Crypto brokerage firm Alpaca has secured $135 million in fresh funding to expand its infrastructure for tokenized stocks, positioning the company at the center of a fast-growing corner of the digital asset market.
A Growing Role in Tokenized Equities
Alpaca has established itself as a dominant player in the tokenized U.S. equities space, having cleared or held in custody roughly 94% of such assets. The company currently holds more than $1.5 billion in underlying stocks that back tokenized versions traded on blockchain networks.
Tokenized stocks are digital representations of traditional equities that can be traded on-chain, offering the potential for round-the-clock trading, faster settlement, and broader access for investors outside conventional market hours and geographic boundaries.
Nearly all tokenized U.S. equities have passed through Alpaca's rails, underscoring the firm's grip on emerging infrastructure.
What the Funding Signals
The $135 million raise reflects rising investor confidence in the tokenization of real-world assets, a theme that has drawn increasing attention from both crypto-native firms and traditional financial institutions. Backing the infrastructure that connects on-chain tokens to real underlying shares is seen as a foundational layer for the broader movement.
Alpaca is expected to channel the capital toward scaling its brokerage and custody operations, supporting the growing demand from platforms that want to offer tokenized stock products to their users.
Key points from the announcement include:
- A $135 million capital raise dedicated to tokenized stock infrastructure
- Roughly 94% of tokenized U.S. equities cleared or held in custody by the firm
- More than $1.5 billion in underlying stocks currently held
As the market for tokenized assets matures, firms like Alpaca that provide the plumbing between traditional securities and blockchain-based markets are likely to remain central to how the sector develops.