"
}

Note that symbology for trading pairs has changed from our previous format, where BTC/USD was previosly referred to as BTCUSD. Our API has made proper changes to support the legacy convention as well for backwards compatibility.

For further reference see Assets API.

Supported Orders #

When submitting crypto orders through the Orders API and the Alpaca web dashboard, 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.

You can submit crypto orders for a any supported crypto pair via API, see the below cURL POST request.

curl --request POST 'https://paper-api.alpaca.markets/v2/orders' \
--header 'Apca-Api-Key-Id: <KEY>' \
--header 'Apca-Api-Secret-Key: <SECRET>' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data-raw '{
  "symbol": "BTC/USD",
  "qty": "0.0001",
  "side": "buy",
  "type": "market",
  "time_in_force": "gtc"
}'

The above request submits a market order via API to buy 0.0001 BTC with USD (BTC/USD pair) that is good till end of day.

Note We only support gtc and ioc time in force options for crypto orders.

To learn more see orders and fractional trading.

All cryptocurrency assets are fractionable but the supported decimal points vary depending on the cryptocurrency. See Assets entity for information on fractional precisions per asset.

Note these values could change in the future.

Crypto Market Data #

Historical Crypto Market Data

Alpaca provides free limited crypto data and a more advanced unlimited paid plan. To learn more on our paid plan or to subscribe see Alpaca Data.

To request trading pairs data via REST API, see [Crypto Pricing Data REST API Reference]({{< relref “../api-references/market-data-api/crypto-pricing-data/historical.md” >}}).

The example below requests latest orderbook data (bid and asks) for the following three crypto trading pairs: BTC/USD, ETH/BTC and ETH/USD.

curl --request GET 'https://data.alpaca.markets/v1beta3/crypto/us/latest/orderbooks?symbols=BTC/USD,ETH/BTC,ETH/USD,SOL/USDT' \
--header 'Apca-Api-Key-Id: <KEY>' \
--header 'Apca-Api-Secret-Key: <SECRET>'

{
    "orderbooks": {
        "BTC/USD": {
            "a": [
                {
                    "p": 27539.494,
                    "s":  0.2632414
                },
                ...
            ],
            "b": [
                {
                    "p": 27511.78083,
                    "s": 0.26265668
                },
                ...
            ],
            "t": "2023-03-18T13:31:44.932988033Z"
        },
        "ETH/USD": { ... },
        "ETH/BTC": { ... },
        "SOL/USDT": { ... }
    }
}

Real-time Crypto Market Data

Additionally, you can subcribe to real-time crypto data via Websockets. Example below leverages wscat to subscribe to:

BTC/USD trades.
ETH/USDT and ETH/USD quotes.
BTC/USD orderbooks
SOL/USDT bars

 $ wscat -c wss://stream.data.alpaca.markets/v1beta3/crypto/us
Connected (press CTRL+C to quit)
< [{"T":"success","msg":"connected"}]
> {"action": "auth", "key": "<KEY>", "secret": "<SECRET>"}
< [{"T":"success","msg":"authenticated"}]
> {"action":"subscribe", "trades":["BTC/USD"], "quotes":["ETH/USDT","ETH/USD"], "orderbooks":["BTC/USD"], "bars":["SOL/USDT"]}
< [{"T":"subscription","trades":["BTC/USD"],"quotes":["ETH/USDT","ETH/USD"],"orderbooks":["BTC/USD"],"bars":["SOL/USDT"],"updatedBars":[],"dailyBars":[]}]
< [{"T":"o","S":"BTC/USD","t":"2023-03-18T13:51:29.754747009Z","b":[{"p":27485.3445,"s":0.25893365},{"p":27466.92727,"s":0.52351568},...],"a":[{"p":27512.92,"s":0.26137249},{"p":27547.9425,"s":0.52011956},...],"r":true}]
< [{"T":"q","S":"ETH/USDT","bp":1815.55510989,"bs":8.24941727,"ap":1818.4,"as":4.15121428,"t":"2023-03-18T13:51:33.256826818Z"}]
< ...

For further reference of real-time crypto pricing data. see [Real-time Data Reference section]({{< relref “../api-references/market-data-api/crypto-pricing-data/realtime.md” >}}).

Transferring Crypto #

Alpaca now offers native on-chain crypto transfers with wallets! If you have crypto trading enabled and reside in an eligible US state or international jurisdiction you can access wallets on the web dashboard via the Crypto Transfers tab.

Alpaca wallets currently support transfers for Bitcoin, Ether, Solana and USDT (ERC20). To learn more on transferring crypto with Alpaca, see Crypto Wallets FAQs

Wallets API coming soon!

Wallets functionality via API is coming out soon so that you can automate your crypto transfers. We will send out communications and update documentation when its ready.

Crypto Fees #

Alpaca stock trading remains commission-free, where crypto trading includes a small fee per trade dependant on volume. See the below table with volume-tiered fee pricing:

Tier	30d Crypto Volume (USD)	Maker	Taker
1	0 - 100,000	0.15%	0.25%
2	100,000 - 500,000	0.12%	0.22%
3	500,000 - 1,000,000	0.10%	0.20%
4	1,000,000 - 10,000,000	0.08%	0.18%
5	10,000,000- 25,000,000	0.05%	0.15%
6	25,000,000 - 50,000,000	0.02%	0.13%
7	50,000,000 - 100,000,000	0.02%	0.12%
8	100,000,000+	0.00%	0.10%

The crypto fee will be charged on the credited crypto asset/fiat (what you receive) per trade. Some examples,

Buy ETH/BTC, you receive ETH, the fee is denominated in ETH
Sell ETH/BTC, you receive BTC, the fee is denominated in BTC
Buy ETH/USD, you receive ETH, the fee is denominated in ETH
Sell ETH/USD, you receive USD, the fee is denominated in USD

To get the fees incured from crypto trading you can use Activities API to query activity_type by CFEE or FEE. See below example of CFEE object,

{
  "id": "20220812000000000::53be51ba-46f9-43de-b81f-576f241dc680",
  "activity_type": "CFEE",
  "date": "2022-08-12",
  "net_amount": "0",
  "description": "Coin Pair Transaction Fee (Non USD)",
  "symbol": "ETHUSD",
  "qty": "-0.000195",
  "price": "1884.5",
  "status": "executed"
}

Fees are currently calculated and posted end of day. If you query on same day of trade you might not get results. We will be providing an update for fee posting to be real-time in the near future.

For latest information regarding crypto fees see our Crypto FAQs.

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.

Cryptocurrency trading is offered through an account with Alpaca Crypto LLC. Alpaca Crypto LLC is not a member of FINRA or SIPC. Cryptocurrencies are not stocks and your cryptocurrency investments are not protected by either FDIC or SIPC.

Disclosures

Brokerage services are provided by Alpaca Securities, member FINRA/SIPC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AlpacaDB, Inc.

Technology and services are offered by AlpacaDB, Inc.

Brokerage services are provided to customers who can write automated investment code and self-direct their own investments. Alpaca brokerage services are only provided to customers who agree to electronically sign agreements and agree to receive messages, confirmations, and statements electronically. Is Alpaca right for me?

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.

The Paper Trading API is offered by AlpacaDB, Inc. and does not require real money or permit a user to transact in real securities in the market. Providing use of the Paper Trading API is not an offer or solicitation to buy or sell securities, securities derivative or futures products of any kind, or any type of trading or investment advice, recommendation or strategy, given or in any manner endorsed by AlpacaDB, Inc. or any AlpacaDB, Inc. affiliate and the information made available through the Paper Trading API is not an offer or solicitation of any kind in any jurisdiction where AlpacaDB, Inc. or any AlpacaDB, Inc. affiliate (collectively, "Alpaca") is not authorized to do business.

You should know that the use or granting of any third party access to your account information or place transactions in your account at your direction is solely at your risk. Alpaca does not warrant against loss of use or any direct, indirect or consequential damages or losses to you caused by your assent, expressed or implied, to a third party accessing your account or information, including access provided through any other third party apps, systems, or sites.

Market prices, data and other information available through Alpaca are not warranted as to completeness or accuracy and are subject to change without notice. System response and account access times may vary due to a variety of factors, including trading volumes, market conditions, system performance, and other factors. A more complete description of the impact these factors may have can be found in our risks of automated trading systems section.

All investments involve risk and the past performance of a security, or financial product does not guarantee future results or returns. Keep in mind that while diversification may help spread risk it does not assure a profit, or protect against loss, in a down market. 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.

There are risks unique to automated trading algorithms that you should know about and plan for. You should setup a method or system of continuous monitoring or alerting to let you know if there is a mechanical failure, such as connectivity issues, power loss, a computer crash, or system quirk. You should also monitor for instances where your automated trading system experiences anomalies that could result in errant, missing, or duplicated orders. A more complete description of these and other risks can be found in our FAQ section.

Conditional orders may have increased risk as a result of their reliance on trigger processing, market data, and other internal and external systems. Such orders are not sent to the market until specified conditions are met. During that time, issues such as system outages with downstream technologies or third parties may occur. Conditional orders triggering near the market close may fail to execute that day. Furthermore, our executing partner may impose controls on conditional orders to limit erroneous trades triggering downstream orders. Alpaca Securities may not always be made aware of such changes to external controls immediately, which may lead to some conditional orders not being executed. As such, it is important to monitor conditional orders for reasonability. Conditional orders are “Not Held” orders whose execution instructions are on a best efforts basis upon being triggered. Furthermore, conditional orders may be subject to the increased risks of stop orders and market orders outlined above. Given the increased potential risk of using conditional orders, the client agrees that Alpaca Securities cannot be held responsible for losses, damages, or missed opportunity costs associated with market data problems, systems issues, and user error, among other factors. By using conditional orders the client understands and accepts the risks outlined above. Alpaca Securities encourages leveraging the use of Paper accounts to become more comfortable with the intricacies associated with these orders.

ETFs can entail risks similar to direct stock ownership, including market, sector, or industry risks. Some ETFs may involve international risk, currency risk, commodity risk, and interest rate risk. Trading prices may not reflect the net asset value of the underlying securities.

All accounts are opened as limited purpose margin accounts. You should know that margin trading involves interest charges and risks, including the potential to lose more than deposited or the need to deposit additional collateral in a falling market. Before using margin, customers must determine whether this type of trading strategy is right for them given their specific investment objectives, experience, risk tolerance, and financial situation. For more information please see Alpaca's Margin Disclosure Statement and Margin Agreement. These disclosures contain information on Alpaca Securities's lending policies, interest charges, and the risks associated with margin accounts.

Commission-Free trading means that there are no commission charges for Alpaca Securities self-directed individual brokerage accounts that trade U.S. listed securities through an API. Relevant regulatory fees may apply.

Commission free trading is available for Alpaca's retail customers. Alpaca reserves the right to charge additional fees if it is determined that orders flow is non-retail in nature.

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 is not regulated or is lightly regulated in most countries. 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, 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.