diff --git a/backend/app/api/__init__.py b/backend/app/api/__init__.py
index e69de29..f260b90 100644
--- a/backend/app/api/__init__.py
+++ b/backend/app/api/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+from app.api.auth import router as auth_router
+
+__all__ = ["auth_router"]
diff --git a/backend/app/api/auth.py b/backend/app/api/auth.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..15aba70
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/app/api/auth.py
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+"""
+Authentication API endpoints.
+"""
+from datetime import timedelta
+from typing import Annotated
+
+from fastapi import APIRouter, Depends, HTTPException, status
+from fastapi.security import OAuth2PasswordRequestForm
+from sqlalchemy.orm import Session
+
+from app.core.database import get_db
+from app.core.security import (
+    verify_password,
+    get_password_hash,
+    create_access_token,
+)
+from app.core.config import get_settings
+from app.models.user import User
+from app.schemas import Token, UserCreate, UserResponse, LoginRequest
+from app.api.deps import CurrentUser
+
+router = APIRouter(prefix="/api/auth", tags=["auth"])
+settings = get_settings()
+
+
+@router.post("/login", response_model=Token)
+async def login(
+    form_data: Annotated[OAuth2PasswordRequestForm, Depends()],
+    db: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_db)],
+):
+    """Login and get access token."""
+    user = db.query(User).filter(User.username == form_data.username).first()
+
+    if not user or not verify_password(form_data.password, user.hashed_password):
+        raise HTTPException(
+            status_code=status.HTTP_401_UNAUTHORIZED,
+            detail="Incorrect username or password",
+            headers={"WWW-Authenticate": "Bearer"},
+        )
+
+    access_token = create_access_token(
+        data={"sub": user.username},
+        expires_delta=timedelta(minutes=settings.access_token_expire_minutes),
+    )
+
+    return Token(access_token=access_token)
+
+
+@router.post("/register", response_model=UserResponse, status_code=status.HTTP_201_CREATED)
+async def register(
+    user_data: UserCreate,
+    db: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_db)],
+):
+    """Register a new user."""
+    if db.query(User).filter(User.username == user_data.username).first():
+        raise HTTPException(
+            status_code=status.HTTP_400_BAD_REQUEST,
+            detail="Username already registered",
+        )
+
+    if db.query(User).filter(User.email == user_data.email).first():
+        raise HTTPException(
+            status_code=status.HTTP_400_BAD_REQUEST,
+            detail="Email already registered",
+        )
+
+    user = User(
+        username=user_data.username,
+        email=user_data.email,
+        hashed_password=get_password_hash(user_data.password),
+    )
+    db.add(user)
+    db.commit()
+    db.refresh(user)
+
+    return user
+
+
+@router.get("/me", response_model=UserResponse)
+async def get_current_user_info(current_user: CurrentUser):
+    """Get current user information."""
+    return current_user
+
+
+@router.post("/logout")
+async def logout():
+    """Logout (client should discard token)."""
+    return {"message": "Successfully logged out"}
diff --git a/backend/app/api/deps.py b/backend/app/api/deps.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f262b11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/app/api/deps.py
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+"""
+API dependencies.
+"""
+from typing import Annotated
+
+from fastapi import Depends, HTTPException, status
+from fastapi.security import OAuth2PasswordBearer
+from sqlalchemy.orm import Session
+
+from app.core.database import get_db
+from app.core.security import decode_access_token
+from app.models.user import User
+
+oauth2_scheme = OAuth2PasswordBearer(tokenUrl="/api/auth/login")
+
+
+async def get_current_user(
+    db: Annotated[Session, Depends(get_db)],
+    token: Annotated[str, Depends(oauth2_scheme)],
+) -> User:
+    """Get the current authenticated user."""
+    credentials_exception = HTTPException(
+        status_code=status.HTTP_401_UNAUTHORIZED,
+        detail="Could not validate credentials",
+        headers={"WWW-Authenticate": "Bearer"},
+    )
+
+    payload = decode_access_token(token)
+    if payload is None:
+        raise credentials_exception
+
+    username: str = payload.get("sub")
+    if username is None:
+        raise credentials_exception
+
+    user = db.query(User).filter(User.username == username).first()
+    if user is None:
+        raise credentials_exception
+
+    return user
+
+
+CurrentUser = Annotated[User, Depends(get_current_user)]
+DbSession = Annotated[Session, Depends(get_db)]
diff --git a/backend/app/main.py b/backend/app/main.py
index 266661a..4b35f96 100644
--- a/backend/app/main.py
+++ b/backend/app/main.py
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ Galaxy-PO Backend API
 from fastapi import FastAPI
 from fastapi.middleware.cors import CORSMiddleware
 
+from app.api import auth_router
+
 app = FastAPI(
     title="Galaxy-PO API",
     description="Quant Portfolio Management API",
@@ -18,6 +20,9 @@ app.add_middleware(
     allow_headers=["*"],
 )
 
+# Include routers
+app.include_router(auth_router)
+
 
 @app.get("/health")
 async def health_check():
diff --git a/backend/app/schemas/__init__.py b/backend/app/schemas/__init__.py
index e69de29..13faa3f 100644
--- a/backend/app/schemas/__init__.py
+++ b/backend/app/schemas/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+from app.schemas.user import UserBase, UserCreate, UserResponse
+from app.schemas.auth import Token, TokenPayload, LoginRequest
+
+__all__ = [
+    "UserBase",
+    "UserCreate",
+    "UserResponse",
+    "Token",
+    "TokenPayload",
+    "LoginRequest",
+]
diff --git a/backend/app/schemas/auth.py b/backend/app/schemas/auth.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e02109f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/app/schemas/auth.py
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+"""
+Authentication schemas.
+"""
+from pydantic import BaseModel
+
+
+class Token(BaseModel):
+    access_token: str
+    token_type: str = "bearer"
+
+
+class TokenPayload(BaseModel):
+    sub: str | None = None
+
+
+class LoginRequest(BaseModel):
+    username: str
+    password: str
diff --git a/backend/app/schemas/user.py b/backend/app/schemas/user.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0969b2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/app/schemas/user.py
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+"""
+User schemas for request/response validation.
+"""
+from datetime import datetime
+from pydantic import BaseModel, EmailStr
+
+
+class UserBase(BaseModel):
+    username: str
+    email: EmailStr
+
+
+class UserCreate(UserBase):
+    password: str
+
+
+class UserResponse(UserBase):
+    id: int
+    created_at: datetime
+
+    class Config:
+        from_attributes = True