Alpaca Finance (ALPACA)

Lending and Borrowing

Alpaca Finance allows users to lend their crypto assets to earn stable yields. Borrowers can unlock liquidity from their crypto holdings or take loans to engage in leveraged yield farming, which means farming with borrowed funds to increase potential returns.

Leveraged Yield Farming

The platform enables leveraged yield farming on Binance Smart Chain and Fantom, letting users amplify their farming positions to potentially earn higher yields. It offers vault strategies with features like flexible deposits, automatic staking, and continuous auto-compounding to maximize returns.

Shorting and Hedging

Alpaca Finance provides unique tools for shorting tokens at a profit and hedging positions using double-sided borrowing. This allows users to customize their asset exposure and manage their investment strategies more effectively.

Money Market and Protocol Upgrades

With Alpaca Finance 2.0, the platform introduces a money market that supports multiple interest rate models per asset and new use cases beyond lending and leveraged yield farming. This upgrade enhances capital efficiency and opens opportunities for protocol-to-protocol partnerships.

Token Utility

The ALPACA token is used within the platform for governance, earning revenues, and participating in the insurance plan that supports leveraged yield farming positions. The platform also uses token buybacks and burns to maintain token value and platform stability.

Advantages

Alpaca Finance is built on Binance Smart Chain, offering faster transactions and lower fees. It provides leveraged yield farming, allowing users to borrow from deposit vaults to increase farming positions. The platform is user-friendly and accessible to both beginners and experienced users. It offers a variety of DeFi services like yield farming and liquidity mining, which help users earn passive income. Alpaca Finance uses advanced algorithms to manage risk and maintain exposure, aiming for higher APYs than traditional staking or lending.

Disadvantages

While Alpaca Finance offers innovative features, it involves complex strategies like maintaining long and short positions simultaneously, which may require understanding of DeFi mechanisms. The platform is part of a growing ecosystem, so users should be aware that it is still developing and evolving.

Founders

Alpaca Finance was founded in 2015 by two Japanese entrepreneurs, Yoshi Yokokawa and Hitoshi Harada. Yoshi Yokokawa is the CEO and co-founder, and Hitoshi Harada is the co-founder and Chief Product Officer.

Background

Yoshi Yokokawa has experience leading tech startups focused on deep learning and enterprise businesses. Hitoshi Harada studied computer science and financial engineering and has a strong background in technology and financial services.

Company Location

Alpaca Finance is headquartered in the US, specifically in Silicon Valley and San Mateo, California.

Investors in Alpaca Finance

Alpaca Finance is backed by many well-known investors. These include Portage Ventures, Spark Capital, Tribe Capital, Social Leverage, Horizons Ventures, Elderidge, Y Combinator, Drive Capital, Derayah Financial, Unbound, SBI Group, Elefund, Citadel Securities, and others. The company has raised over $320 million in funding through multiple rounds, including a $150 million Series D round in January 2026. Angel investors like Vlad Yatsenko (CTO of Revolut) also participate in funding.

Shariah Compliance

Alpaca Finance offers Shariah-compliant investment solutions through partnerships with firms like Manzil and ZAD. These partnerships provide access to halal investment strategies that follow Islamic finance principles, including screening by recognized Islamic finance standards such as AAOIFI and AFSC.

Islamic Accounts

Alpaca Trading itself does not offer Islamic or swap-free accounts. However, through integrations with platforms like Manzil and Zoya, users can access halal investing options that align with Islamic law.

Halal Investing Support

Alpaca supports trading in Shariah-compliant ETFs and stocks, enabling investors to build portfolios that meet halal criteria. These offerings are designed to avoid companies involved in prohibited sectors like alcohol, gambling, and conventional banking.

Conclusion

Yes, Alpaca Finance can be considered halal when used through its Shariah-compliant investment platforms and partnerships that ensure adherence to Islamic finance principles.