April 2025 Summaries

Kraken has begun offering U.S. securities trading to U.S.-resident clients through a partnership with Alpaca, expanding its platform beyond cryptocurrencies into more than 11,000 stocks and ETFs. The arrangement uses Alpaca’s brokerage API and self-clearing infrastructure to provide commission-free equities trading, including fractional and notional orders, while Kraken continues to offer over 300 digital assets and six fiat currencies. The move follows Kraken’s acquisition of futures platform NinjaTrader and reflects its stated strategy of developing a multi-asset trading platform that may eventually add products such as options internationally. Alpaca, a U.S.-based broker-dealer and infrastructure provider, and Kraken emphasize that investing in securities, options, and cryptocurrencies carries risks, including potential losses, volatility, and limitations associated with fractional shares.

Alpaca, a U.S.-headquartered self-clearing broker-dealer and brokerage API provider, has raised $52 million in a Series C funding round involving new and existing investors including Derayah Financial, 850 Management, National Investments Company, Unbound, and Portage Ventures. The company plans to use the funding to expand globally across the United States, Middle East, and Asia and to accelerate development of its infrastructure, which supports more than 200 partners in over 40 countries and powers over 5 million brokerage accounts. Alpaca offers APIs for stocks, ETFs, options, crypto, and fixed income, and plans to introduce 24/5 trading and Fully Paid Securities Lending while building on products launched in 2024, such as options trading, instant funding, FIX API, high-yield cash, IRA accounts, local-currency trading, fractional shares, and entity onboarding. The announcement also notes growing international ownership of U.S. equities and includes disclosures emphasizing that securities, options, fractional shares, extended-hours trading, securities lending, and cryptocurrency involve substantial risks.