All you need to know about Abra!

Abra is a decentralized, non-custodial wallet on your mobile phone. Depending on where you live, you can use it to hold crypto, 50+ fiat currencies, stocks, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). And in addition to making investments, you can also use Abra to send and receive crypto tokens, just like any other crypto wallet.

Which Cryptocurrencies Does Abra Support?

At the time of writing, Abra supports 30 coins (though more are continually being added).

The currently supported coins are: Augur (REP), Basic Attention Token (BAT), Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Bitcoin Gold (BTG), Cardano (ADA), Dash (DASH), DigiByte (DGB), Dogecoin (DOGE), EOS (EOS), Ether (ETH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Golem (GNT), Litecoin (LTC), Lisk (LSK), Monero (XMR), NEM (XEM), NEO (NEO), OmiseGO (OMG), QTUM (QTUM), Ripple (XRP), Siacoin (SC), Status (SNT), Stratis (STRAT), Stellar (XLM), TRON (TRX), Verge (XVG), Vertcoin (VTC), Zcash (ZEC), and 0x (ZRX).

There’s a caveat, however. The only coins which you can own outright via the Abra platform are Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin. Abra refers to these as “native coins.” The other non-native coins are all synthetic assets which use crypto as collateral via smart contracts.

But don’t worry, the approach doesn’t carry risk. In practice, Abra is hedging every investment you make. When you fund your wallet, you are effectively shorting the native coin and longing the asset you purchase. Abra, therefore, goes long on the native coin and short on the hedged token.

The only significant downside to the synthetic approach is that you won’t be eligible for airdrops, forks, or other payouts. For example, holding NEO will not accumulate GAS.

Note: Abra claims it is in the process of adding more coins to its native list.

• Bitwise 10

Abra is the only place you can invest in the popular Bitwise 10 crypto index fund without needing to meet Bitwise’s own $25,000 minimum investment threshold.

As we explained in our article about the best crypto index funds, investing in assets like Bitwise 10 is a great way for passive investors to gain exposure to the crypto sector without needing to worry about checking the price every day.

The minimum investment for the Bitwise 10 fund via Abra is a mere $5.

• Security

Because Abra is non-custodial, the company does not have any access to your funds. The app operates on an entirely peer-to-peer basis.

When you open the app for the first time, you will be prompted to set a PIN code. Thereafter, every time you open the app, you will need to enter the PIN before you can interact with your wallet.

During the initial setup, Abra will also issue you with a recovery phrase (also known as a seed phrase). You are the only person who has the phrase—if you lose it, you will not be able to restore your wallet on a new device (for example, if your phone gets broken or stolen). You would lose access to your assets. Similarly, if someone else gets hold of your phrase, they would be able to transfer your crypto out of your wallet. In both cases, Abra would not be able to help you.

What Are Abra’s Fees?

Abra’s fees are some of the lowest in the industry. It is free to add funds to your account via ACH in the United States, and it is free to fund your account with Bitcoin, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, or Ethereum. Funding via credit card carries a small fee.

Fiat withdrawals to banks are also free, but you’ll pay network fees to withdraw crypto. The network fees vary depending on the coin and the demand.

Finally, it is free to trade between different tokens, stocks, currencies, and ETFs. Abra does have an exchange spread, but Abra always makes you aware of them before you complete a transaction. As with network fees, spread fees can vary based on a number of factors.

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