Wikipedia

Public Holdings, Inc.

Public Holdings, Inc. (doing business as Public or Public.com) is an American financial technology company headquartered in New York City that offers an electronic trading platform to trade financial assets.

Public Holdings, Inc.
Public.com
TypePrivately held company
IndustryFinancial services
Founded2019; 7 years ago (2019)
FoundersLeif Abraham
Jannick Malling
HeadquartersNew York City, United States
ProductsElectronic trading platform
ServicesStockbroker
Number of employees
150+
Websitepublic.com

History

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Public was launched in 2019 by Leif Abraham and Jannick Malling.[1] In February 2021, Public announced the discontinuation of payment for order flow (PFOF) as a revenue source for equities trades, instead asking customers for gratuities.[1][2] That month, the company launched advertising featuring Michael Bolton singing a revised version of his song "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" targeting PFOF.[3]

In October 2021, Public began offering trading in cryptocurrency, initially launching with ten coins and tokens, including Bitcoin and Ethereum.[4] In July 2023, Public launched in the United Kingdom.[5] In December 2023, the platform began offering trading in bonds, becoming the first to offer fractional bond investments.[6] It also launched a Treasury account feature that was meant to simplify the process of buying T-bills.[7]

In January 2024, Public launched options trading with a rebate offering that reduced members' transaction costs to below $0.[8] In August 2024, Public launched an automated account that allows people to invest in 10 corporate bonds to lock in yields higher than US Treasuries.[7]

In November 2024, Public launched margin investing for its users.[9] In October 2025, Public launched direct indexing for retail investors with a minimum investment of $1,000.[10] In November 2025, Public announced what it calls an "Agentic Brokerage," a three-part AI system designed to let retail investors create custom stock indexes using plain-language commands and, eventually, manage their entire portfolios through automated agents.[11][12]

Acquisitions

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In January 2022, Public acquired Hypercharts, a stock-data visualization platform.[13] In March, it acquired Otis, a platform that allowed members to invest in fractional shares of alternative assets such as fine art and collectibles.[14]

In April 2024, Public acquired the TradeApp brokerage accounts from Stocktwits.[15] In August, Public acquired Carta's startup stock marketplace accounts; Carta had faced backlash for using private data to broker a sale of one of its customers.[16] In November 2025, Public acquired the crypto IRA business of Alto, paying approximately $65 million in cash and stock to offer cryptocurrency trading within tax-advantaged IRA accounts. [17]

Financing

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In March 2020, the company raised a $15 million Series B round led by Accel and Greycroft, with participation from Dreamers VC, founded by Will Smith and Keisuke Honda; J. J. Watt; Shari Redstone's Advancit Capital; Sophia Amoruso, Casey Neistat; Scott Belsky, and Morgan DeBaun.[18] In December 2020, the company raised a $65 million Series C round led by Accel and including Lakestar Greycroft, Shari Redstone's Advancit Capital as well as Tony Hawk and the Chainsmokers, through their Mantis venture capital fund.[19] In February 2021, the company raised $220 million at a $1.2 billion valuation from existing investors including Greycroft, Accel, Tiger Global Management, and Inspired Capital.[20]

See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 Clark, Kate (February 12, 2021). "No 'Trader Bros' Here: Public CEO Rides Anti-Robinhood Backlash". The Information.
  2. ↑ Wilhelm, Alex (February 1, 2021). "Trading app Public drops payment for order flow in favor of tips". TechCrunch.
  3. ↑ Eggertsen, Chris (February 2021). "Michael Bolton Wants You to Dump Robinhood in New Ad". Billboard.
  4. ↑ McCabe, Caitlin (October 7, 2021). "Investing Platform Public.com Launches Crypto Trading". The Wall Street Journal.
  5. ↑ Irrera, Anna; Nicolle, Emily (July 13, 2023). "Robinhood Rival Public.com Makes Its International Debut in UK". Bloomberg News.
  6. ↑ Tobin, Michael (December 6, 2023). "Online Brokerage Public Lets Individual Investors Buy Pieces of Corporate Bonds". Bloomberg News.
  7. 1 2 Gottsegen, Gordon (August 13, 2024). "Here's how you can lock in higher yields before the Fed cuts rates". MarketWatch.
  8. ↑ Miao, Hannah (January 23, 2024). "Investing Platform Public Launches Options Trading—And Pays Customers for Their Orders". The Wall Street Journal.
  9. ↑ "Public.com makes margin investing available to its clients". FX News Group. November 7, 2024.
  10. ↑ "Direct Indexing Boom Opens to Retail Masses With $1,000 Minimums". Bloomberg News. October 1, 2025.
  11. ↑ ""Trim Banks If Fed Cuts Rates": Public Wants AI Agent to Trade for You". Finance Magnates. November 18, 2025. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  12. ↑ "Public introduces new phase of its AI vision: Agentic Brokerage". FX News Group. November 17, 2025. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  13. ↑ Johnson, Carter (January 20, 2022). "Fintech Public.com just bought data-visualization site HyperCharts in a deal that'll also see a popular trading personality join the $1.2 billion social-investing app". Business Insider.
  14. ↑ Wilhelm, Alex (March 9, 2022). "Public buys Otis, bringing fractional ownership of alternative assets to its platform". TechCrunch.
  15. ↑ Shen, Lucinda (April 16, 2024). "Public acquires Stocktwits trading accounts". Axios.
  16. ↑ Bort, Julie (August 30, 2024). "Carta's ill-fated secondaries business finally found a buyer". TechCrunch.
  17. ↑ "Public acquires crypto IRA business for $65 million". Fortune. November 13, 2025.
  18. ↑ Spangler, Todd (March 2, 2020). "Social-Investing App Startup Public Raises $15 Million From Will Smith, JJ Watt, Sophia Amoruso and Others". Variety.
  19. ↑ Spangler, Todd (December 15, 2020). "The Chainsmokers, Tony Hawk Take Stakes in Social-Investing App Public as Part of $65M Round". Variety.
  20. ↑ Wilhelm, Alex (February 17, 2021). "As expected, stock trading service Public raises $220M at unicorn valuation". TechCrunch.
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