The Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued a joint fine to Abra, a crypto portfolio app that let users get synthetic exposure to traditional markets. According to the SEC’s release, Abra effectively offered “security-based swaps” to retail investors without the proper registration, in addition to “failing to transact those swaps on a registered national exchange.” Abra offered a type of “centralized” synthetic asset, where users were able to get exposure to traditional securities like stocks by putting up Bitcoin (BTC) and Litecoin (LTC) as collateral. The system removed or added the coins based on how much …

The Stellar Development Foundation, or SDF, has allocated $5 million to crypto investment app Abra. The company now looks to incorporate the Stellar blockchain into its platform, as well as develop Stellar-based products. "We believe Stellar’s platform is one of the most scalable and versatile cryptocurrency platforms available today," Abra CEO and founder Bill Barhydt told Cointelegraph in an email, adding: "That combined with a similar shared mission of democratizing access to financial services means that our companies are strongly aligned in our services roadmap going forward." The Abra investment is only the foundation's second financing move using its enterprise …

Payments behemoth Visa acquired financial technology firm Plaid for $5.3 billion, according to a press release published on Jan. 13. Per the release, Plaid has developed a network that allows users to easily connect their financial accounts to the apps they use to manage their financial lives. The firm’s products reportedly allow for convenient sharing of financial information with thousands of apps and services by allowing users to link various accounts. The announcement states that 75% of the world’s internet-enabled consumers used a fintech application for moving funds. As such, it has “become increasingly important to facilitate consumers’ ability to …

California-based cryptocurrency wallet and investment service Abra is adding a total of 60 new cryptocurrencies to its platform, reports suggest. According to CoinDesk on Nov. 12, the increasingly widespread payment gateway is planning to more than treble its existing crypto offerings for international users from 30 to 90 tokens. Four stablecoins to debut on Abra platform Four stablecoins including Tether (USDT), Paxos Standard (PAX), TrueUSD (TUSD) and Dai (DAI) will reportedly be among the new tokens. Restrictions remain for United States residents, who are unable to hold Qtum (QTUM), Bitcoin Gold (BTG), EOS (EOS), OmiseGo (OMG) and Status (SNT) on …

Many cryptocurrency analysts and industry representatives are predicting that the increasing integration of blockchain payments with messenger apps will comprise the catalyst for the next wave of mainstream distributed ledger technology (DLT) adoption. However, critics are warning that the blockchain payments integrated with messenger apps may undermine many of the core values underpinning cryptocurrency. They predict that the majority of individuals’ economic activities may occur with centralized mediation from a handful of large companies. In turn, they may be able to profit from the mass of financial data that will be yielded through the mass adoption of DLT payments integrated …

California-based crypto wallet service Abra will restrict some services for American users starting from August. Abra will have to enforce some system modifications due to continued regulatory uncertainty in the United States, according to a blog post on July 25. Notably, American users will no longer be able to hold a number of cryptocurrencies, including EOS (EOS). U.S. users can’t hold certain altcoins Specifically, the platform will start migrating its smart contract-based synthetic assets to a native hosted wallet solution, adding that those assets are defined on Abra as anything other than Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin …

The idea of private blockchains, such as enterprise blockchain platforms, will eventually “fail miserably,” the CEO of Abra said during Fortune’s “Balancing The Ledger” show on Feb. 25. Bill Barhydt, CEO of cryptocurrency wallet and investing app Abra, has argued that the idea of a truly decentralized cryptocurrency contradicts the notion of private blockchains. Unlike public blockchains, such as those of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), which can be accessed and joined by anyone, private blockchains represent a permissioned network with access controls that restrict who can join, meaning that they operate like a centralized database system. Speaking during the …

Digital currency wallet and exchange Abra has launched support for a new token, BIT10, that tracks the Bitwise 10 Large Cap Crypto Index, according to an announcement published Oct. 3. The Bitwise 10 Large Cap Crypto Index was developed by cryptocurrency asset management firm Bitwise Asset Management and is reportedly listed exclusively on Abra. The index tracks the ten largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, currently representing 80 percent of the total crypto market capitalization. Per the announcement, any investor is now able to acquire the BIT10 token through the Abra app, with a $5 minimum investment. Hunter Horsley, the CEO …

The reason the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) has insofar denied crypto exchange traded funds (ETFs) is because the crypto industry does not fit the applicant archetype, according to the CEO of crypto payment startup Abra, CNBC reported September 4. Speaking in an interview with CNBC’s “The Coin Rush,” Bill Barhydt suggested that the SEC has rejected crypto ETF applications because “people who are doing the applications don't fit mold of who the SEC is used to approving." Barhydt said that in order to receive approval for an ETF, there should be an applicant who “looks, feels and smells” …

Global crypto wallet Abra has enabled the direct purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies for European bank accounts, according to a press-release published by PR Newswire Tuesday, September 4. Abra, which offers 28 cryptocurrencies for consumers worldwide, will now support Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) bank accounts. As the company’s official Twitter states, the launch of in-app European bank purchases of digital currency has already started. Customers can now transfer euros or several other national currencies directly to their wallet which can, in turn, can be converted into the 28 cryptocurrencies offered by Abra including Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Ripple …

Cryptocurrency investment app Abra’s CEO forecast that “all hell will break loose” in Bitcoin and altcoin markets this year in a fresh mainstream media interview March 28. Speaking to Business Insider two weeks after the startup announced it had raised $40mln in new funding since October, CEO Bill Barhydt said western institutional money would begin to “dip its toes” into crypto assets in 2018. In doing so, Barhydt continues a popular narrative that institutional investors ‘waiting’ for an opportune moment will transform Bitcoin and major altcoin price performance. Bitcoin continued to sink towards fresh bi-weekly lows March 29, circling around …