Abra has announced the addition of 60 new tokens for U.S. customers of its international cryptocurrency platform. Raising the investment platform’s total portfolio from 36, to 96.
Also revealed in the press release is the implementation two new features into the app:
- Added deposit and withdrawal functions for stablecoins TrueUSD and Paxos. Tether and DAI have been confirmed for addition in December.
- Increased funding limits for customers in the United States doubled across the board: $4K-per-day, $8K-per-week, and 16K-per-month.
On multiple occasions throughout the announcement, Abra founder and CEO Bill Barhydt (who is credited as the author) communicates the extent to which the platform’s community influenced his decision. He also interprets the consistent customer demand as a desire for freedom of choice, correlating a growth in numbers with the increase of choice.
“After traveling the world and talking to hundreds of Abra users, we have found that the freedom of choice when it comes to crypto investing is of paramount importance to people…
It’s about creating alternatives and choices and ultimately freedom… we want to offer our users [the] freedom to choose.”
Bill Barhydt via press release (CEO and Founder, Abra)
Barhydt doesn’t, however, address the typical counterpart to the concept of quantity, which is quality.
We may be have made it through the volatile waters of 2018’s crypto crash, but dealing with with altcoins is still something of a Wild West. There’s a reason they have assumed the colloquial, unfavourable moniker of‘s**tcoins’.
When a company increases its product offering by over 150% in one day, the question of consistency in quality becomes an important one.
The question becomes greater when you consider that non-U.S. Abra users now have access to over 200 cryptocurrencies on the app as a result of regulatory restrictions that apply only in the United States. So far, none of these 200 planned cryptocurrencies have been identified.
Abra shows aspiration, but it runs the risk of tarnishing its image. There is a possibility of the company overwhelming its operational capacities by attempting doing too much, too fast which could result in issues such as oversights in due diligence.
“This is just the beginning. We have no plans on resting until it is possible for everyone in the world to invest in and use crypto in a way that is easy, accessible, and flexible.”
Bill Barhydt via press release (CEO and Founder, Abra)
Abra is available on Google Play and the App Store in over 150 countries and provides immediate digital assets exchange. Beyond fiat, customers can top up their account using either bank transfer MasterCard and Visa cards.
The Philippines is one such country in which Abra has a presence, having struck a huge deal for crypto retail adoption back in September with a deal that sees all 7-Eleven stores in the country.
Customers in the Philippines can purchase cryptocurrency from any of the country’s 6,000 7-Eleven kiosks as well as using the store’s CLIQQ mobile app thanks to a partnership with Through ECPAY, an all-in-one electronic payments device similar to PayPoint.
