18.04.2024

Abra Gets $5M Boost from Stellar Enterprise Fund

According to her, Abra brings with it “market-established” next-gen financial technology and the blockchain platform would greatly benefit from the startup’s “portfolio of financial services” that is on the rise.

SDF states that the $5 million awarded to Abra will benefit the Stellar blockchain in the long term.

Crypto app Abra will benefit from a $5 million financial boost from the Stellar Enterprise Fund, as the San Francisco based platform prepares to move its network onto the Stellar blockchain.

Bitcoin remittances platform Abra has received a major boost as it is set to add $5 million to its coffers from the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF).

In an announcement made this Wednesday, Abra and the Stellar Development Foundation confirmed the deal to have the startup receive capital. The companies also reiterated the importance of their upcoming partnership, noting that the move would help in strengthening network development.

The funding comes as the SDF looks to welcome Abra to the Stellar blockchain. It also marks the development enterprise’s single largest outlay ever.

Speaking to crypto publication CoinDesk, Stellar Foundation’s chief Denelle Dixon noted that their interest is to see the Stellar network grow. The SDF chief added that advancing the $5 million to Abra would benefit Stellar in the long term.

Abra had raised more than $40 million in funding. With this extra cash in its coffers, the platform wants to build its next banking tool. The financial firm’s CEO Bill Barhydt noted that Stellar provides that opportunity as it can support a legacy banking infrastructure.

SDF founder and former Ripple exec Jed McCaleb lauded the investment and partnership, saying that it provides an opportunity for growth.

Growing the Abra brand

Abra provides for a crypto investment app whose wallet offering allows investors to access Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies from across the globe. Since its launch in 2014, the firm has grown its services and reach to garner attention and support of several players within the venture capital industry.

The app has also added to its initial crypto offering to see most of the top crypto assets available to investors. The trajectory has also seen it provide investors with an opportunity to trade exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Although the services have partnered with several banks in the U.S, regulatory uncertainty means its footprint isn’t as widespread as in some countries. The app launched one of its most telling and impactful projects when it rolled out its cash-to-crypto outlets in the Philippines.

80% of Australians Know About Crypto but Only 1% Use It: Central Bank Study

Fewer than 1 percent of Australians paid for consumer goods with cryptocurrency in 2019, according to a study published Thursday by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), Australia’s central bank.

Revealed in RBA’s triennial Consumer Payments Survey (CPS), the findings from about 1,100 respondents shows that while consumers are largely embracing digital and alternative payment methods over cash, they’re just not paying in crypto. RBA conducted the survey in October and November 2019.

The low usage comes in spite of respondents’ overwhelming awareness that cryptocurrency can be used to pay for goods. Over 80 percent said they’d heard of crypto, making it the third-most recognized “alternative payment method” the bank surveyed for, behind only “buy now pay later” services and “tap and go” mobile payments.

Crypto was by far the least-used alternative method, falling behind those as well as AliPay and WeChat Pay, bank-owned “PayID” and “Beem It” services, and in-app mobile payment options. Crypto had the worst usage-to-awareness ratio by far, the survey showed.

“Although many respondents had heard of ‘cryptocurrencies’, very few had used a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin to actually make a consumer payment over the past year”, RBA said.

This appears to be the first time that RBA’s CPS survey asked respondents about cryptocurrency. The survey had been conducted on five previous occasions.

RBA found that cash use in Australia is down in 2019, especially among younger demographics such as those under 40, who paid by cash in just 15 percent of recorded transactions. Even older groups are moving away from cash, the survey found. But it remains the most popular payment method for those 65 and up.

The survey also found that mobile payment methods are on the rise. That growth is being driven by younger demographics as well.

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