Abra, a digital asset platform, has introduced Abra Treasury, providing customized digital asset treasury solutions. The service targets corporations, family offices, and non-profits. Abra Treasury, operated by Abra Capital Management LP, aims to offer an integrated suite of services including custody, trading, borrowing, and yield through separately managed accounts. Abra insists these solutions are tailored […]
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Cryptocurrency Firm Abra Settles With 25 US States Over Licensing Violations
Financial authorities in 25 U.S. states have reached a settlement with the cryptocurrency investment platform Abra and its CEO Bill Barhydt for operating without proper licensing. This settlement mandates significant changes in how Abra conducts its operations within these states. Abra Reaches Settlement Over Unlicensed Operations, Agrees to Major Concessions According to a report from […]
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Crypto Lender Abra to Return Assets to Texas Investors
Following regulatory scrutiny, crypto lender Abra has agreed to a settlement. The settlement, which focuses on Abra’s alleged unregistered securities offerings, will see the company returning assets to Texan investors.
Abra Agrees to Refund Texas Investors in Settlement Over Crypto Offerings
The Texas State Securities Board (TSSB) has reached a settlement in principle with crypto lender Abra, following allegations of unregistered securities offerings. As per the agreement, Abra will return assets to Texan investors, with an opportunity for other U.S. clients to reclaim their investments.
Securities Commissioner Travis J. Iles announced the settlement, highlighting the resolution of concerns regarding Abra’s interest-bearing cryptocurrency products, Abra Boost and Abra Earn. The enforcement actions, led by the Texas State Securities Board’s Enforcement Director Joe Rotunda, accused Abra and its affiliates of offering these products without proper registration, potentially putting investors at risk.
The settlement mandates that investors can withdraw assets from their accounts. Abra is also required to convert unclaimed assets to fiat currency and send checks to Texas investors. The company has been given 30 days from the settlement date to fulfill these obligations.
Abra, operated by Plutus Financial Holdings Inc., Plutus Financial Inc., Plutus Lending LLC, and Abra Boost LLC, and led by William “Bill” Barhydt, offered these programs to all U.S. clients, with Abra Boost specifically targeted at accredited investors. These programs enabled investors to earn interest by depositing digital assets with Abra, which were then loaned to institutional borrowers.
The TSSB’s investigation, which began in June 2023, revealed that Abra held cryptocurrencies valued at approximately .6 million on behalf of over 12,000 U.S. investors, including .8 million from around 1,600 Texas residents. Following the enforcement actions, Abra initiated the winding down of its U.S. retail operations, a process now expedited by the settlement.
“When settling this matter, we prioritized returning money to retail investors,” said Joe Rotunda. He urged clients to check their emails for instructions from Abra regarding the withdrawal process.
In addition to returning assets, Abra and Barhydt have agreed to a Consent Order by the Securities Commissioner. The settlement, contingent upon Abra’s successful fulfillment of terms, will lead to the dismissal of actions filed against the company since June 15, 2023.
Have you ever used interest-bearing cryptocurrency products? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.
Crypto Firm Abra Said to be Insolvent in Texas State Regulators’ Cease-and-Desist Order
According to an emergency cease-and-desist order from the Texas State Securities Board, the cryptocurrency firm Abra is “insolvent or nearly insolvent.” The filing alleges that a group of state securities regulators has been investigating Abra, and the working group interviewed William Barhydt, the company’s founder, in March 2023.
Texas State Regulators Issue Cease-and-Desist Order, Citing Insolvency Claims Against Crypto Firm Abra
The Texas State Securities Board (TSSB) has issued an emergency cease-and-desist order against the company Abra and its network of subsidiaries. The notice alleges that Abra and its affiliate companies are “collectively insolvent or nearly insolvent.” The order also named Plutus Financial, Plutus Lending, Abra Boost, and the firm’s founder, William John “Bill” Barhydt.
The TSSB allegations suggest that in 2022, Barhydt restructured the firm into multiple entities and “sold investments in Abra Earn, a digital asset depository account, to unaccredited and accredited investors in the United States.” The TSSB order additionally alleges that a “working group of state securities regulators have been investigating Abra.”
During the investigation conducted on or around March 31, 2023, Barhydt was interviewed by the working group. Allegedly, the interview revealed that all the “parties collectively operating as Abra” were insolvent or close to insolvency. The regulator insists that Plutus Financial, Plutus Lending, and Barhydt violated state securities laws through Abra Earn.
The order further states that Barhydt and the parties “engaged in fraud” and made “statements that were materially misleading or otherwise likely to deceive the public.” Additionally, the order declares that the Abra Boost products “are securities,” and the state regulators demand an immediate cease and desist of all operations by the firm in Texas. The order is signed by Travis J. Iles, the Texas state securities commissioner.
“The Texas State Securities Board is encouraging Abra investors to immediately access and review the enforcement actions. The enforcement actions include allegations that relate to the disclosure of information, including the disclosure of financial information. Abra has not yet had the opportunity to challenge the allegations,” a press release from the TSSB website says.
Abra’s social media platforms have not addressed the matter at the time of writing, and Barhydt’s last tweet was on June 14, but it is now deleted. Prior to that, according to records, the Abra founder tweeted about artificial intelligence (AI) on June 12, 2023.
What are your thoughts on the regulatory crackdown faced by Abra and the allegations of insolvency? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.
Abra CEO Predicts Ethereum Could Reach $40,000 – But Some Fintech Analysts Don’t Agree
Bill Barhydt, the CEO and inventor of the well-known cryptocurrency wallet service Abra, outlined why he believes Ethereum is a much better investment than Bitcoin.
He has also set a price prediction of k for ETH, indicating his confidence in its future development.
He also noted that Ethereum is utilized for a variety of reasons, such as DeFi, stablecoins, NFTs, and even games.
Furthermore, it has the “network effect,” which means that the value of cryptocurrencies is likely to rise as the number of customers grows, making it an even greater utility.
Ethereum Positive Use Cases
Its central argument is that the use of Ethereum is what makes it so valuable.
Bitcoin’s network effects, according to Bill, are changing it into a reserve asset that is trustless, immutable, and cannot be manipulated; it is hard money.
In terms of flexibility, dependability, and value rise, Ethereum network effects are much more practical in terms of short-term exponential development.
Furthermore, while Bitcoin’s quantity is fixed, because of the burning of Ethereum, Bitcoin has become deflationary, meaning its supply is actually diminishing over time.
ETH total market cap at 9.68 billion on the daily chart | Source: TradingView.com
Related Article | Ripple Welcomes More Than 4,000 Artists Into Its New NFT Platform
Ethereum Seen To Unseat Bitcoin As Top Crypto
With that in mind, Ethereum is extremely likely to dethrone Bitcoin over the next 10 years, some analysts said.
Ethereum, which has long been Bitcoin’s primary large-scale rival, has several technological challenges that it would need to solve to gain market domination.
That’s precisely what Ethereum’s developers hope to achieve with their upcoming upgrade to the underlying blockchain, dubbed “Ethereum 2.0.”
The upcoming changes will include the implementation of a processing technique known as “sharding.”
Related Article | Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak ‘Feels’ Bitcoin Will Be Worth 0,000
Currently, all data added to the blockchain version must be verified by all participating nodes. But by incorporating sharding into the mix, Ethereum 2.0 can significantly improve the efficiency of its resource usage.
The new system will accomplish this by dividing data verification tasks among groups of nodes, with each node responsible for only verifying the data it receives.
This enables the entire blockchain to use parallel processing, potentially increasing overall capacity by a greater magnitude.
Ethereum is transitioning from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus. It has been planned as a vital part of the strategy to scale Ethereum through upgrades.
Negative Outlook For ETH
ETH is priced at roughly ,577.25 early Monday, which is 0.39% lower than the previous day as a result of rapid volatility rates.
The crypto posted a low of ,493 and a high of ,602 due to timely changes in crypto-assets and revenues in the global cryptocurrency market.
After all that discussion, Barhydt concluded:
“I suppose you are talking about potentially between k and k Ethereum.”
Meanwhile, Finder.com said that a group of fintech professionals are more pessimistic in their outlook than Abra’s chief executive.
Previous predictions by the panel had put the price of ETH at ,798 by 2030. That figure has been reduced to ,338.
Coingecko reports that Ethereum is trading at ,518, as of this writing.
Featured image from YouTube, chart from TradingView.com
NewsBTC
Stellar Development Foundations Takes Part In Abra $55 Million Series C Funding
Leading wealth management platform Abra completed a Series C funding with participation from the Stellar Development Foundation. The company raised million in the round led by major players in the industry, such as IGNIA and Blockchain Capital.
The Stellar Development Foundation was one of the new investors in the company alongside Kingsway Capital and Tiga Investment. In addition, Abra received investments from Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Amex Ventures, Arbor Ventures, RRE Ventures, CMT Digital Ventures, and Kenetic Advisors.
Related Reading | An Introduction To Stellar And XLM: Mission, Control, And Consensus
Other relevant names participated in the Series C funding, according to a press release. The wealth management platform increased its total funding to more than million since its creation.
The release claims that the funds will be used to expand Abra’s team into new offerings which include wealth management, trading, and payments. Thus, why the investment from the Stellar Development Foundation could have a relevant role to achieve this goal. Bill Barhydt, founder, and CEO of Abra said the following:
Cryptocurrencies, NFTs and DeFi are now top of mind for almost all investors. The crypto asset class is growing exponentially, even outpacing the early commercial Internet itself. Our vision of crypto-centric banking is coming to life in front of our eyes, and Abra is excited to serve as a leader in the space.
Barhydt claimed to feel “proud” of the Abra team and their accomplishments. The executive expects the platform to keep scaling and growing.
Stellar And Abra’s Shared History Of Crypto Expansion
Since 2020, Abra has seen “tremendous” growth, according to the press release. The company records a ten-fold increase in revenues, and a 0 to billion in assets under management (AUM) for its custody services, Abra Trade and Abra Earn.
Related Reading | Stellar Network To Power New Savings API Launched By Wyre
In the same period, the company’s 155,000 monthly users have processed billion in transactions. In that sense, Bart Stephens, Managing Partner at Blockchain Capital, said the following on its latest Series C Funding:
We believe Abra is on an exciting growth trajectory, led by a strong management team with an understanding of the long-term potential for cryptocurrencies. Abra offers unmatched accessibility for every type of investor which positions the company well for capitalizing on the growth in adoption and interest in cryptocurrencies globally.
In 2020, the Stellar Development Foundation made a million investment in Abra. The partners worked to expand Abra’s financial services with Stellar as a blockchain back-end and “democratize access” to them for new customers in developing countries.
Related Reading | New To Bitcoin? Learn To Trade Crypto With The NewsBTC Trading Course
At the time, the CEO of the Stellar Development Foundation Denelle Dixon said:
Abra is building a product portfolio of financial services that aligns directly with our mission to create equitable access to the global financial system. They’re committed to providing innovative investment opportunities in underserved, capital-scarce markets.
Alvaro Rodriguez Arregui, a Managing Partner of IGNIA, added:
Abra is perfectly positioned to execute on its mission to expand access to crypto assets in a safe and secure way for customers. As international investors ourselves, we recognize the need for safe and reliable access to the crypto ecosystem and are excited to support Abra.
At the time of writing, XLM trades at ,33 with a 3.8% profit in the daily chart.
XLM with small profits in the daily chart. Source: XLMUSDT Tradingview
NewsBTC
Abra Adding 60 New Cryptocurrencies in Consumer Adoption Push Report
n Abra users set to get access to 90 cryptocurrenciesn
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Investment App Abra Expands US Offerings With 60 New Cryptos
Mobile crypto wallet and investment app Abra is adding a host of new coins and doubling its U.S. bank deposit limits for U.S. customers.
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Abra App to Restrict Services for US Users Over Regulatory Issues
Crypto investment app Abra is cutting back the crypto options for U.S. customers citing regulatory uncertainty and restrictions in the country.
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Abra Restricts Americans From Holding EOS and 4 Other Altcoins
n Abra will restrict U.S. users from holding EOS and other altcoins in August due to escalated regulatory uncertainty in the countryn
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