March 2026 Summaries

Raenest, a financial platform founded in 2022, seeks to address challenges faced by African professionals in accessing global markets by offering multi-currency accounts that streamline payments and investments. Co-founded by Victor Alade, Richard Oyome, and Sodruldeen Mustapha, Raenest eliminates the complexities and costs associated with fragmented financial systems, allowing users to manage their earnings and investments in one place. The company has partnered with Alpaca to enable Nigerians to invest in US stocks and ETFs directly from their Raenest accounts, thereby removing barriers such as unnecessary currency conversions and platform switching. This partnership aims to provide a reliable investment experience by leveraging Alpaca's regulated infrastructure, expanding Raenest's offerings beyond Nigeria to other key markets, and facilitating 24/5 trading capabilities. Raenest's mission is to empower its users to control their finances and grow wealth globally, catering to the needs of Africa's digital-native workforce amid increasing economic growth and a projected digital economy of $180 billion by 2025.

CUSP Wealth, a DFSA-regulated WealthTech firm in Dubai, has launched a hybrid advisory model for trading U.S. stocks and ETFs in the Gulf Cooperation Council, leveraging a partnership with Alpaca, a provider of brokerage infrastructure APIs. This initiative aims to overcome barriers in the GCC’s wealth management landscape that traditionally cater to high-net-worth individuals by offering low entry thresholds and fractional investing, including Shariah-compliant options. By integrating AI-driven optimization with human advisory services, CUSP Wealth provides accessible investment opportunities with zero basic trading fees, enabling users to manage both traditional and faith-aligned assets through a single interface. Alpaca’s infrastructure supports this model by facilitating direct investments and reducing operational costs, aligning with the growing sophistication of retail investors in the GCC and promoting financial inclusivity in the region.

Wallace Finance, an AI-driven fintech, has launched a trading platform that allows retail investors to create and manage personalized investing strategies using direct indexing, a method traditionally reserved for institutional investors. This platform, powered by Alpaca's brokerage infrastructure APIs, offers access to a variety of financial assets, including stocks, ETFs, and fixed income, providing investors the flexibility to customize their portfolios by adjusting weightings or removing companies from indices. Through this platform, Wallace Finance aims to democratize sophisticated investment strategies, enabling users to invest in fractional amounts and tailor their portfolios to their specific preferences. Alpaca supports this initiative by providing the foundational infrastructure, thus making advanced investing accessible to a wider audience.

Vesto, a company founded in 2021 in Barcelona, aims to address the low participation in capital markets among Spanish and Andorran investors by democratizing investing through its mobile-first finance app. The app seeks to empower users by offering fractional investing, high-yield cash accounts, and financial education, emphasizing the importance of understanding investment decisions. Vesto has partnered with Alpaca to enhance its platform, allowing users to invest in US stocks, fixed income, and high-yield cash, with plans to expand into European markets. The partnership with Alpaca provides Vesto with the infrastructure needed to scale its offerings and support its mission of increasing financial literacy and market participation. As Vesto continues to grow, it focuses on helping its 30,000 users expand their assets under management while integrating new features from Alpaca.

Switching brokerages and transferring investment portfolios is made simpler with Alpaca's new automated Portfolio Transfer feature, which utilizes the industry-standard ACATS system to allow the seamless movement of stocks, ETFs, and cash balances without the need for manual liquidation. This process is designed to minimize hassle and maintain the investor's current strategy while also offering potential tax advantages, though consulting a tax professional is advised. Alpaca provides special incentives, such as reimbursing transfer fees and offering reduced margin rates for qualifying transfers, in addition to granting access to the benefits of Alpaca Elite for larger transfers. Users can initiate and monitor the progress of their transfers through the Alpaca dashboard, ensuring transparency and control over the process. Potential users are encouraged to explore more about the Portfolio Transfer feature and contact Alpaca for further inquiries, while being reminded of the inherent risks and considerations in securities trading.

Alpaca, a prominent provider of brokerage infrastructure APIs, has designated Nasdaq Data as its preferred market data provider for its Broker API, enhancing its global brokerage infrastructure with reliable and high-quality market data. This partnership builds on Alpaca's recent Nasdaq Exchange Membership and aims to connect global partners with Nasdaq's extensive catalog of over 250 datasets, supporting accurate price discovery, transparent execution, and institutional-grade system performance. With this collaboration, Alpaca reinforces its commitment to scaling its brokerage services across asset classes and geographies, further establishing itself as a leader in modern brokerage infrastructure. The alliance, which supports Alpaca's vision of enabling embedded brokerage and cross-border investing, is seen as a step towards offering enterprise-ready solutions to partners in more than 40 countries. Alpaca continues to provide diverse financial solutions, including tokenization and securities lending, while maintaining a strong focus on compliance and risk management across various financial products and services, including stocks, ETFs, options, fixed income, and cryptocurrencies.

Midas, a leading fintech platform in Turkey, has revolutionized the region's retail investing landscape by offering affordable and seamless access to global markets, including US equities, through a user-friendly experience. Founded in 2021, Midas has rapidly grown its user base to nearly 4 million and manages close to $4 billion in assets under management. The platform's success is attributed to its partnership with Alpaca, which provides the technical infrastructure needed for scaling and offering complex product sets like options and 24/5 trading. Midas's strategy includes expanding its product offerings to include European equities and advanced trading features, aiming to evolve into a comprehensive financial ecosystem. With a recent $80 million Series B funding, Midas plans to enhance its marketing efforts to increase visibility and further its growth, continuing to bridge the gap between local and global financial markets for Turkish investors.

Trii, a prominent investing app in Latin America, has launched US stock trading in Chile, aiming to eliminate traditional investing barriers through a mobile-first approach in partnership with Alpaca, a leader in brokerage infrastructure APIs. This initiative addresses challenges faced by Chilean retail investors, such as high commission fees and limited financial education, by offering a user-friendly interface, low costs, and integrated financial learning. The collaboration enables Chilean investors to access US markets, diversifying their portfolios beyond local currency risks and political cycles, thereby democratizing wealth creation and making it an accessible part of daily financial life. Co-founder Carlos Guayara emphasizes the transformative potential of US market access, highlighting Alpaca's role in providing reliable infrastructure while allowing trii to focus on product development, education, and user experience. Yoshi Yokokawa, CEO of Alpaca, echoes this sentiment, underscoring the shared commitment to making investing more accessible and less complex across Latin America.

Alpaca's Trading API now supports Good 'Til Cancelled (GTC) orders for options, allowing traders and developers to keep their trades active until they are filled or explicitly canceled, rather than having to rebuild positions daily. This feature is particularly beneficial for active and algorithmic options traders, as it accommodates sudden changes in market liquidity and volatility, and helps maintain predefined risk rules even if trading systems restart. GTC orders enhance automation in options trading by reducing the need for daily manual order entries and aligning strategy design with execution. However, they require careful management through regular reviews, volatility-aware pricing, and clear cancellation rules to prevent orders from being filled under unintended conditions. Alpaca emphasizes the high risks associated with options trading and advises investors to thoroughly consider their objectives and risks before engaging in such trades.

OpenAI has announced a new integration of financial data into ChatGPT, featuring Alpaca as one of the initial partners, which allows users to access market data for stocks, options, and cryptocurrencies through natural language queries without needing to switch tools or write code. This collaboration introduces a novel way for developers, traders, and data-driven teams to interact with financial markets, as users can retrieve historical and real-time data, such as quote prices and option chains, by simply asking questions. Alpaca’s integration with ChatGPT is facilitated through its MCP Server, which connects AI interfaces to Alpaca's Trading API, providing a self-hosted solution for developers interested in building AI-driven trading workflows. While this integration focuses on market data access, Alpaca emphasizes that the information generated is purely for educational and informational purposes and not to be taken as investment advice. Users are encouraged to conduct their own due diligence, as all investments involve risk, and past performance does not guarantee future results.

Alpaca, a US-based brokerage infrastructure company co-founded by Yoshi Yokokawa and Hitoshi Harada, has emerged as a leader in the tokenized US equities market, holding a 94% global market share. The company provides brokerage infrastructure APIs to over 300 financial institutions across 40 countries and has raised $150 million, achieving a unicorn valuation. Alpaca's Instant Tokenization Network (ITN) facilitates the conversion of traditional equities into tokenized versions, enhancing liquidity and enabling arbitrage opportunities. This infrastructure positions Alpaca as a crucial link between traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi). With a strategic focus on expanding its presence in the Japanese market and exploring the tokenization of other real-world assets like real estate and bonds, Alpaca envisions becoming a global financial infrastructure akin to an "operating system" for finance, enabling rapid expansion and innovation in the fintech space. The company aims to continue pushing forward with its mission to make financial services more accessible and interconnected globally.