Case summary
What happened
Abra operated trading, account, and yield products through related entities including Plutus Financial and Plutus Lending. It began offering Abra Earn to U.S. retail investors around July 2020, using customer crypto for institutional lending, DeFi lending, and other revenue-generating strategies. Abra stopped selling new Abra Earn accounts around October 2022 and offered Abra Boost to accredited investors. On 14 June 2023, Earn and Boost balances were converted into non-interest-bearing Abra Trade accounts, yield generation ended, and U.S. customers were asked to withdraw. State settlements later established procedures for returning remaining assets, and the SEC filed settled registration charges in August 2024. The former U.S. retail yield business is closed, while the Abra brand remains active for private and institutional clients.
Customer result
Customer outcome
Partial repayment
Official sources document extensive asset returns and a process for remaining balances, but the reviewed materials do not establish a single final completion date for every U.S. customer. Partial repayment here means the return process was materially completed but not conclusively closed; it does not assert a customer haircut.
- Estimated recovery
- Near-total return documented but no universal final percentage established. The SEC complaint stated that nearly all U.S. Abra Earn assets had been returned by June 2024, with approximately $2.9 million remaining on the platform; multistate settlement terms required remaining U.S. customer assets to be refunded.
- Repayment started
- 2023-06-14
- Repayment completed
- —
- Confidence
- High
Asset treatment
Terms risk
Varies by product
The risk classification changes by product phase: yield-account assets were deployable by Abra, while converted Trade balances were treated differently during the withdrawal and refund process.
- Affected product
- Abra Earn, Abra Boost, and wind-down Abra Trade balances
- Confidence
- High
Historical Abra Earn and Abra Boost terms allowed Abra to lend and deploy customer crypto through direct and DeFi lending, with the SEC describing pooled assets controlled by Abra. After conversion to non-interest-bearing Abra Trade accounts, the applicable terms stated that title remained with customers.
Known unknowns
Uncertainty
The platform launch year is approximate. Abra is not a simple bankruptcy or full-company shutdown case: U.S. retail Earn and Boost ended, customer returns proceeded through withdrawals and state settlement processes, and separate private and institutional business lines continue. Reviewed sources did not establish one final date on which every remaining U.S. customer asset had been returned.
Chronology
Historical record
Abra begins operating
Abra developed as a digital-asset app and investment platform offering trading, account, and later yield products.
The launch year is approximate; the first day is a sortable placeholder.
Abra begins offering Abra Earn in the United States
Abra began offering its retail crypto interest product, Abra Earn, to U.S. investors around July 2020, promising variable interest on customer crypto assets.
The SEC identifies July 2020 but not an exact day; 1 July is used as a sortable approximate date.
Abra stops selling new Abra Earn accounts
Abra ceased selling new Abra Earn investments around 3 October 2022, while existing balances could remain and continue earning yield; Abra Boost began serving accredited investors.
The Texas consent order provides the approximate date.
Abra ends U.S. Earn and Boost yield generation
Abra converted U.S. Abra Earn and Abra Boost accounts into non-interest-bearing Abra Trade accounts, ceased generating yield, and began winding down its U.S. retail operations.
The event ends the historical U.S. yield products, not every Abra corporate or institutional activity.
Abra asks U.S. customers to withdraw converted balances
After converting Earn and Boost balances into Abra Trade accounts, Abra repeatedly notified U.S. customers to withdraw and later used state-settlement procedures to return remaining assets.
Customer-initiated withdrawals and later in-kind or fiat return procedures were used.
Texas files emergency action over Abra Earn and Abra Boost
The Texas State Securities Board filed an emergency cease-and-desist action involving Abra-related entities and their interest-bearing crypto products.
This was a regulatory action, not a bankruptcy filing or determination of customer loss.
Texas enters consent order covering Abra Earn and Abra Boost
The Texas State Securities Board entered a consent order requiring cessation of unregistered securities offers and compliance with procedures for returning outstanding Texas customer assets.
The administrative fine was suspended and subject to extinguishment if Abra complied with the asset-return process.
State regulators announce multistate Abra asset-return settlement
Twenty-five state financial regulators announced a settlement requiring Abra to refund remaining virtual assets to U.S. customers in participating states, with penalties forgone to facilitate repayments.
CSBS said up to $82.1 million would be paid back to consumers once remaining assets were returned.
SEC files settled charges over Abra Earn
The SEC filed settled charges alleging unregistered offers and sales of Abra Earn and operation as an unregistered investment company; Abra consented to injunctions and penalties to be determined.
Abra settled without admitting or denying the allegations.
Source record
Evidence dossier
Filter by claim, reliability, source type, and whether evidence is linked to a specific event.
customer outcome
4 sourcesState financial regulators settle with Abra to return cryptocurrency assets
Conference of State Bank Supervisors · 2024-06-26
Primary multistate settlement announcement covering 25 regulators, remaining customer refunds, and up to $82.1 million in consumer asset returns.
Washington DFI Abra settlement announcement
Washington State Department of Financial Institutions · 2024-06-26
State regulator source supporting the multistate settlement, customer refund obligation, and U.S. activity restrictions.
Texas order details Abra customer withdrawal and return process
Texas State Securities Board · 2024-04-16
Primary source describing customer withdrawal notices, segregated remaining assets, and the in-kind or fiat-check process for unclaimed balances.
State regulators require Abra customer asset returns
Conference of State Bank Supervisors · 2024-06-26
Official multistate announcement describing the refund requirement and decision to forgo penalties to facilitate customer repayments.
end date
2 sourcesTexas consent order records Abra yield-product wind-down
Texas State Securities Board · 2024-04-16
Primary source for the 14 June 2023 conversion of Earn and Boost balances to non-interest-bearing Abra Trade accounts and the end of yield generation.
SEC describes Abra Earn wind-down
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · 2024-08-26
Official SEC release confirming that Abra began winding down Abra Earn and returning customer assets in June 2023.
Entity
1 sourcesAbra official website
Abra
Supports the current official platform identity and URL; the exact 2014 launch day remains approximate.
Event
8 sourcesTexas Securities Commissioner files emergency action over Abra crypto investments
Texas State Securities Board · 2023-06-15
Primary state regulatory source for the emergency action involving Abra Earn and Abra Boost.
SEC charges Abra over Abra Earn
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · 2024-08-26
Official SEC summary confirming that Abra Earn began around July 2020 and describing its operating scale and model.
Texas consent order concerning Abra Earn and Abra Boost
Texas State Securities Board · 2024-04-16
Primary state order stating that Abra ceased selling new Abra Earn investments around 3 October 2022 and began offering Abra Boost to accredited investors.
SEC complaint records halt to new Abra Earn sales
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · 2024-08-26
Federal complaint corroborating the end of new U.S. retail Abra Earn sales and transition to Abra Boost.
Texas State Securities Board Consent Order No. ENF-24-CDO-1881
Texas State Securities Board · 2024-04-16
Signed state consent order imposing cease-and-desist terms and conditioning suspended sanctions on completion of the customer asset-return process.
Order No. ENF-24-CDO-1881
Texas State Securities Board · 2024-04-16
Official order landing page confirming the order date and respondent.
SEC charges Abra with unregistered offers of Abra Earn
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · 2024-08-26
Official press release announcing the settled federal registration charges.
SEC litigation release concerning Plutus Lending LLC
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · 2024-08-26
Official litigation release summarizing the complaint, consent, injunctions, and penalty process.
launch date
1 sourcesSEC complaint against Plutus Lending LLC
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · 2024-08-26
Primary complaint describing the approximate July 2020 Abra Earn launch, product terms, deployment model, wind-down, and customer asset returns.
status
1 sourcesAbout Abra
Abra
Current first-party page supporting continued operation of the Abra brand for private and institutional clients, separate from discontinued U.S. retail Earn products.
url history
1 sourcesAbra Earn website archive captures
Internet Archive
Archived customer-facing captures preserve the historical Abra Earn product presentation.
No evidence records match the current filters.
Comparative records