Cryptocurrency platform Abra, along with its CEO William Barhydt, has come to an agreement with the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation. As part of the settlement, Abra will return the assets held by Oregon users on the platform and will cease offering unregistered securities in the state. This marks another step in Abra’s withdrawal from the US market.
Oregon is now the fifth state to take action against Abra and its ecosystem of companies. The state charged Abra with violating securities laws in relation to its interest-bearing crypto depository accounts, Abra Earn and Abra Boost. As a result, Abra must inform all account holders in Oregon to remove their crypto assets from the platform. If Abra successfully returns all assets to Oregon customers by April 25, it will not face any monetary penalties.
Currently, there are 167 Abra customers in Oregon who have a total of $32,387.14 on the platform. In February, Iowa also settled with Abra and its CEO, with Abra agreeing to return $6,426.90 to approximately 39 customers in the state. By meeting the conditions of the settlement by March 6, Abra avoided a penalty of $461,610.14.
In September 2023, Maryland took action against Abra on behalf of 162 residents who had a combined balance of $700,000. Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown expressed his views on the matter in an announcement.
Earlier this year, Abra reached a settlement with the Texas State Securities Board, agreeing to repay state residents their balances on the platform. Texas had previously taken action against Abra in June 2023 after finding that approximately 1,600 residents had a balance of $1.8 million on the platform. The agency also claimed that Abra had been insolvent since March of that year.
Furthermore, in April 2023, the California Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation issued a consent decree requiring Abra to close out Californians’ Earn accounts, which were worth $19 million.
Abra announced in a blog post in July that it was discontinuing its retail operations in the United States.
Source: Bill Barhydt
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