March 2022 Summaries

We've expanded our trading capabilities with the launch of Global Stocks via American depository receipts (ADRs), allowing users to invest in whole and fractional shares of international stocks like Nintendo, Adidas, Heineken, and Volkswagen. This new feature simplifies investing into foreign stocks by eliminating paperwork and currency exchange hassles. With Global Stocks, Alpaca users can now diversify their portfolio or create trading strategies that include companies from Europe, Asia, and Australia. Developers can also build upon Trading API to create OAuth apps centered on global markets, while fintech app developers can expand their list of tradable assets to include international securities. The launch comes with a range of benefits, including access to over 700 ADRs, whole or fractional share trading, and real-time stock market data integration. However, investors should be aware that investing in foreign stocks may involve additional risks such as currency risk, country risk, and fees.

We believe that participating in both centralized and decentralized markets is how people will invest moving forward, as investing in crypto has become popular and is now a key asset in growing portfolios and strategic investment strategies. We recently expanded Alpaca Crypto to include over 20 coins and enabled access to 49 states in the U.S. and select jurisdictions globally. To celebrate our latest release, we are offering a rewards program that will reward users with $100 worth of cryptos for every $100,000 in trading volume reached between March 21st, 2022 and May 20th, 2022. This program has no limitations to how often the reward can be earned, and users can learn more about it on our docs and FAQs.

The Alpaca Trade SDK is available in four programming languages: Python, TypeScript/JS, C#/.NET, and Go. Installing the SDK can be done using specific CLI commands for each language. The latest functionality for Alpaca APIs is shipped through these SDKs. Recently, new features have been added to improve the experience, such as support for updated bars subscriptions in both stocks and crypto streaming clients, and improved error handling when connection issues arise with live streaming clients. Additionally, Python 3.10 is now supported, and some long-overdue improvements have been made to the Long-Short example algorithm.

Alpaca Crypto has launched Crypto for Broker API, a new platform that enables developers to build and launch their own 24/7 crypto trading apps. This offering allows users to trade popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum through the platform. The API is available in select US states and international jurisdictions, providing access to liquidity from leading market exchanges such as ErisX and Genesis. With Crypto for Broker API, developers can build scalable and user-friendly crypto trading apps with ease, while also accessing real-time crypto market data and enjoying superior performance and execution speed of 99.95% uptime and 1.5 milliseconds execution speeds. The platform is designed to be simple and flexible, making it easy for developers to integrate into their existing apps.

We’re excited to announce that Alpaca has been recognized on Y Combinator’s Top Companies 2022 list, a prestigious recognition of high-growth companies across 20 countries. The company's CEO Yoshi Yokokawa credits the entire team and community for this achievement, acknowledging nearly three decades of work by Y Combinator with over 3,000 companies. Alpaca joins industry-leading fintech companies such as Coinbase, Stripe, and OpenSea on the list, offering an API-first stock and crypto brokerage platform that simplifies investing services through modern APIs.