Update 831/26: NVDA offer is now valid through 10/30/26. 2%/1% promos are showing 9/30/26 end date.
Update: ACATS out fee is still $50 for a partial transfer, but is now $75 for a full account transfer out
Extended through August 31, 2026.
Extended through June 30th, 2026
Update 2/11/26: There new offer is for NVDA instead of CRCL. Transfer $2k and get 1 share NVDA, transfer $10k and get 2 shares NVDA, transfer $50k and get 5 shares NVDA, transfer $200k and get 12 shares NVDA, transfer $500k and get 24 shares NVDA, transfer $1m and get 50 shares NVDA. Stacks with the 2% and 1% promos. If you do $100k or more you’ll max out the $2k cash bonus (1% and 2%) and also get the NVDA bonus. See this comment. Must make 10 trades to be eligible for the NVDA bonus, see this comment.
Update 1/1/26: Looks like the CRCL bonus tiers got better now: transfer $2k get 1 share, $10k get 3 shares, $50k get 10 shares, $200k get 30 shares, $500k get 60 shares, $1M get 100 shares. Combine that with the 2% and 1% promos, as discussed below.
Update 11/20/25: Money Ninja offer of CRCL sharesnow says it stacks with other promotions (2% and 1%). You should be able to get $2,000 + 10 CRCL shares on $100k transfer or $1,000 + 10 CRCL shares on a $50k transfer. Feel free to discuss in comments.
Update 10/17/25: I’m not sure if the 2% and 1% promos are still around. The other two promos for free shares and for NVDA have been extended through 10/31/25. Looks like the IRA still has the 2%+1% offers attached; the 1% match now only requires holding for 365 days (previously 5 years). I’m not sure what the hold-time is for the 2% match.
Update 6/4/25: Extended through 8/31/25. There’s also now an IRA version with all the same bonuses, and also 3 shares of SGOV (around $300) on top. (ht catcat) However, note, there is a 5 year hold on the IRA bonus (versus 90 days with the regular brokerage bonus).
Update 3/30/25: The free stock deals are extended through 6/30/25. The 2% and 1% offers are valid through 5/31/25. (ht Tikky)
Update 3/6/25: Here’s another link (it’s apparently someone’s affiliate link, not ours) which adds a share of NVDA (current value $113) to the signup bonus as well. That’s on top of the 5 stocks and the 2%+1% promos.
Update 1/16/25: Extended through 3/31/25 (ht Jimmy J)
The Offer
TradeUp bonus offers – Use link above for a NVDA
TradeUp brokerage is offering the following three bonuses which stack together:
- New TradeUp brokerage who make an ACATS transfer from another brokerage into TradeUp by December 31, 2024 are eligible for 2% cashback on the transferred amount. Max $1,000 bonus (transfer $50k or more to get the max $1,000 bonus).
- Clients who transfer $100,000 or more to their TradeUP account and maintain their transferred assets for a year will receive an additional 1% match ($1,000 capped match).
- Those who signup with TradeUp also get some free stocks: 2 for $100 deposit, 3 for $2,500 deposit, 4 for $10,000 deposit, 5 for $100,000 deposit.
- Some affiliate links also add a share of Nvidia as well (current value $113).
Offer valid August 5 – December 31, 2024. You can find this offer on the TradeUp homepage scroll and mentioned on this page; find the terms on this page. You can find the 5 stock offer on this page and the terms on this page.
Important Notes
- There is a $50 fee for doing a full account ACAT-out, so keep that in mind if you aren’t sure that you’ll be staying with the brokerage forever.
- It appears these bonuses are all for new customers (“new clients“).
- Clients who transfer assets from a brokerage account that was originally opened through TradeUP Securities, Inc. and now clears exclusively through Interactive Brokers are not eligible for this campaign.
- This promotion applies exclusively to an account’s first ACAT transfer that qualifies for this promotion. Subsequent ACAT transfers will not qualify for this promotion.
- An account is said to have “maintained the value of the transferred assets” if it does not initiate any withdrawals or outgoing account transfers during the specified period. Transactions involving securities purchases and changes in asset valuation do not affect reward eligibility. However, withdrawals or account transfers will result in forfeiture of the reward.
- Cashback Distribution: Cashback will be distributed quarterly, with payments made on the last business day of each fiscal quarter. The maximum cashback amount per quarter is $350. The distribution schedule follows below: After the first 90 calendar days: Clients must maintain their account assets for a full 90 calendar days from the settlement date. The first cashback installment will be distributed at the end of the first full fiscal quarter after the 90 calendar day period. For example, if the settlement date is August 15, 2024, the first cashback installment will be distributed on December 31, 2024. Subsequent Quarters: Cashback will be distributed on the last business day of each subsequent fiscal quarter. For example, if a user completes an ACAT transfer of $50,000 and qualifies for a 2% cashback bonus, they will receive a total of $1,000. This amount will be distributed in installments of $350 for the first quarter, $350 for the second quarter, and $300 for the third quarter. If the transfer date is August 15, 2024, the first $350 installment will be distributed on December 31, 2024, with subsequent installments of $350 and $300 distributed on March 31, 2025 and June 30, 2025, respectively. By participating in this campaign and receiving the cashback bonus, you agree that the cashback bonus will not be issued until the end of the first full fiscal quarter after the 90 calendar day holding period is complete. The cashback bonus is subject to forfeiture if the account is transferred out within 90 calendar days of the cashback issuance. Certain restrictions may apply when you request withdrawal of the cashback bonus.
- Where required by applicable rules and regulations, the value of all TradeUP Securities Inc. offers received may be reported as Other Income on Form 1099-MISC. TradeUP Securities Inc. is not responsible for individual tax reporting related to this reward program.
Our Verdict
If you transfer in $50k you’ll get $1k bonus and around $40/$80 in free stock. If you transfer in $100k you’ll get $2k bonus and around $50/$100 in free stocks. And you can get up to $300 to cover any fees from your old brokerage company.
Overall this offer is from the better brokerage bonuses we’ve seen. We’ll add this to the list of Best Brokerage Bonuses.
Though the long hold times are a pain, I’m still thinking of hitting this one. I’ll signup on the offer landing page in the coming weeks and transfer $100k from my current brokerage account in a single ACAT transfer to TradeUp. I’ll get 5 free stocks right away which will be worth $50 or more. Then I’ll get $350 on March 31, 2025 and another $350 on June 30, 2025 and another $300 on September 30, 2025 to complete the $1k bonus for the 2% part. I’ll also get another $1,000 bonus for the 1% $100k match (it’s not clear in the fine print when that $1k bonus will payout; update: it’s possible the second $1k will pay out at $350 quarterly, in that case you’ll have to leave the $100k funds there for about two years total to get the max $2k bonus). I’ll then leave my funds there until at least the end of 2025 since the fine print mentions leaving funds until 90 days after bonus payout.
If anyone has used TradeUp in the past, kindly share your experiences with them in the comments below. Specifically I’d be interested in knowing whether cost-basis transfers over properly when transferring stocks from another brokerage.
Hat tip to reader Lrdx
For clarification since it’s been asked many times due to the promo extensions: using either the promotional link or entering the code NINJA during registration will add all eligible offers to your account. This includes up to 50 NVDA shares (currently valid through 10/31/26 but may get extended once again) and the other offers that are currently valid through 12/31/26, including the 1-5 random free stocks, the 2%/1% cashback transfer match, $300 transfer fee credit.
Made my 10 individual buys of a $1 stock as soon as the ACAT hit my account on 9/11/26 and got my first free NVDA share tonight, last day of month.
FYI Dividend Reinvestment is still not supported. Pretty disappointing to have to manage that for the 2-year hold.
Mine settled today at the 1-week mark
Mine took 3 business days.
How long does it take them to do an ACAT? I submitted my request on Thursday last week and haven’t seen it transfer from my Fidelity account yet
is anyone doing this recently? 2+1% applies to both brokerage and IRA on ACATS? NVDA stock is 5 if you do 100k? Somebody doing this, https://www.doctorofcredit.com/tradeup-brokerage-1000-2000-bonus-with-50k-100k-transfer/#comment-2251384 What link did you you use?
I just initiated a 100K+ ACAT transfer to TradeUp after confirming with their chat my NINJA promo code was applied. Will keep everyone posted.
Transferred 104k to TradeUP by FOP from Moomoo. Moomoo doesn’t support ACATS but FOP. The agent confirmed the FOP would qualify for the match bonus and NVDA share bonus but not free welcome stocks. I will not deposit more cash to get the free stocks as they are valued at ~$10 each based on the DPs reported here. If depositing more, I will worry that withdrawing deposited cash later will impact the bonus.
Recently did the triple bonus for P1 and P2 by sending $50K each via ACAT. The welcome bonus never came and after contacting them – they indicated that their system is not set up to automatically offer the Welcome Gift stock if account was funded with an ACAT deposit. Anyway – had to message them about it and they have arranged for the promotions dept to do the random stock picks and just deposit the stock to the account. If you are waiting for the Welcome Gift stock offer more than 5 days – reach out to them. Will have to watch if there is a similar problem with the Nvidia stock when it is due.
It’s the ToC, yeah: https://www.tradeup.com/NVDAPromotionEnT&C
I’ll update
Chuck
Source? I don’t see these deadlines stated anywhere online other than your comment. Their T&C pages currently return 500 errors for me though.
Nvidia offer extended to October 31st (while 2%/1% transfer bonus still shows September 30th)
Per a conversation with CS, 10 trades of $1 in fractional shares counted toward the requirements. I took my free stocks, sold them, and used the money to place those 10 trades. I’ve not sold anything yet and they confirmed I’ve completed the trading requirements. Furthermore, I confirmed that I only needed 10 total trades to be eligible for all NVDA share payouts, not 10 per month like the terms seem to suggest. This I’ve confirmed twice now in separate CS conversations, which is also corroborated below. Like some people have responded to an earlier question of mine, CS confirmed that ANY AND ALL withdrawal activity will disqualify you from all future ACATS transfer bonus payouts. In summation, if you’re shooting for the 100k tier like most people here probably are, you can sell your free stocks and make 10 trades of $1 each in something you’re fine holding to satisfy the NVDA trading requirements. You should then plan to make 0 withdrawals for about 2 years (91 days after your last cash payout) to ensure you receive your full bonus of 5 free stocks, 5 NVDA shares, and $2000 cash.
No, the fine print mentions that assets should not be moved for one quarter after the final payment. Read the terms and/or other comments in this thread.
Anybody know, does a “trade” have to be round trip (buy then sell) or can I just buy and hold 10 stocks for the duration of the promo period?
Account opened 7/10 Extra verification required on 7/14, had to upload email of license 7/14 Transferred $2500+ I think it was either when it settled or next day that I got 3x TU stocks valued at $10 each 7/17 Made ~12 trades buying and selling random $5+ stocks 7/5 Nvidia Stock wasn’t there on 31st/1st, but did notice it by the 5th, probably came on the 3rd 8/5 transferred $2500 out, keeping stock in the market for fun 8/7 transfer out arrived to home bank Pretty simple and easy all things considered, don’t have any investments really so no higher tiers were feasible, but the lowest tier is still a good return relative to the amount
The terms didn’t change, both the 2%+1% and 2-5 free stocks are automatically stacked on top of the NVDA promotion when using the offer link or promo code. If you’re looking for the 2%1% terms on the brokerage account, it’s found here: https://www.tradeup.com/transfer-terms
Why do you have to wait another quarter for the clawback? I thought it was one year, so you should be good to go after the final payment then, right?
were you able to transfer out? Etrade says they sent the paperwork over a month ago, but still nothing (apparently they couldn’t even process this as an electronic transfer) EDIT: got this response from TU – we do not support ACAT transfers through physical mail or correspondence. To transfer assets from your TradeUP account, the ACATS request must be initiated electronically through the supported transfer process from the receiving brokerage.
Right… so what’s contradictory? It’s an ongoing bonus. If you keep maintaining the balance over time you get the continuing bonus payouts. Seems reasonable to me.
From what I am seeing the NVDA offer is only on retail brokerage the 2+1% is only on IRAs. Did the terms change or am I missing something, these cannot stack.
It’s buried in the fine print but you only need to keep your account at or above the value of the assets transferred in on the day of settlement to maintain payments.
How are those contradicting statements? To my understanding, if you transfer in and keep for the whole time you get all the payouts. If you transfer out at some point then you forfeit any remaining payouts.
Where are you seeing 90 day forfeiture in the terms?
All that I am can find is this: Power Your Trade with Up to 50 NVDA Shares
Tradeup timeline sucks.. When Kraken comes back do $1M there or soem other place. I wouldn’t recommend trade up. Their customer service is good.. but their legal language is shady at best.. and the tiemline to get a bonus is like 2 years.
They are contradicting themselves with their T&C of the offer for people who transfer in 100k+, it says “people who transfer in 100k and maintain their assets for a year will receive an extra $1000” and then they also say “persons must maintain their initial transfer amount until final bonus payout.” I don’t see how they can enforce the maintain part while actively broadcasting the first part?