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Public.com is adding crypto alongside stock trading

It's the latest online broker to include cryptocurrencies as a tradable asset class.

Public.com co-founders Jannick Malling and Leif Abraham.

The online brokerage said it will start letting users buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, ether, cardano and dogecoin.

Photo: Public.com

Public.com said Thursday that it will add cryptocurrencies as an investment option on its service, joining a growing industry trend.

The online brokerage said it will start letting users buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, ether, cardano and dogecoin.

Given the currencies' volatility and controversy around crypto, the company said it would provide "contextual information" about the offerings.

"The prices of cryptos can be volatile in the short term and tend to follow different patterns than stock market securities," Public said in a blog post. "We've added Volatility Reminders to crypto pages to ensure our members can make their own decisions with context."

Public said it is also "working toward" a crypto wallet: "We do not provide a crypto wallet, but we understand that this is something that some of our members may want."

Robinhood recently announced a test of crypto wallets for its users. Wallets are seen as important because they allow users to receive, hold and transfer cryptocurrencies, versus just trading them.

Benjamin Pimentel

Benjamin Pimentel ( @benpimentel) covers crypto and fintech from San Francisco. He has reported on many of the biggest tech stories over the past 20 years for the San Francisco Chronicle, Dow Jones MarketWatch and Business Insider, from the dot-com crash, the rise of cloud computing, social networking and AI to the impact of the Great Recession and the COVID crisis on Silicon Valley and beyond. He can be reached at bpimentel@protocol.com or via Google Voice at (925) 307-9342.

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