Abra is a bitcoin-powered investment and payments app that first came to light at Launch Festival 2015 where it won the top prize at the event. The app uses bitcoin and litecoin smart contracts to represent the value of practically any fiat currency along with 20 crypto assets in the user’s wallet, where the user is always in complete control of their own private keys.
While Abra was originally pitched as an app for permissionless, borderless money transfers, the startup is now entering the realm of “crypto banking.” Abra CEO Bill Barhydt explained this change of focus in a recent interview with angel investor Jason Calacanis on This Week in Startups.[1]
What Is Abra?
Abra was founded in 2014 when the bitcoin price was on the decline. At that time (and some would argue still today), the two main use cases of bitcoin were as a store of value (digital gold) and a conduit for permissionless, digital payments (think Wikileaks donations).
According to Barhydt, it was at this time that Abra decided to try out another often-touted use case of this new technology: programmable money. Through the use of multisignature contracts and oracles, Abra has been able to peg the value of the bitcoin (and now litecoin) in a user’s wallet to their local fiat currency. This effectively gives the user the permissionless nature of bitcoin without the price volatility.
Unlike other apps, such as Coinbase, that allow users to convert between bitcoin and fiat currency, Abra enables the user to always be in full control of their digital money.
Users are able to move money in and out of the Abra app through a variety of methods, including bank transfers and so-called Abra Tellers. These tellers are effectively individuals who will take physical cash from someone
