Abra founder and CEO Bill Barhydt was a guest on episode 40 of Laura Shin’s Unconfirmed podcast.
During the show, Barhydt explained how Abra’s new BIT10 crypto index token works.
Launched earlier this week in partnership with Bitwise Asset Management to heavy demand, the BIT10 is designed as an easy-to-use crypto index that is readily accessible to everyone (there is a $5 minimum investment and no fees).
In traditional finance, index funds are considered a foundational investing tool because they generally provide low-cost ways to get broad and diverse market exposure.
The same is true with indexes that cover the crypto market. But until now, the opportunity to invest in a professionally-managed crypto index was only available to accredited investors.
BIT10 changes all of that. Now with a couple of clicks, Abra users can get exposure to 80 percent of the crypto market by holding only one asset.
A simple tool, optimized for upside
“Simply said,” Barhydt told Shin on the show, “retailer investors can invest in the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap as one investment inside the Abra app. And they get all of the benefits of the Bitwise index, meaning they get automatic rebalancing… and all of the other benefits of the index as it’s defined today.”
The monthly rebalancing in accordance with the transparent and well-designed methodology created by Bitwise Asset Management is the biggest distinction between the BIT10 and other crypto basket products that have hit the market recently.
Founded in 2017, and headquartered in San Francisco, Bitwise has created a number of cryptocurrency indexes and developed a sound methodology that guides their investment decision-making.
The partnership between Abra and Bitwise that resulted in the creation of the BIT10 is made possible by Abra’s synthetic currency technology.
“Technically speaking,” Barhydt said, “when you invest in the crypto assets in Abra what you are actually getting are bitcoin-collateralized smart contracts. What I mean by that is if you are holding US dollars in the Abra app what you are actually getting is a contingent of bitcoin equal to that many dollars along with a multi-sig script that adjusts the amount of bitcoin you are holding to stay equal to that number of dollars. We’ve simply taken that technology and applied it to other asset types including this index.”
The episode wrapped up with Barhydt sharing some of his thoughts about what kinds of things might be enabled in the future by Abra’s synthetic currency model. For more on what that future might look like, check out this video of Barhydt giving a keynote about the evolution of bitcoin at the 2018 Global Summit held by Singularity University.
About Abra
Established in 2014, Abra is on a mission to create a simple and honest platform that enables millions of cryptocurrency holders to maximize the potential of their assets. Abra enables both individuals and businesses to safely and securely buy, trade, and borrow against cryptocurrencies – all in one place. Abra’s vision is an open, global financial system that is easily accessible to everyone.
Why Abra
Based in the United States, Abra is available in over 150 countries and makes it easy to convert between crypto and a wide variety of local fiat currencies. With over 2MM customers, $7B in transactions processed, and $1.5B in assets under management, Abra continues to grow rapidly. Abra is widely loved and trusted – in April 2022, pymnts.com reviewed and rated Abra amongst the top 5 most popular crypto wallets in the market. Abra is backed by top-tier investors such as American Express Ventures and First Round Capital.
How Abra Protects Your Funds
Abra places clients’ financial objectives and security first. Abra practices a culture of risk management across all levels and functions within the organization.
Abra employs a state-of-the-art enterprise risk management framework that comprises a comprehensive set of policies, procedures, and practices detailing all applicable risk-related objectives and constraints for the entirety of the business. Abra has instituted a complete set of requisite systems and controls that continuously enforce these policies, procedures, and practices to manage all operations, including credit and lending. Abra’s independent Risk Committee comprises experienced compliance, risk, securities, and fraud operations professionals with backgrounds in industries ranging from traditional and digital assets banking, payments, remittance, to fintech.
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