Katherine Ross

The Texas State Securities Board issued an emergency cease and desist against Plutus Financial, Plutus Lending, Abra Boost — doing business as Abra — and CEO William Barhydt.



The cease and desist ordered the named parties above from “offering securities in Texas through an offer containing a statement that is materially misleading or otherwise likely to deceive the public&#8221; as well as stopping them, &#8220;from engaging in any fraud in connection with the offer for sale of any security in Texas.&#8221;



The securities commissioner is <a href="https://www.ssb.texas.gov/sites/default/files/2023-06/ENF_23_CDO_1873_NOH_Actions.pdf">claiming</a> that Barhydt and Abra “made offers of investments in Abra Earn in Texas containing statements that were materially misleading or otherwise likely to deceive the public.”



An investigation into Abra Earn had started in 2022, with the letter saying that “Abra announced it would cease selling investments in Abra Earn in October 2022.”



However, in October 2022, Barhydt, Plutus Financial, Plutus Lending and Abra Boost “began offering and selling investments in Abra Boost, a digital asset depository account, to accredited and institutional investors in the United States.”



In March 2023, Barhydt was interviewed by state securities regulators, when “parties collectively operating as Abra were collectively insolvent or nearly insolvent.”



The cease and desist claims that Plutus Financial, Plutus Lending and Barhydt violated the Securities Act and “engaged in fraud.”



Abra, back in September of 2022, had <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/abra-launching-first-us-regulated-crypto-bank">plans to launch as the first regulated crypto bank</a> in the US. It had planned to launch in the US in the first quarter of 2023.&nbsp;



However, last December, Abra made <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/abra-shakes-up-senior-staff-crypto-push">personnel cuts across executives and other divisions</a> following the collapse of FTX and a source told Blockworks that it had become difficult to “raise new money and get new capital into the company.”



Abra and Barhydt did not immediately respond to requests for comment.&nbsp;



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Abra, William Barhydt named in Texas State Securities Board cease and desist

Jack Kubinec

<div id="highlights-block_631f818f93ea8" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Abra Bank will launch in the US during Q1 2023, with an international bank to follow</li>
 <li>“As a regulated licensed bank, it&#8217;s no longer my opinion [that matters] on transparency and public disclosures,” Abra’s CEO told Blockworks</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Abra, the crypto exchange and lending platform, is launching the first US regulated crypto bank, the company said Monday.



The move, in the eyes of industry participants, is a bullish indicator that somewhat shakes off the sector’s bear market woes — plus the pending trips of crypto lenders <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/7-critical-events-in-the-celsius-bankruptcy-case/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Celsius</a> and <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/voyager-to-liquidate-assets-at-auction/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Voyager</a> to bankruptcy court. 



Abra’s move positions the company in what has been a yearslong arms race within crypto to create the first US regulated interest-bearing crypto account — offering consumers crypto exposures with legal safeguards.



All customer deposits into Abra Bank are set to be converted into stablecoins that accrue interest similarly to traditional banks. The bank will allow customers to transfer funds into over 100 cryptocurrencies. Abra also <a href="https://about.americanexpress.com/newsroom/press-releases/news-details/2022/Abra-announces-Abra-Crypto-Card-on-the-American-Express-Network/default.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">partnered</a> with American Express in June to launch a crypto credit card.



Abra Bank’s services — asset custody, lending and staking — are already offered by a variety of other crypto firms, but Abra Bank’s regulatory guardrails make it stand out from competitors, according to Abra CEO Bill Barhydt.



“As a regulated licensed bank, it&#8217;s no longer my opinion on transparency and public disclosures. The banking laws take over and require disclosures on assets, liabilities and risk management processes,” Barhydt told Blockworks.



Abra’s maneuver comes amid Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings for Celsius and Voyager Digital, two companies that operated as ersatz banks offering high yields before going belly-up. Voyager Digital infamously <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/fdic-slaps-bankrupt-lender-voyager-over-deposit-insurance-claims/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">misled</a> customers to believe the crypto lender was FDIC insured. Abra is looking to make good on that premise.



In the US, insured banks <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/banking_12779.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">must</a> prove to regulators they have enough assets available to support their risk profile. Abra has completed this process and plans to launch sometime before the second quarter of 2023.



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Abra Launching First US Regulated Crypto Bank

Michael Bodley

<div id="highlights-block_61e1b5c3c0707" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The company has been informally offering trading strategies to institutional clients — the hire is an effort to solidify that business</li>
 <li>Abra’s CEO hinted that the company’s first institutional funds could be in the works</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Abra is getting into the institutional crypto asset management business.



The crypto wealth manager is looking to hire its first head of trading strategies, who would be tasked with building out a team and the trading infrastructure to invest in a variety of different strategies.



Abra on a one-off basis has already been offering customized trading strategies to institutional clients, CEO Bill Barhydt told Blockworks. The thinking behind the new position is to formalize and expand that pipeline — with a focus on investments that drive yield enhancements.



Strategies in the mix include basis trades and arbitrage opportunities, and the idea is to build on yield enhancement opportunities that Abra has already developed on the credit side of the business.&nbsp;



Ben Liams, the company’s vice president of trading and credit markets, said ideal clients include digital assets engineering and financial firms looking for “yields that might be difficult to access in typical credit and lending arrangements.”



“This has been done on a very limited basis,” Liams said.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“Given the fast growth of our platform, this is definitely something where creating a unified platform for those kinds of opportunities inside Abra — we anticipate the need would grow.”</blockquote>



The new head of trading strategies will also be responsible for monitoring risk, both when it comes to asset management and coordinating with the lending side of the business.



Barhydt said Abra isn’t now engaging in proprietary trading with client money, but may in the future consider prop trading with the company’s own balance sheet.&nbsp;



The Abra head also said the company is considering starting institutional funds that would run client money — potentially in making its high-yield crypto products available via a fund format.



“There’s a huge opportunity to open up that model beyond just retail investors to institutional clients, including family offices,” he said.



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