Crypto Current Affairs— Will 'Abra' Become The First Bitcoin Wallet To Go Mainstream?

in #bitcoin7 years ago (edited)

Abra might become the first Bitcoin wallet to get a mainstream userbase owing to its unique design. It allows instant conversion of deposited FIAT currency into Bitcoin, all of which are stored locally on the user's device. It manages to avoid various regulatory issues of transferring money cross-borders by being a simple and straightforward technology to use.

Unlike Venmo, Abra never touches any of the funds simplifying sending/receiving payments unlike any of it's predecessors.

Abra received a total of $14m in funding in 2015, and ever since has been continuously developing it's technology to simply peer-to-peer transactions. You can use Abra to hold dollars on your phone in the USA and send RMB to somebody's phone in China. The best part about this is that the money magically shows up on the receivers phone.

Abra CEO Bill Barhydt in a recent podcast with Reason’s Jim Epstein, explained how his bitcoin wallet app makes it easy for anyone to adopt the technology. It hides the blockchain level complexities making it easy for anyone's mother to use it. He went to say how powerful it could be cross-border payments.

Abra app is built on Bitcoin but the company has almost hidden this fact as it feels there is no need for the end consumer to understand all the complex technical details, that traditionally has been forced up Bitcoin users to make transactions. If you are trying to get a new technology mainstream, the underlying complexities can really bogs down the user on-boarding.

According to Barhydt:

With Abra, bitcoin is just another currency, so I can send money from my bitcoin wallet through Abra to somebody who receives dollars, euros, yen, or pesos, and they don’t even know that I sent them bitcoin... We have a lot of people doing that today.

Unlike more traditional payment systems such as Venmo or PayPal, Abra only stores this digital cash on your phone. Therefore, there's no need for any third party to clear these transactions or regulatory authority watchdog to decide a policy for these transactions. It remains completely peer-to-peer, similar to handing cash to your friend but instead of any tangible currency, this all done digitally and doesn't require any face-to-face interaction.

This also means that there is no need for any KYC or ID proof requirements to use this app. Simply download it and set it up and let it work for you.

Barhydt further said:

If you load bitcoin into the Abra app and send bitcoin from here in New York to somebody in Mexico in pesos, there’s no ID required for that because you’re doing a P2P transaction that is effectively the equivalent of taking cash out of your pocket and handing it to the person standing next to you.

It’s just that we use this digital magic to convert it to pesos in between. And if the person on the ground in Mexico went to a teller and just converted that on the ground to paper pesos via a teller transaction there would be no ID required

Barhydt also sees huge growth potential for this app in India, Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico. It could potentially change the way money is transferred and therefore simplifying lives of millions of users.

You can read their FAQ here as it can answer some very important questions.

In addition to traditional bitcoin users, Barhydt claimed that Abra is currently being used for cross-border money transfers between the United States, the Philippines, and India. Abra is also being tested by some businesses for cross-border payroll.

You can get it from Google Play as well as App Store.

Visit the GoAbra Official Website to learn more about this incredible app and all that it has to offer you.

This is one of the best wallets in the market today that simplifies cross-border transactions, and uses Bitcoin to do it without any shoving any of the complex technical mumbo-jumbo in the user's face. Why should we go to the banks, fill a number of forms, provide ID proof and a ton of other details to send money to a relative overseas? An app like this needs to go mainstream to solve various challenges in crypto adoption rate and mainstream use!

One could easily hire freelancers or overseas contractors for projects and make payments with this app. There are a number of exciting possibilities for commerce and cross-border trade that can be explored with Abra making waves in the mainstream blockchain enabled payment processing space.


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Great information, thanks! It's posts like this that make me really love steemit and trust it as my go to place for the latest crypto information. It would be rare that I would come across this information through my previous go to way of getting crypto info, which would have just been a google search of a few search terms like Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.

I'm so glad to be able to keep my finger on the pulse of some of these latest things with the help of steemians like you, @firepower!

Hey Jen!

I'm just getting to my backlogged comments. It's so great to see your comments on my blog! :) I'm glad you are following my work. My goal with Crypto Current Affairs is to help new users understand the crypto world better through posts that give them the much needed information on projects and tools that add value to their lives. :)

True Flip {ICO} - Already running a transparent blockchain lottery! Bomb! Bonus 20%! Hurry! :)
The platform is already working and making a profit :)
https://steemit.com/ico/@happycoin/true-flip-ico-already-running-a-transparent-blockchain-lottery-bomb-bonus-20-hurry

They may go mainstream but hey need a good promotional compaign for that! Something like amanda did last month.

Yeah! That's how it. Btw, how's the btc scene in Pakistan?

Most of the guys havent heard about it! I'll start a campaign this week.. will try to get atleast 100 people to join steemit. I will try to spread awareness about bitcoin aswell! wish me luck :)

Go for it! Good luck!

This comment has received a 0.14 % upvote from @booster thanks to: @shehryar, @shehryar, @shehryar.

Well done post You deserve for getting Upvote from me. I appreciate on it and like it so much

Great!

Thanks

:)

Thanks

This comment has received a 0.09 % upvote from @booster thanks to: @hamzaoui.

This comment has received a 0.15 % upvote from @booster thanks to: @hamzaoui.

This comment has received a 0.08 % upvote from @booster thanks to: @hamzaoui.

Abra is good but I don't think the app to bring crypto to the masses... maybe Status or Toshi or TenX

Yeah Status will have a built in p2p teller and I can't wait for the TenX debit card/app. Within the next year we shall finally see some mainstream/user friendly crypto apps. Hopefully, something great will come out of all that ICO money.

It would be great if Status can do this and more!

will definitely check it out..

This comment has received a sweet gift of Dank Amps in the flavor of 1.06 % upvote from @lovejuice thanks to: @bhightech. Vote for Aggroed!

Good Application ......

Wow!!! Interesting app...

Can it work with credit cards?

I think atleast in US it is possible. I live in India so Im not entirely sure about credit cards. I think it would be possible here as I would imagine it would be easier than using a bank account to transfer during non-banking hours.

https://www.goabra.com/blog/why-we-started-abra-2/

I haven't heard about his app anywhere till now. If it is supporting the cross-border payments with much ease and without obtaining any KYC Compliances, then it's worth given a shot. I have been using Zebpay for most of my time to transfer bitcoin from one person to another. But I think Zebpay charges a comparatively higher money that other service providers in same niche.
Anyways I'll give it a look and Thanks a lot @firepower for bringing this app into the knowledge of Steemit community.

Give it a shot and let us all know how it works! Good luck :)

wow and thank you for all the info

Thanks! I'm glad that you found it useful!

This looks awesome and is much needed. Crypto is still far too complex for the masses and anything that simplifies it (or goes some way towards that) is to be welcomed.

I hope it works well for you and your needs! :)

wow, interesting app that's going to change how the way we transfer money. No more banks as the middleman charging us grossly inflated fees!

seems like a good solution, was looking for something like this for a while

Same here!

Bro it's really a great..... When it's going to launch in India???? Our work will be easy if it launches

It is available for download. Why don't you try using it.

@firepower TY for Excellent review for us Newbees going to check this out as already have a need for International e-commerce.

Thanks you! :)

Wow i've never heard of abra before (aside from the pokemon)
if it can live up to its own hype and offer the features it states all while being secure and trustworthy it will definitely take off.
Going to check it out now.
Thx @firepower , upvoted.

Glad you find it useful!

Abra may become a mainstream bitcoin wallet as it simplifies the transfers and is handy.

But it has a long way to go. Its success totally depends on people's acceptance.

Thanks for the awesome news as always. :)

Thanks man! Good that you found it useful!

Sounds great so long as the exchange rates are good!

Yah! It should be!

informative Thanks Aloha Al

Thanks :)

It maybe a revolutionary change, I will go through and get back to you. Thanks!

Thanks! That would be great!

Can't believe I didn't know about this wallet. It solves many problems as you said. Gotta check this out for sure.

Thanks! I'm glad that you found it useful and I hope you will use it and give feedback!

Nice Information bro upvoted visi tmy wall when you free thanks alot have a nice day @firepower

Thanks!

welcome bro visit me if you can @firepower

Abra looks good. We will see what happens few years later

From the looks of it a Great Application, will try it on my phone. Thank you for sharing very informative. Cheers.

Thanks! I'm glad that you found it useful!

Wow, what an excellent application, the download so that I have my support and share the good things are given by doing good things, let's go my people;)

I've done a lot of research on wallets lately and have a hard time deciding which one to go with. I feel they offer different types of security, which aren't necessarily better then one another, they are different. Which means they have different strengths and different vulnerabilities, but nothing is 100% secure anymore if you can't keep your keys secure, which isn't incredibly hard, but it's also not incredibly easy

That's true! well said!

Nice :)

mm. ok, what about Mona.co, Tenx , Polybius , Xapo , Wirex , Tokencard to name a few ?, I mean, payment processing was the first "Big" problem it was beign tried to solve when bitcoin became mainstream. Any thoughts ?

Some of these if not all may not work in markets like India which Abra bypases so I think that way it may be better.

well, you are right !. havent noticed it but, for example, TenX does not ship to india, Check Here , it may be the indicative they are not supporting operations in that country. I havent checked the others, but there is no need to be biased , unless all are those are checked its safe to leave that "If not all may not work".

great article... thank you educating us on Abra..

Thanks! I'm glad that you found it useful!

Going to try this app, thanks for info.

Thanks! I'm glad that you found it useful!

Interesting and exciting. I always get happy to see bitcoin development updates.

Same here! :)

Ahhh... definitely steps in the right direction. A lot of the prevention of crypto adoption is due to inconvenience of depositing funds (it was for me at least). Great to see products like this in the works.

Yeah! It sure is good!

Is it available for India......
I want to know that!!!!

Download it and you can try it out :)

Nice post.welcome to my blog sir.

Thanks for this! I've been looking for a wallet that can easily convert fiat into crypto. I will be keep tabs on this. This is what the market needs for mass adoption!

Happy to share! :)

I really like your post @firepower
Awesome

Thanks! I'm glad that you found it useful! I saw your blogs and some very nice stuff there and great pics. keep it going and good luck! :)

Cross-border payments and "almost hidden Bitcoin connection"makes this particularly appealing because I only personally (not virtually) know one person (besides myself) who has ever owned, and who currently owns, cryptocurrency. Peace and love @firepower

Good to know! Thanks! :)

So glad I came across this post. Have not heard of Arbra and have been researching wallets of late as I have more than my "trading" amount of crypto on an exchange now. Thanks, will check this one out too!

Thanks! Glad to share some good info! :)

Amazing post ! But,dont know why even though I support the whole concept of Cryptocurrencies because of its decentralized approach, lately I find govts supporting this concept and its very alarming as to why are they taking keen interest! Is there a hidden agenda we dont understand!
btw, Indian govt is supporting it too, have a look!
https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@alexkoshy/the-bitcoin-craze-boost-in-india

Thanks! Will do!

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thanks for the info im a minnow but the only reason i got involved in steemit is thru #coinbase and #wallofcoins but #Abra is the missing link for me to bring me enev closer to my crypto / steemit world, i work 60 hours a week and have a newborn son , and now with Abra i will have access no mater how many hours im working that week . Thanks again @jakeworkingman