Mountain View-based financial services company Abra is launching Abra Bank and Abra International, the company announced Salt New York 2022.
abra bank target To become the first regulated bank in the US where customers will be able to deposit and transact with cryptocurrencies, while Abra International plans to become a global entity providing these services.
“Abra Bank will be the first operational US state-chartered bank – not a full bank trust – to enable trading, custody, investments, NFTs, credit cards, and more in the digital asset space.[sic], wrote Abra founder Bill Barhide. The bank, which is scheduled to launch in the first quarter of 2023, will be available to accredited institutional and individual investors — a requirement that will remain in place until Abra Bank launches in the US, the statement said.
While the US entity requires inventors to be accredited, Abra International will be accessible to all users. It will have “uniform licensing for non-US users” and will be released in October.
The company is also launching a new product called Abra Boost, which will provide “qualified investors with the opportunity to deposit and earn interest on their digital assets” as well as earn interest and stake in digital assets. It is expected to go live on October 3.
Abra. about
Abra was launched in 2014 by former Goldman Sachs analyst, Bill Barhide. It currently functions as an “app that allows users to access interest-earning, buying, selling and trading in cryptocurrencies.”
In 2021, the company raised $55 million for its global expansion. The round was led by Ignia and Blockchain Capital.
The company was listed among the “Top 25 Tech Companies to Watch in 2018” in the Wall Street Journal in 2018 and was named one of its next billion-dollar startups by Forbes in 2021.
market turmoil
Abraham’s announcement comes at a time when many crypto companies are struggling to survive.
Platforms such as Voyager Digital and BlockFi experienced turmoil during the market crash that began in May and appears to continue today. Voyager’s business model proved unsuccessful and even illegal based on a lawsuit filed by its customers, while BlockFi had to be bailed out by crypto exchange FTX to continue its operations.
Major companies such as Coinbase, Kraken, Crypto.com, Bitpanda had to lay off hundreds of employees, halt further recruitment and restructure their finances.
be for[In]The latest crypto news, click here.