Your Money in AI Hands? Public's Bold Crypto Move! with Leif Abraham
April 6, 2026
AI Summary
5 min readPublic's Agentic Bet: AI, Crypto, and the Future of Investing
Leif Abraham, co-founder and co-CEO of Public, joined the Thinking Crypto Podcast to explain how his platform is rethinking investing for a generation that wants control, not hand-holding. Public is not trying to be Robinhood. It is competing with Schwab, Fidelity, and Vanguard for what Abraham calls the "top quartile" — households earning over $100,000 who will inherit 85% of the great wealth transfer. The core insight: these investors are self-directed first, financially literate from learning-by-doing with fractional crypto, and they want a spectrum between full DIY and full delegation. Public's answer is AI agents that blur that line.
Crypto as a Core Portfolio Asset
Public added crypto at the end of 2021 — late, by Abraham's own admission — but it has become the third-largest asset class on the platform by AUM, behind equities and cash/bonds. The user base is not trading in and out. "It's all net buys," Abraham said. "Our type of user is someone who is more of a portfolio compounder. They add to their portfolio on a monthly basis as a paycheck comes in." Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana positions just keep growing.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (03:04) **Founder Background & Public's Origin** - Leif Abraham explains his German roots, move to the US, and the serendipitous moment after selling his previous company that led to co-founding Public with Jannick.
- 2 (05:14) **Public's Competitive Position** - Distinguishes Public from Robinhood, positioning it against incumbents like Schwab, Fidelity, and Vanguard.
- 3 (06:07) **Crypto Strategy & Regulatory Shift** - Discusses the late addition of crypto (end of 2021) and its rapid growth to become the third-largest asset class on the platform.
- 4 (10:26) **Crypto Demand & the Modern Portfolio** - Crypto on Public is a net-buy asset class, with users treating blue-chip coins (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana) as a standard part of a modern portfolio.
- 5 (12:50) **Crypto Custody & Future Features** - Uses Zero Hash for custody of direct spot crypto. Sees stablecoins as a clear next step for on/off ramps and funding accounts.
- 6 (14:35) **Stablecoins & the Genius Act** - Analyzes the geopolitical and economic logic of the US pushing stablecoins to digitize the dollar and create demand for US Treasuries.
- 7 (16:30) **The Clarity Act & Bank Pushback** - Discusses the tension between banks and crypto firms over stablecoin yield, framing it as a classic "innovator's dilemma."
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Show Notes
Topics:
- Public's investing solutions
- AI Agents in investing
- Crypto market outlook
- Future of Investing
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⏰ Time Stamps ⏰
00:00 Intro
02:05 Leif's background
06:16 Investing is changing
12:31 Crypto strategy
15:31 Clarity Act
20:33 Building for younger generations
26:06 AI to replace RIAs?
38:06 Investing with AI Agents
57:22 Wrap up questions
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