Alpaca (US-broker)

Investing / Brokers
1

I’d like to open a dedicated thread for Alpaca:

  • Headquartered in Silicon Valley
  • takes non-US customers
  • focus on API / programmatic / algorithmic trading (but not exclusively)
  • took part in Y Combinator’s Winter 2019 batch

They just announced their Series D raise:

2

You lost me at Silicon Valley … :wink:

3 Likes
3

Ken Griffin of Citadel Securities seems to have more faith :wink:

1 Like
4

He has not only more faith than me … :smiling_face_with_tear:

3 Likes
5

Wasn’t Alpaca a crypto DeFi exchange and yield aggregator? I think to remember that I used them once 5 years (or so) ago for yield farming. These were crazy times and if I had more balls I would have taken home an awesome return (or more likely getting completely broke :joy:)

6

Why do we need another US broker?

Isn’t IBKR enough

3 Likes
7

Oh, I can tell you why Ken wants another broker … I pay him every time I trade a US listed security.

Edit: I should add, for the non-insiders, that Ken is a major shareholder of the Depository Trust and Clearing System (DTCC) which, well, is the middle man for most security transactions in the U.S.
1 Like
8

Why do you not need another US broker?

I don’t know. I just saw that Saxo and Degiro and SwissQuote and every other broker has a thread here. I need Alpaca because of its great API and zero commissions and US regulations and FDIC insurance and broker diversification. I would like to share experiences. I have IBKR. The API is difficult. The fees are higher. The Website is slow. It‘s trustworthy. The regulatory situation is confusing (UK or US?).

9

I don’t know anything about that. I‘ve only been using it for 3 years.