Abra Settles With 25 States for Operating Without Licenses, Will Return Up to $82M to U.S. Customers

Crypto
investment
platform
Abra
and
its
founder
and
CEO
William
“Bill”
Barhydt
have
settled
with
25
state
financial
regulators
for
operating
its
mobile
application
without
the
proper
licenses,
according
to
a
Wednesday

announcement
from
the
Conference
of
State
Bank
Supervisors
(CSBS).

Under
the
terms
of
the
settlement
agreement,
Abra
will
return
up
to
$82.1
million
in
crypto
to
U.S.
customers
in
the
settling
states.
Abra
has
also
agreed
to
stop
accepting
crypto
allocations
from
all
U.S.
Abra
Trade
customers,
as
well
as
to
stop
“making,
buying,
selling
or
trading
cryptocurrencies”
to
Abra
Trade
customers
in
the
U.S.

Barhydt
has
also
agreed
not
to
participate
“in
any
capacity”
in
the
business
of
any
money
transmitting
or
money
services
business
in
any
of
the
25
settling
states,
other
than
as
a
passive
investor,
for
five
years.

“State
financial
regulators
take
their
role
to
protect
consumers
and
prevent
unlicensed
activity
seriously,”
said
CSBS
Chair
and
Washington
State
Department
of
Financial
Institutions
Director
Charlie
Clark
in
the
press
release.
“Companies
that
do
not
operate
within
the
bounds
of
state
laws
will
be
held
accountable.”

Washington,
Arkansas
and
Connecticut
are
some
of
the
states
involved
in
the
settlement.

Abra’s
settlement
with
state
financial
regulators
for
unlicensed
money
transmitting
activity
comes
in
addition
to
the
firm’s
settlements
with
certain
state
securities
regulators,
including

New
Mexico
and

Texas,
for
selling
unregistered
securities.

“Abra
is
pleased
to
enter
into
a
Term
Sheet
negotiated
with
a
working
group
from
the
Money
Transmitters
Regulators
Association
regarding
the
Abra
App
that
Abra
previously
offered
in
the
U.S.,”
said
an
Abra
spokesperson
in
an
emailed
statement.

“The
corresponding
consent
orders
will
settle
all
state
matters
related
to
the
Abra
App
in
the
U.S.
for
the
period
from
March
2021
to
June
2023,”
the
spokesperson
said.
“Since
June
2023,
99%
of
assets
held
by
U.S.
retail
customers
of
Abra
using
the
Abra
App
have
already
been
returned
–
over
$250
million.
Abra
continues
to
operate
in
the
United
States
through
Abra
Capital
Management,
an
SEC-registered
investment
advisor,
that
allows
clients
to
invest
in
crypto,
earn
yield,
stake
and
borrow
against
their
crypto
holdings.”

In
a
tweet,
Abra
CEO
Bill
Barhydt
said
that
“Abra
Private
and
Abra
Prime
are
fully
operational
in
the
USA
and
International.”

“These
are
both
fantastic
services
with
big
announcements
coming
in
the
next
few
days,”
he
said.
“If
you
are
looking
to
invest
in
Bitcoin
or
crypto

abra.com
can
definitely
help
you.”

In
its
Wednesday
announcement,
CSBS
said
that
state
money
services
business
(MSB)
regulators
were
tipped
off
about
Abra
by
state
securities
regulators
last
summer,
and
that
“state
financial
regulators
collaborated
with
the
securities
regulators
and
worked
on
a
parallel
path
to
settlement.”

Additional
states
are
allowed
to
join
in
the
multi-state
settlement.

UPDATE
(June
26,
2024,
21:00
UTC):

Adds
tweet
from
Abra’s
Bill
Barhydt.