Investors in over 155 countries will now be able to buy fractions of high-priced stocks such as Apple, Amazon and Google as well as exchange-traded funds through the Bitcoin blockchain and smart contracts.
Cryptocurrency exchange and wallet service provider Abra announced on Wednesday that a new feature on its crypto app will offer zero trading fees for the remainder of the year on stock and ETF investments.
Abra currently allows users to invest in over 30 cryptocurrencies and 50 fiat currencies. With the new feature, the platform is leveraging blockchain technology to allow users to invest a minimum of $5 in major tech stocks. Investors will also have access to commodities such as SPDR Gold Trust as well as ETFs such as Vanguard Growth and the Rusell 2000 index.
The new feature effectively merges blockchain with traditional investments, allowing users without a traditional stock brokerage account to gain access to the market. Abra circumvents regulations by technically keeping users’ funds in Bitcoin and utilizing a “collateral-based contract.”
“If you use Abra right now to hold euros, or monero or zcash in the Abra app, what you’re actually getting is what we call a crypto-collateralized contract. It basically takes Bitcoin and pegs it to the value of whatever asset you want investment exposure to.
Whether it’s the euro, monero, zcash – with this new announcement Apple shares, it makes no difference. Meaning if you buy $1,000 worth of Apple and you’re using bitcoin to actually make the contract, if the price of Apple goes up you end up with more bitcoin, if the price of Apple goes down you end up with less bitcoin.”
To take advantage of the zero trading fees, users have to sign up for early access.
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