Paper trading pattern day trading restriction

Getting Started with Alpaca
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Hey there, I’m a beginner trying out the alpaca-py python API, and on paper trading I’m getting hit with the pattern day trading restriction after 3 trades. Is there a way to turn margin off on paper trading so I can continue pushing API trades? I have no intention of day trading in production, it’s just that I’m only just learning how to code the trades and even when the python terminal throws errors, somehow alpaca still registers the trades, etc. basically I’m just practicing and this is not helpful.

I know I can reset the account and I’ve done that a few times now to continue practicing but there’s gotta be a way to simplify this, right? Turn margin off?

Thanks for any help!

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@Goldflipper There isn’t a way to ‘turn off margin’ in either paper or live accounts. However, one can avoid the Day Trade Protection rules by having an account equity greater than $25,000. Reset your paper account and initialize it with a starting balance greater than $25,000. Set it to maybe $100,000 so you have a lot of room should the account ever drop in value. Good luck!

1 Like
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Ahh, got it. Thanks so much! I had set it to $10,000 no wonder that happened. I’ll set it higher and try again. Cheers.