Crypto wallet startup Abra has announced its support for Single Euro Payment Area (SEPA) bank accounts to buy cryptocurrencies quickly and easily in Europe.
Previously, Abra wallets were funded using bank and wire transfers in the U.S. as well as via American Express, Visa and MasterCard debit and credit cards around the world.
With this new functionality, Abra said it is offering one more point of entry into the emerging area of crypto investing – enabling European users to fund their Abra wallet using their European bank account and then using the funds to invest in any of the now supported 28 cryptocurrencies on the platform.
"With users from over 70 countries globally, and a greater demand for the ability to invest in cryptocurrencies from any bank account, it is really important to give investors the opportunity to fund their Abra wallet directly from any bank account," said Bill Barhydt, founder and CEO of Abra. "This new feature is helping to change the way people invest, adding to a brighter future for the cryptocurrency market around the world."
The support for SEPA was announced alongside the addition of three new coins – Cardano (ADA), Basic Attention Token (BAT) and Tron (TRX), which will be available in the Abra app in addition to 25 other popular cryptocurrencies.
“Once European users have transferred money to Abra they will receive the bitcoin into their Abra wallet where it can be securely stored, exchanged for 28 other "altcoins," or converted back to their currency and re-deposited back into the Abra user's Europe-based bank,” Abra said in its official release.
Users will also be able to fund their Abra wallet using Bitcoin Cash (BCH) soon, which would be available in addition to the newly launched SEPA bank transfers and cryptocurrency deposit options.
Founded in 2014, Abra is a cryptocurrency wallet and exchange backed by a number of notable investors including American Express Ventures, First Round Capital, Foxconn Technology Group, Arbor Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, RRE Ventures, Silver8 Capital and others.