Abra Wallet Review
Abra is an online non-custodial digital asset wallet created by Bill Barhydt in 2014. If you are looking for an all-in-one tool that allows users to manage their digital assets, fiat and invest in traditional assets such as stocks and ETFs, Abra could be the right solution for you. It is an HD wallet available on mobile and it is easy to use. The wallet employs multi-sig and 2FA methods to enhance security.
General Information
Originally, Abra was a platform for people to send money easily. Now, the wallet app includes a network of tellers that mediate international payment transfers. In 2017, The company rolled up investing, money transfer service and crypto trading in a single wallet. On May 9 2019, they announced a partnership with Plaid, a Fintech company in San Francisco. The wallet will also integrate Plaid; enabling users to have more options to move between fiat and crypto.
Bill Barhydt, a serial entrepreneur, founded Abra in 2014. The beta application for Android and iOS was launched in 2015, the same year the company won The Launch Festival in San Francisco. Abra has its headquarters in Silicon Valley and an additional one in Manila, Philippines. Over 23 experts are behind Abra wallet. They constitute the development team, board of directors and advisors.
The wallet is available in 150 countries and supports 30 digital assets and 50 fiat currencies. Users outside the US can invest in stocks and ETFs. This includes Facebook, Netflix, Tesla, Amazon, SPDR Gold Trust and Vanguard FTSE Europe among others. Since launch, the company behind the wallet has raised over $30M through credible investors such as American Express, Arbor Ventures, Blockchain Capital and others.
Competitors include BitPay, Exodus and Wirex.
Abra Wallet Supported Coins
The wallet supports 30 digital assets. Among them are BTC, BCH, EOS, ETH, LTC, XRP, XMR, TRX and more. To find out where you can obtain these cryptocurrencies in the first place, go to our Cryptocurrency Exchange List and use the filters to find the right exchange for you.
The wallet also supports 50 fiat currencies such as the Australian Dollar, US Dollar, British Pound and Euro. The Japanese Yen, SGD, Hong Kong Dollar and others are also included to the list.
Abra Wallet Fees
The wallet allows instant and automatic exchange of digital assets at different rates. We have prepared two tables to explain this:
Deposits:
Withdrawals:
Abra Wallet Price
The wallet app is free to use. It is available for download on the respective app stores for Android and iOS users.
Abra Wallet Ease of Use
Abra has some great features, which are convenient to use. The menu and user interface are quite straightforward for anyone to follow. If you are looking to purchase BTC, you can do that with your debit or credit card directly via Simplex on the official Abra website.
Setting up your Abra wallet is very easy:
- Download Abra Wallet app
- Sign up and fill the required information.
- Secure your wallet with a PIN.
- Safeguard your recovery phrase.
- Start trading!
With the wallet app, you can send money to other users. From the main portfolio screen, select the main menu and then tap “send to Abra user” to reveal a list of Abra users. Choose your currency and the type of recipient’s wallet. But note that you can also choose to convert crypto to fiat before sending. This is a way of also making regular payments.
To make crypto payments or withdrawals, you can use either the receiving party’s QR code or wallet address.
Anonymity
Most importantly, the wallet values its users’ privacy and anonymity of transactions. However, it does require personal information in accordance with the US Patriot ACT. The information may include your name, email address, mobile phone number and others.
Security
The wallet is also based on a non-custodial HD wallet architecture. This makes Abra wallets more secure than most other alternatives. It utilizes a recovery seed phrase, which should be kept safe. Abra does not store users’ recovery phrase or private keys. Users need to take more responsibility to safeguard their private keys. The private key is the only way to access your funds in the event of a missing device.
In addition, users’ sensitive financial information is kept safe. Abra uses modern encryption technology to secure such information. Other security measures include PIN code and SMS verification.
Where to buy Abra wallet
The wallet is available for free download. Visit your app store to get started.
Finally, if you prefer a hardware wallet, check out our thoughts on KeepKey, Ledger Nano S and Trezor.