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Abra Acquires Valkyrie Cryptocurrency Trusts in Major Deal
Cryptocurrency trading platform Abra announced that it has acquired several private cryptocurrency trusts from Valkyrie Investments in May 2024.
According to the Bloomberg report, Abra Capital Management LP has acquired Valkyrie’s Tron and Zilliqa trusts, as well as other unnamed digital asset trusts. The Zilliqa trust sold $21.3 million in assets, while the Tron trust sold $50 million.
Marissa Kim, Abra’s head of wealth management, confirmed the news in an interview. She said that this acquisition will expand Abra’s existing range of spot and DeFi services to new clients. Abra may consider listing some of these trusts publicly, depending on market demand.
Based on the relationshipAbra has reached a settlement with financial regulators in 25 US states for operating without proper licenses. As part of the settlement, Abra must return $82.1 million in cryptocurrencies to customers in the United States. Abra had already stopped offering services in the country last year.
The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) announced that Abra will stop accepting cryptocurrency from U.S. customers for its Abra Trade accounts and will cease all purchase and trading activities. Regulators in Washington, Texas, Georgia, and Ohio have decided not to impose fines to ensure full reimbursement to customers.
In 2023, Texas state regulators charged Abra with insolvency and securities fraud. The Texas State Securities Board alleged that Abra deceived investors through the sale of two crypto interest account products and issued a cease-and-desist order against the exchange. Abra reached a settlement with Texas regulators in January 2024, agreeing to shut down operations and return funds to investors.
Abra founder Bill Barhydt has maintained that the platform has never restricted U.S. withdrawals and has committed to reducing its U.S. retail operations. Leah Wald, Valkyrie’s co-founder and former CEO, resigned from the company last month. Valkyrie did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the sale of its crypto trusts to Abra.
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