In brief
- The Stellar Foundation has invested $5 million into crypto wallet service Abra.
- Abra, which already hosts Stellar's XLM token on its platforms, plans to integrate Stellar's blockchain on its app.
- The firms say further announcements about future products will be coming soon.
Ripple rival Stellar is quietly expanding its network, on a mission to build an “inclusive” financial system.
The Stellar Development Foundation today announced a $5 million investment in Abra, a crypto wallet service based in Silicon Valley. As part of the new deal, Abra will further integrate Stellar’s blockchain tech in its payment and investment products.
Today, we announced our second enterprise fund investment in @AbraGlobal — a step that will facilitate Abra’s integration to Stellar and bring their expanding financial services and products to the network. https://t.co/GeMvPKjGFx
— Stellar (@StellarOrg) May 6, 2020
In a joint statement, the companies said that the investment will help facilitate that integration, which will see Stellar used as the blockchain back-end on Abra and “soon bring an array of new products to the Stellar network.”
While the Stellar Foundation did not immediately respond to request for comment, Abra CEO Bill Barhydt told Decrypt that the Stellar token is already natively hosted on Abra. XLM “is quite popular” on the app, he said. Barhydt would not provide further details, however, and said announcements regarding future products would be forthcoming.
But based on the initial announcement, it appears that the partnership will give Abra users new on and off ramps to the traditional financial system through the Stellar network.
As of now, Abra users can fund their wallets with bank transfers in the US, international credit card payments, and cash in the Philippines. Theoretically, if users have more ways to buy XLM, they could then trade those tokens for more than 100 other crypto and fiat currencies through Abra.
The partnership could also aid both organizations’ efforts in international remittances. As of now, Abra users can send crypto across the world in minutes to other wallet users and addresses. Meanwhile, Stellar is quietly chipping away at Ripple’s market share in international remittance corridors.
Earlier this year, Stellar expanded into South East Asia with its Lightnet network, and partnered with remittance giant MoneyGram—a company in which Ripple is heavily invested.