Abra: the WhatsApp of Money

crypto_coiner 2015-12-10 04:32:37 UTC #1

I am intrigued by Abra (https://www.goabra.com) and the potential returns for the Nu network, if they were using the stable NBT.
They apparently use tellers (bitcoin traders?) in this way:

Users deposit funds via a linked bank account or through Abra’s network of “Tellers.” Tellers are super-users who charge a fee to receive a user’s cash deposit and credit the user’s Abra account with the digital funds. Tellers can also reverse the process, selling paper currency to users in return for Abra’s digital cash.

The app, according to TechCrunch, converts funds to bitcoin upon deposit but shows the balance to the user in fiat currency. The bitcoin is stored on the user’s device, thus avoiding the need to comply with money transmission regulations. Use of the service, however, does not require any specialized knowledge of bitcoin or the blockchain.

Source: http://www.bitcoin.name/2015/09/blockchain-remittance-service-abra-closes-on-12-million-in-funding/

cryptog 2015-12-18 04:54:33 UTC #2

Another interesting link: http://techcrunch.com/2015/09/10/abra-raises-12m-in-series-a-funding-for-its-bitcoin-based-remittance-service/

Relevant part:

The important question is how does Abra combat bitcoin’s extreme volatility to allow the digital currency to always be pegged to fiat currency?

Bill Barhydt, CEO of Abra, explained that Abra instantly creates self-settling contracts for users, which are built on the Blockchain and assigned to a counter-party that will share in the hedge.

Basically, users are given a short contract to protect the price, while the assigned counter-party is going long on the hedge. Barhydt explained that the company has found willing counter-parties from across the bitcoin ecosystem, and they range anywhere from exchanges to mining companies.

I am wondering about how such a hedging strategy is scalable…and it compares to using directly nubits.

Nagalim 2015-12-18 13:24:18 UTC #3

How is that not bitusd? Hedges with a short and long position sounds just like bts.

crypto_coiner 2015-12-18 23:21:08 UTC #4

It souds like Bitshares, but why would they use a failed technology as for bitusd?
I believe they are building and using their own if any.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Buttcoin/comments/3s2obm/abra_finally_comes_clean_and_admits_there_are/

cryptog 2015-12-23 05:42:24 UTC #5

The fees are not so cheap compared to other crypto services apparently.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/3xvft7/the_abra_app_has_been_live_in_the_philippines_for/
Perhaps the hedge contracts are too expensive?

I doubt they would be able to access sufficient liquidity.

Really looking forward to heropay which apparently uses nubits.
https://angel.co/heropay

crypto_coiner 2016-01-03 07:47:58 UTC #6

crypto_coiner 2016-02-18 01:53:25 UTC #7

Since then, over 5,000 users and Abra tellers have registered and downloaded the application on Google Play, with users across regions including the U.S., South Korea, Southeast Asia and Africa already signed up to operate as tellers.

While the liquidity of the ABRA remittance network itself is still fairly small, as more ABRA tellers sign up to become an official ABRA payment outlet and remittance payments dealer, senders will have more options, and more importantly, cheaper options to send their payments across borders and continents. With over 5,000 ABRA users in just under 10 days since their launch, things are looking optimistic for the network and for potential users in developing countries hoping to receive payments cheaply, securely, and efficiently.