The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) has announced the second investment from its enterprise fund dedicated to growing use cases for its open money network — a $5-million investment in Abra, the next generation financial platform that powers a digital wallet and mobile cryptocurrency exchange.
The partnership underscores one of the main principles of the crypto community – changing the traditional structure of the banking industry by democratizing access to financial services.
Says Bill Baryhdt, CEO of Abra,
“As we integrate with Stellar, we’re going to be able to build the next generation of banking, leveraging the network’s ability to use traditional banking infrastructure combined with the innovative opportunities of blockchain technology.”
Abra allows users to buy, sell and exchange over 100 cryptocurrencies from a single app, and offers new stablecoin deposit and withdrawal options. Its strategic partnership with the Stellar network, an open and global platform supporting transactions in all forms of digital money – from US dollars to pesos to Bitcoin – will enable the flexible mobile platform to expand its blockchain-based financial services to transform banking.
Abra expects that the integration with Stellar will help it attract new customers in emerging markets who are looking for more robust financial services.
Denelle Dixon, the Stellar Development Foundation’s chief executive officer, says the key to their joint mission is reaching underserved, capital-scarce markets.
“Abra is building a product portfolio of financial services that aligns directly with our mission to create equitable access to the global financial system.”
SDF is expecting increased growth for the remainder of the year.
“Amid global uncertainty, we’ve set a strong foundation for growth in the year ahead. We made headway on all three of our strategic growth pillars: ensuring the robustness and usability of Stellar, being the blockchain people know and trust, and fostering sustainable Stellar use-cases.”
Earlier this year SDF announced the first partnership through their new enterprise fund with a $715K investment in DSTOQ Group AG, a Liechtenstein-based fintech company that provides people in emerging markets with affordable financial services through a digital interface that uses security tokens built on the Stellar network.
