Karla Barker 
Expanding Bitcoin Retirement Options
Public just made a significant move in the crypto retirement space, paying $65 million to acquire Alto’s CryptoIRA business. The deal involves both cash and stock, which I think shows Public’s serious commitment to expanding their Bitcoin retirement offerings. What’s interesting is that Alto clients won’t be immediately forced to switch—they can keep using the platform until early 2026 when the full integration with Public’s system is expected to complete.
Over the next few months, Public plans to integrate Alto’s technology into their platform. This integration will allow Public members to trade cryptocurrencies within their Individual Retirement Accounts. The real benefit here, perhaps, is the tax advantage. CryptoIRAs let investors trade digital assets without dealing with the capital gains tax implications that normally come with every sale in taxable accounts. That’s a pretty substantial benefit for long-term investors.
Competition in the Crypto IRA Space
Public isn’t entering an empty field though. They’re going up against established players like Fidelity, which launched its own line of IRAs with direct cryptocurrency investments back in April. Fidelity’s offering includes Roth, traditional, and rollover IRAs with no account opening or maintenance fees. They do charge a 1% spread on crypto transactions, and most of the cryptocurrency is stored in offline digital wallets for security.
Leif Abraham, Public’s co-CEO and co-founder, emphasized that this acquisition makes Public “one of the only platforms where customers can trade crypto in their IRAs.” He mentioned they’re continuing to expand their crypto offerings as demand grows. But honestly, I’m not sure if being “one of the only” platforms is entirely accurate anymore, given Fidelity’s existing presence in this space.
Public’s Broader Expansion Strategy
This CryptoIRA acquisition isn’t happening in isolation. Public has been making several strategic moves lately. Just last month, they announced that members can now build their own direct indexes from over 100 different indices from providers like Solactive and S&P. This direct indexing approach lets investors own each stock in an index directly rather than through an ETF derivative, which can help with tax-loss harvesting strategies.
The platform charges a 0.19% yearly management fee for these custom indexes with a $1,000 minimum investment. That’s actually quite competitive in the current market landscape.
Public’s acquisition spree continued in September when they bought Tornado, an AI platform for financial institutions. This brought over 85,000 Tornado brokerage clients to Public’s active trading platform. Stephen Sikes, Public’s COO, noted that these new members will have access to AI-powered tools and charting capabilities for real-time market opportunities.
Looking Forward
All these moves suggest Public is aggressively expanding both its user base and service offerings. The platform now serves over one million users who can trade various digital assets including bonds, mutual funds, and ETFs. With the Alto acquisition, they’re clearly betting on continued growth in crypto adoption within retirement planning.
What strikes me is how quickly the crypto retirement space is evolving. Just a few years ago, this would have been considered quite experimental. Now we’re seeing established investment platforms making substantial acquisitions to capture this market. It makes me wonder if we’ll see more consolidation in this space as traditional finance and crypto continue to converge.
The real test will be whether Public can successfully integrate all these acquisitions while maintaining service quality. Managing multiple technology platforms and user bases simultaneously is no small task. But if they pull it off, they could become a significant player in the evolving landscape of digital asset retirement planning.