The popular cryptocurrency investment app Abra has recently introduced new features that will allow its users throughout the world to invest in traditional stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) using bitcoin.
According to a press release shared with CryptoGlobe, Abra’s users are set to be able to register for the company’s new service, which will allow them to initially invest in 50 different assets, including blue-chip stocks like Amazon, Google, and Facebook, and in commodities like SPDR Gold Trust and other ETFs. Indexes like the S&P 500 and the Russell 2000 will also be available.
Abra’s non-custodial platform, which “does not collect store, or have access to its users’ funds,” will reportedly use a model it calls “Crypto Collateralized Contracts” (C3s) which will allow investors to “easily gain investment exposure to any asset by using Bitcoin and smart contracts as the underlying technology for the investment.”
Bill Barhydt, the company’s CEO, stated:
We are building Bitcoin-backed investing products because, for the first time, we can truly democratize access to investment opportunities at global scale. It shouldn’t matter where you live or how much you earn to be able to make investments and participate in capital markets. We’re excited to allow anyone to start investing in global equity products and take control over their savings.
C3s, according to the press release, allow investors to efficiently switch between different investments, without having to move funds across platforms. Per the document, Abra can “peg the value of anything with a reliable price feed to the value of Bitcoin” using C3s.
As part of its early access program, users who sign up for Abra’s new service during the pre-launch phase are set to “secure zero trading fees for the rest of 2019 on stock and ETF investments.” Using the service, they’ll be able to “own fractions of high-priced stocks and ETFs.”
Notably Abra has been launching various new products, despite the year-long bear market. Late last year, it announced a new token that tracks the professionally managed Bitwise 10 Large Cap Crypto Index, called the BIT10.
Back in July, Abra revealed what it thinks about most top altcoins, including ether, dash, QTUM, NEO, zcash, and litecoin.
