October 2021 Summaries

The Broker API user accounts onboarding process has been updated to require specific attributes at account creation, specifically the tax ID attribute, in order to carry out customer identification checks and complete the know your customer process. This change aims to prevent account approval delays caused by missing tax IDs. The breaking change will take effect on October 26, 2021, in both sandbox and live environments, and may require adjustments to client code.

Alpaca has launched its public beta for its crypto trading API, offering a developer-friendly interface for accessing real-time data and executing trades with low costs. The partnership with ErisX enables fast execution, reliable technology infrastructure, and superior custody of digital assets. The API supports multiple programming languages and offers paper trading and live trading options, as well as 24/7 global support. Developers can build their own crypto apps using the Alpaca Broker API suite, which will also enable both crypto and stock trading. Cryptocurrency trading involves high risks and is not regulated in most countries, so users should have appropriate knowledge and experience before engaging in it.

Hacktoberfest 2021 is a month-long celebration of open source software where participants can contribute to participating open-source projects hosted across GitHub, with Alpaca actively seeking contributions and offering swag for those who meet the contribution criteria. The first 50,000 participants will receive a Hacktoberfest T-shirt, while the first 20 contributors to successfully merged pull requests to Alpaca's open source projects and community-built SDKs will also receive an Alpaca T-shirt. By contributing to Alpaca's open-source projects, participants are helping the entire community become more efficient and productive, and empowering developers worldwide to build fintech apps.