Iowans with cryptocurrency assets on the Abra platform now have until Monday, March 18, 2024, to move their crypto assets from the Abra platform before the Abra platform is permanently shut down to U.S. consumers.
“I encourage any Iowa Abra account holders to log on the Abra app to immediately move those assets as they see fit,” Iowa Insurance Commissioner Doug Ommen said. “This is especially important if account holders want to maintain those assets as cryptocurrency.”
The Iowa Insurance Division is overseeing the implementation of a settlement with cryptocurrency firm Abra that affords Iowa account holders the opportunity to choose what to do with their crypto assets before the Abra platform is permanently shut down to U.S. consumers.
Iowa account holders received notices from Abra on February 9, 2024, via email and text message instructing them to remove their assets from the platform. However, the Iowa Insurance Division has learned that many Iowa consumers were unable to access the Abra app after receiving those notices and have been unable to move their assets. The Iowa Insurance Division has also learned that the February 9, 2024, notices Abra sent to Iowa consumers contained incorrect information.
The Abra app has been reopened to Iowa consumers, and new notices were sent informing Iowa consumers of a new 7-day window now open for them to remove their assets from the company’s platform on or before Monday, March 18, 2024.
Abra’s previous notices stated that assets of Iowa consumers not withdrawn within 7 days would “be converted to cash and mailed to you.” This is inaccurate. As correctly stated in Abra’s revised notice, assets of Iowa consumers not withdrawn within 7 days will be converted to cash and transferred to the Iowa Insurance Division’s Restitution Fund, where it can be claimed by the respective owners at a later date. If you are unable to transfer your assets from the Abra platform on or before March 18, 2024, contact the Iowa Insurance Division directly to recover your assets.
Please note that there still may be network/blockchain restrictions on the transfer of certain types of crypto assets and small quantity transfers. Most of those limitations are outside of the control of Abra. However, if any Iowa consumers receive error messages unrelated to minimum quantity and wallet compatibility issues, those consumers are encouraged to contact the Iowa Insurance Division to report those issues.
Any consumer who is unable to move their assets from the Abra platform for any reason can still recover the value of their cryptocurrency assets that were converted to cash from the Iowa Insurance Division’s Restitution Fund as described above.
Iowans with questions or concerns, or who need to report problems removing assets from the Abra platform, should contact the Iowa Insurance Division’s Enforcement Bureau at 515-654-6561 or enforcement@iid.iowa.gov.