Alpaca Sees Explosive Growth in API Users as AI Agents Reshape Trading Landscape
Alpaca's trading infrastructure has seen a significant surge in API users over the past six months, growing nearly four times. This acceleration began in Q1 2026, when Alpaca's API usage increased by approximately four times quarter-over-quarter.
The growth can be attributed to AI agents, which have been building tools to make trading easier. The company launched several AI-native products, including a Trading MCP Server and an open-source Skills Library. These tools are now being used by hundreds of clients across more than 40 countries, supporting over 10 million brokerage accounts.
Alpaca manages tokenized equities totaling $1.5B in Assets Under Custody. The company's push into tokenized equities signals a belief that the future of market infrastructure won't distinguish between a share of Apple and a tokenized version of the same thing sitting on a blockchain.