Abra wallet allows investing Bitcoins in stocks and ETFs

A provider of cryptocurrency wallet services Abra has expanded the functionality of the product by introducing the feature that will allow users to invest in stocks and ETF with Bitcoin and other virtual money available on the platform.

The company unlocked traditional financial instruments for cryptocurrency users in 155 countries. The minimal investment amount is the equivalent of $5, while all transactions within this offer are free of charge until the end of 2019.

Abra’s CEO Bill Barhydt commented on the announcement:

"We’re announcing that we are enabling everyone, everywhere in the world the opportunity to invest in traditional stocks, commodities and ETFs, all from the Abra app. We’re going to start with popular US stocks and ETFs and add more global assets in the coming months. Of course, all of the great features for investing in cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies remain fully integrated as well,”

At the initial stage, the app will offer 50 assets available for investment, including the shares of such big names as Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Google, Netflix, exchange funds SPDR Gold Trust, Vanguard Growth and S&P 500, and also indices like Russell 2000.

According to Barhydt, the new offer will level the ground for many investors from all over the world as it unlocks assess to the lucrative market for billions of people who have been denied these opportunities due to their geography or income level.

He also promised to add new countries to the list to ensure global access to quality financial products.

"Besides global access, we also believe that financial products should be simple to use and easy to understand. To meet those goals of easy access, we are continually improving the Abra app experience, and giving users the information (like price charts and asset summaries) to make informed investment decisions,” he added.

Abra app is not a custodial service, which means that it does not store users’assets. Everything is done on the blockchain. The distributed ledger technology makes transactions more secure and private than their counterparts based on centralized databases.