Abra’s Bill Barhydt says Wall Street’s next crypto bet is tokenization

FinanceShareShare this articleCopy linkX iconX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmailAbra’s Bill Barhydt says Wall Street’s next crypto bet is tokenizationAs Abra prepares for a Nasdaq debut, CEO Bill Barhydt is betting tokenized yield products and onchain lending will drive the next phase of crypto wealth management.By Will Canny|Edited by Sheldon Reback Jun 7, 2026, 3:00 p.m. 3 min readMake preferred on What to know: Abra is positioning itself as a tokenization and wealth management platform, expanding beyond traditional crypto trading and custody. The company plans to launch BTCAF, a yield-bearing bitcoin product, following growing demand for its USDAF tokenized dollar offering. Barhydt sees tokenization and DeFi-powered lending as the next major narrative for institutional investors, eclipsing the industry’s long-running focus on bitcoin prices.Bill Barhydt built Abra around a simple idea: Crypto should function like a bank.In 2018, Abra became one of the first companies to offer what Barhydt describes as a full crypto banking service, allowing customers to trade, earn, borrow and make payments from a single platform. Eight years later, as the company prepares to go public through a merger with SPAC New Providence Acquisition Corp. III, he said he believes the industry is entering an entirely new phase.The deal, announced in March, values Abra at $750 million and will see the combined company renamed Abra Financial Inc., with plans to list on Nasdaq under the ticker ABRX, subject to regulatory approvals."The goal is to list this summer, pending SEC approval," Barhydt told CoinDesk in an interviewAbra Financial Today, Abra operates as an asset tokenization and distribution platform under its parent company, Abra Financial Holdings.The distribution side centers on Abra Capital Management, an SEC-registered investment adviser that serves high-net-worth individuals, ultra-high-net-worth clients and institutions. Through the platform, clients can access digital asset inve…

Abra’s Bill Barhydt says Wall Street’s next crypto bet is tokenization

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