Abra settled with the fifth state because the US operations may be declining

Cryptocurrency platform Abra and its CEO William Barheit have reached an agreement with the Oregon Department of Financial Regulation, under which it will return assets held by Oregon users on the platform and stop offering securities that are not registered in the state. It is the latest move by the US-based company to pull out of the US market.

Oregon is at least the fifth state to take action against the companies that created the Abra ecosystem. The state of Oregon has accused Abra of violating state securities laws in connection with its interest-linked crypto deposit accounts Abra Earn and Abra Boost. It required Abra to advise all account holders in the state to remove their crypto assets from the platform. If all assets are returned to Oregon customers by April 25, they will not be fined.

In Oregon, 167 Abra customers have $32,387.14 on the platform. The state of Iowa settled with Abra and its CEO in February, and Abra agreed to refund $6,426.90 to its 39 customers in that state. By meeting the terms of the settlement by March 6, he will waive a $461,610.14 penalty.

Related: SEC and CFTC Fine Crypto Investment Application to Offer Synthetic Assets

Maryland took on Abra in September 2023 for a total of $700,000 on behalf of 162 Maryland residents. Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said in the announcement:

“Maryland is participating in a task force of state securities regulators focused on interest-bearing crypto asset accounts.”

Last January, Abra agreed to settle state residents' balances on the platform in an agreement with the Texas State Securities Board. This was the second move Texas made against Abra. In a June 2023 enforcement action, the Texas agency found that ABRA has about 1,600 state residents on the platform at a balance of $1.8 million. He also said that Abera had suffered losses since March of that year, which was during the height of the banking crisis.

California's Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation issued a consent decree in April 2023 requiring the closure of California's revenue accounts, amounting to $19 million.

Abra said in a blog post in July that it was ending retail operations in the United States.

Magazine: Home Loans Using Crypto as Collateral: Do the Risks Outweigh the Rewards?