Abra has announced significant changes to its users based in the U.S. because the country is facing regulatory uncertainties. All cryptocurrencies apart from ether (ETH), bitcoin (BTC), bitcoin cash (BCH), and Litecoin (LTC), will be moved to a native-hosted wallet solution. The changes are necessary so that the business can continue complying to the U.S. regulations as they currently exist.
Announcing the<a href="https://www.abra.com/blog/us-app-update-2019/"> changes</a> through a blog update on the 26th of July, Abra said that U.S. users would no longer be eligible to hold QTUM, EOS, status (SNT), OmiseGo (OMG), and bitcoin gold (BTG) tokens after the 29th of August. Customers who have any positions in these assets will be forced to either withdraw or exchange their investments before the said date. The balances that remain after the 29th of August will automatically be converted to bitcoin.  The firm says;

“Specifically, for Abra users in the United States is that we have to make some system modifications around our smart contract-based synthetic assets. As a part of this effort, we are migrating any synthetic assets to a native hosted wallet solution. On Abra, these are defined as anything other than Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH)."

According to the announcement, residents of New York will additionally not be able to use American Express, wire, or Automated Clearing House (ACH), to deposit or withdraw after the 29th of August.

Abra intends to use the “synthetic asset” to give users exposure to the movements of the prices of cryptocurrency without the need to hold the actual crypto.  Some cryptos only allow users to make deposits into the app through a bank account based in the U.S., an American Express Card, Litecoin, bitcoin, or bitcoin cash. The deposits can later be converted into the synthetic version.

The changes are, however, only restricted to users in the U.S. Users outside the U.S. will not be affected. The firm said that U.S. users would continue to hold the private keys for bitcoin cash, Litecoin, Ethereum, and bitcoin after the changes.

There is no clarity on how the changes will affect temporary visitors to the U.S.

The firm stated that;

"We are proud to be, along with many others in our industry, pushing the frontiers of financial innovation to drive global financial inclusion. However, operating in the United States has become increasingly complex and challenging. Unfortunately, we believe this to be the best course of action at this time. We hope, and look forward to bringing our full offering back to U.S. users in the near future."
<h2>About Abra</h2>
<a href="https://www.cryptoknowmics.com/crypto/dashcast-ep-15-bill-barhydt-abra-bitcoin-protocol-equities/">Abra</a> is a cryptocurrency investment app that allows people to invest in multiple cryptocurrencies as well as fiat currencies freely. It is inherently more secure than most cryptocurrency exchanges and is available on Android and iOS smartphones. With its headquarters in Silicon Valley, Abra aims to make investing in cryptocurrency simple by using the Abra app that acts as both a wallet and an exchange.

Regulatory Uncertainty and Restrictions Lead Crypto Investment app, Abra, to Restrict Crypto Options for U.S. Customers

Am Wayne, a Blockchain enthusiast and expert in crypto trading. Currently, I cover trendy issues on digital currencies.

Regulatory Uncertainty and Restrictions Lead Crypto Investment app, Abra, to Restrict Crypto Options for U.S. Customers

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