Abra’s Blockchain App Allows Investment in Fractions of Stocks, ETFs
Abra, a crypto-based startup based in the US is taking a step ahead and adding a few features to its existing blockchain technology powered wallet application. After the addition of these new features in the application, it will enable worldwide users of the application to purchase parts or portions of the traditional instruments of investment.
Abra was founded in over four years ago by known investors in the market like American Express Ventures, and Arbor Ventures, among a few others.
The startup also said that the application would be run with the help of bitcoin blockchain and smart contracts which would enable people to undertake investments in stocks (in portions), and exchange-traded funds. The present features in the app are already allowing the people to invest in 50 fiat currencies and more than 30 cryptocurrencies.
At present consumers are allowed to hold fractions of bitcoin, however, with the new facilities, soon they will be using Abra to own portions of high-priced stocks and ETFs. This new feature will be made available to investors in over 155 countries.
The application will offer services with zero trading fees for the rest of the year (on both ETF and stock investment). The company also said that the minimum amount, people would have to invest is $5. For the early access int the company website, interesting investors can sign up immediately.
As it is the beginning, Abra would kick the process with the offerings of 50 new investment assets including shares of a big company like Amazon, Facebook, Google, Apple and Netflix; plus, commodities like SPDR Gold Trust and ETFs would be included too. Investors will have S&P 500 and indexes like the Russell 2000 to help them.
The crucial feature provided by the app is that the app does not store or access funds of the investors. It is a non-custodial app. Rather than obtaining the funds, they are stored on the bitcoin blockchain, to make the transactions more secured and private. Here the data stays in a decentralized format.
Abra’s CEO Bill Barhydt said that the company is trying to build a bitcoin supported investment product for the first time in the company’s journey. He said that with this application, the company would bring a democratic element in the investment procedure at a global platform.
