Abra, a blockchain remittance APP company with $14 million in financing, has landed in the United States and plans to capture more than 20 markets in 2017

After months of small-scale testing in the Philippines, blockchain remittance app company Abra officially launched in the U.S. market today.

Abra has raised $14 million in venture capital funding and plans to expand to more than 20 markets by 2017. Last fall, the company raised $12 million in a Series A round.

Abra CEO Bill Barhydt, a former head of Netscape, said the US market would become their 'growth hub', responsible for connecting the company to markets elsewhere in the world, so it's a natural next expansion destination for the company.

“The U.S. is really the hub for us to go global,” Bassett said. “Abra’s initial focus is on cross-border mobile money transfers. The U.S. is a key hub. We’ve worked hard to make sure we’re ready.”

Abra CEO Bill Barhydt

Bassett said the U.S. launch was made possible by a partnership with Synapse, a company that enables users to connect their bank accounts to the app.

According to initial reports after Abra’s app launched in the United States, some users had difficulty signing up through their Facebook accounts.

Bassett said his company’s team will investigate the issue, noting that the app in the U.S. market is the same one that the startup runs in its test market in the Philippines.

Citibank mentioned Abra in its latest Bitcoin report released today, and the report believes that the business models of startups such as Abra should be closely watched by the financial industry. Citibank's latest report overturns the previous views of banks on Bitcoin and other digital currencies. The report believes that Bitcoin and other digital currencies are a supplement to banks' existing services, bringing development opportunities to banks and helping banks to open up new markets and users. Bitcoin and other digital currencies should not be regarded as a threat.