Here is my story about losing Bitcoin to a brokerage.

I love stacking deals to earn some extra money or crypto. Sign up bonuses for brokerages and bank accounts are a pretty simple way to score some cash. Doctorofcredit is one of my go-to spots for identifying these opportunities. But you can often double up by going through a third party like a get-paid-to site. That is exactly what led me to join Public.com.

Back in 2021, I spotted a promotion on MyPoints.com. It paid out around $50 if I signed up for Public.com and deposited at least $5. I had done other deals like this and decided to try it after vetting the company. Public said they were "for the people". I signed up through the link and put in $10 to play it safe. From there I bought some Bitcoin on Public. And I collected my MyPoints reward with no problems. I figured I would just hold the BTC since it was a tiny position anyway.

Here are the exact trade details from my account history: It was a market buy for BTC on November 19, 2021. I spent $10 on 0.00016815 BTC at a price of $59,470.19. Order went through at 10:41 PM.

Fast forward to 2025. I had not touched the account. Out of nowhere Public starts hitting me with fees on May 20, 2025. I had a warning email sent on May 12, 2025 but the date indicated I needed to log in by May 2024 and it was 2025. Three times they slapped on a $3.99 charge between May 2025 and July 2025 before I noticed. They called it an inactivity fee. Each time it dipped my account balance into the negative. What did they do next? They sold off my Bitcoin to cover it. And they tacked on a $0.49 commission for each sale. $13.44 they took altogether.

Once I saw they were taking my Bitcoin, I logged in and messaged support. I requested a refund since they had blindsided me with changes to their terms. They said they would return the fees. Pluralized. But they only credited back one $3.99 transaction. The other two $3.99 fees and the three $0.49 commissions were not returned.

How did they pull this off without a slap on the wrist? They changed the rules mid-game. Public tweaked their terms big time in 2025. Back in 2021 when I signed up, there were no monthly maintenance or inactivity fees mentioned for basic brokerage accounts. No minimum balance requirements beyond the promo stuff. It was all about commission free trades and easy crypto access. Fast forward to now, and they have rolled out these fees for low-balance accounts with no activity. If your balance is under $70 and you haven't logged in for six months: $3.99 hit a month. They claim it is to cover operational costs, but it smells like a cash grab on dormant accounts. And if you go negative? They liquidate assets automatically.

Credit card companies used to charge inactivity fees on dormant accounts until the Credit CARD Act of 2009 banned them outright for most cases. But other companies, like brokerages and some banks, still get away with these shady practices. Fintech companies often hit small or inactive accounts with maintenance fees without the same level of regulation that credit card companies face.

This is not just my headache. Check out Reddit. There is a user going by PublicCOO aka Stephen Sikes, their actual COO. He pops up solving "problems" but mostly shills his referral link: "Sign up here and get $20 with a $1k deposit." Sketchy for a high-level executive to be competing against plebs on reddit for referrals. In one thread on r/investing, titled "Looking for opinions on Public.com," there is a complaint fest. People rant about hidden fees, crappy customer service, and how they default to tipping the app on trades unless you opt out. One guy lost $40 on mystery "margin usage" he never asked for. Another could not close his account without jumping through hoops.

Then there is Public's BBB page. 90 complaints in the last three years alone. One from September 29, 2025 nails it: A user who was charged a $75 escheatment fee just for not logging in often told how his children were hit with fees just for not logging in. They liquidated stocks to cover. He wanted a refund and account closure, plus an investigation into if this is widespread. The Public Trustpilot looks very empty, but that is probably due to confusion with an unrelated website being attached to the profile. BBB shows the real dirt.

Stacking bonuses is fun, but watch out for companies luring you in with freebies only to then nickel-and-dime you later on. I never thought a $10 Bitcoin purchase would turn into a story about losing money to a brokerage that claims to be “democratizing investing.” But that’s exactly what happened with Public.com. They misdated their warning email, charged multiple fees, sold my Bitcoin without authorization and refunded only a fraction of what they took. Public changed the rules and then stole my Bitcoin.

Has anyone else here ever dealt with surprise inactivity fees or had crypto sold without permission?

... not your keys, not your coins!