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Alpaca raises $135M to scale tokenized U.S. equities infrastructure

The brokerage already clears or custodies about 94% of tokenized U.S. stocks, making the raise a bid to own the settlement layer before Coinbase and Kraken close in.

Alpaca raises $135M to scale tokenized U.S. equities infrastructure
Alpaca raises $135M to scale tokenized U.S. equities infrastructure
Alpaca raises $135M to scale tokenized U.S. equities infrastructure
Alpaca raises $135M to scale tokenized U.S. equities infrastructure

Alpaca raised $135 million in equity to expand the infrastructure used by exchanges and tokenization platforms to put U.S. equities onchain. Peak XV led the round, with Elefund, Opera Tech Ventures (the venture arm of BNP Paribas), and Unbound participating. Combined with debt from Kraken parent Payward and BMO, the total package reaches $435 million. The raise follows a $150 million Series D in January that valued the company at $1.15 billion; no new valuation was disclosed this round.

The company now clears or custodies roughly 94% of tokenized U.S. equities, with more than $1.5 billion of underlying shares backing tokenized products sitting on its rails. Partners include Binance, Ondo, and Dinari, among others. Its Instant Tokenization Network lets market participants mint and redeem tokenized stocks against underlying shares around the clock, often pairing onchain stock exposure with stablecoin funding or redemption.

Why it matters

The raise lands in a sector that grew nearly 3,000% in 2025, with tokenized equities reaching roughly $963 million in market value by January. Putting a stock onchain does not remove the need for a regulated firm to hold the underlying shares, process corporate actions, and connect blockchain transactions back to traditional settlement. Alpaca is quietly positioning itself as that plumbing layer.

Market impact

Competition is closing in: Coinbase, Kraken, and other crypto firms are pushing deeper into onchain stocks, and Alpaca's existing dominance gives the raise a defensive read as much as an offensive one. The combination of equity and debt capital, plus bank-grade partners like BMO and BNP Paribas' venture arm, signals that the underlying-shares constraint is being treated as a regulated-finance problem, not a purely crypto-native one. Watch whether Alpaca's share of tokenized U.S. equities holds as new entrants bring competing rails to market.

Related tokens
$USDC

Frequently asked questions

  1. How much did Alpaca raise in this round?

    Alpaca raised $135 million in equity led by Peak XV, with Elefund, BNP Paribas' Opera Tech Ventures, and Unbound participating. Combined with debt from Payward and BMO, the total financing package reaches $435 million.

  2. What share of tokenized U.S. equities does Alpaca custody?

    Alpaca clears or custodies roughly 94% of tokenized U.S. equities, with more than $1.5 billion of underlying shares backing tokenized products on its infrastructure. Partners include Binance, Ondo, and Dinari.

  3. Why is tokenization of U.S. stocks hard without a brokerage layer?

    Putting a stock onchain does not remove the need for a regulated firm to hold the underlying shares, process corporate actions, and bridge blockchain transactions back to traditional settlement. That is the layer Alpaca's Instant Tokenization Network is built to serve.

  4. How fast is the tokenized equities market growing?

    Tokenized equities grew nearly 3,000% in 2025, reaching roughly $963 million in market value by January. Competition has since accelerated as Coinbase, Kraken, and other crypto firms expand into onchain stocks.

  5. Who led Alpaca's round and what was its previous valuation?

    Peak XV led the equity round, with debt financing from Payward (Kraken's parent) and BMO. A $150 million Series D in January had valued the company at $1.15 billion; Alpaca did not disclose a new valuation for this raise.

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