Alpaca, a brokerage infrastructure provider backed by BNP Paribas, has raised $135 million in a funding round aimed at building what the company calls “tokenized agent-first infrastructure.” The investment comes as both decentralized finance (DeFi) and traditional finance (TradFi) players push deeper into onchain business models.
What the funding will build
The capital will go toward expanding Alpaca’s platform into tokenized markets and AI-native financial services. The company describes its new focus as “agent-first,” meaning the infrastructure is designed to support autonomous software agents that can execute trades, manage portfolios, and interact with blockchain-based assets without constant human oversight. Alpaca already provides brokerage APIs and clearing services to fintech firms and broker-dealers. The new funding will let it add tokenization capabilities — converting real-world assets into digital tokens on a blockchain — and integrate AI agents directly into its trading and custody workflows.
Why TradFi and DeFi are converging
The raise reflects a broader trend: traditional financial institutions and decentralized protocols are increasingly building on the same rails. BNP Paribas, one of Europe’s largest banks, has been an investor in Alpaca since 2021. Now, with the tokenization push, Alpaca is positioning itself as a bridge between regulated finance and the permissionless world of DeFi. The company says both types of clients are pursuing onchain business — from tokenized securities to AI-managed trading strategies — and need infrastructure that can handle regulatory compliance alongside blockchain-native features.
Alpaca’s place in the market
Founded in 2015, Alpaca started as a commission-free trading API platform for retail investors. It later added a brokerage arm and secured backing from BNP Paribas, which uses Alpaca’s technology for its own digital asset initiatives. The company now serves hundreds of fintech partners and processes billions of dollars in trading volume annually. The new $135 million round — which includes both equity and debt — will be used to hire engineers, expand into new jurisdictions, and build out the tokenized asset infrastructure. Alpaca has not disclosed the valuation at which the round was raised.
The company plans to roll out the new services in phases, starting with tokenized equities and fixed-income products later this year. No specific launch date has been announced.
