diff --git a/deploy/alpha-stocks-dev/deployments/stocks-deployment.yaml b/deploy/alpha-stocks-dev/deployments/stocks-deployment.yaml
index 2fc1296..eec1789 100644
--- a/deploy/alpha-stocks-dev/deployments/stocks-deployment.yaml
+++ b/deploy/alpha-stocks-dev/deployments/stocks-deployment.yaml
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ spec:
               value: spiffe://dev.alphastocks.com/stocks
             - name: TRAT_VERIFY_ENDPOINT
               value: http://localhost:9030/verify-trat
+            - name: ENABLE_TRATS
+              value: "${ENABLE_TRATS}"
           image: ghcr.io/tratteria/example-application/stocks:latest
           name: stocks
           ports:
diff --git a/stocks/pkg/config/config.go b/stocks/pkg/config/config.go
index 72f9c2a..f78ef39 100644
--- a/stocks/pkg/config/config.go
+++ b/stocks/pkg/config/config.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"net/url"
 	"os"
+	"strconv"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/spiffe/go-spiffe/v2/spiffeid"
@@ -22,6 +23,7 @@ type spiffeIDs struct {
 type StocksConfig struct {
 	SpiffeIDs          *spiffeIDs
 	TratVerifyEndpoint *url.URL
+	EnableTrats        bool
 }
 
 func GetAppConfig() *StocksConfig {
@@ -32,6 +34,7 @@ func GetAppConfig() *StocksConfig {
 			Stocks:  spiffeid.RequireFromString(getEnv("STOCKS_SERVICE_SPIFFE_ID")),
 		},
 		TratVerifyEndpoint: parseURL(getEnv("TRAT_VERIFY_ENDPOINT")),
+		EnableTrats:        getBoolFromEnv("ENABLE_TRATS"),
 	}
 }
 
@@ -64,3 +67,17 @@ func parseURL(rawurl string) *url.URL {
 
 	return parsedURL
 }
+
+func getBoolFromEnv(key string) bool {
+	value, exists := os.LookupEnv(key)
+	if !exists {
+		panic(fmt.Sprintf("%s environment variable not set", key))
+	}
+
+	parsed, err := strconv.ParseBool(value)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(fmt.Sprintf("Invalid boolean value for %s: %s", key, value))
+	}
+
+	return parsed
+}
diff --git a/stocks/pkg/middleware/middleware.go b/stocks/pkg/middleware/middleware.go
index 0b6e919..c6d87f8 100644
--- a/stocks/pkg/middleware/middleware.go
+++ b/stocks/pkg/middleware/middleware.go
@@ -24,7 +24,9 @@ func GetMiddleware(stocksConfig *config.StocksConfig, spireJwtSource *workloadap
 
 	middlewareList = append(middlewareList, getSpiffeMiddleware(stocksConfig, spireJwtSource, logger))
 
-	middlewareList = append(middlewareList, getTraTVerifierMiddleware(stocksConfig.TratVerifyEndpoint, httpClient, logger))
+	if stocksConfig.EnableTrats {
+		middlewareList = append(middlewareList, getTraTVerifierMiddleware(stocksConfig.TratVerifyEndpoint, httpClient, logger))
+	}
 
 	return CombineMiddleware(middlewareList...)
 }