Hollywood Star Gwyneth Paltrow becomes an advisor for Bitcoin startup Abra. The Abra smartphone wallet app allows cross currency payment options including Bitcoin.
Abra Wallet CEO Bill Barhydt appeared on Planet of the Apps, a reality show launched on Apple Music, where entrepreneurs pitch their apps to a celebrity panel of judges. During contestants’ initial escalator pitch, that panel is made up of Jessica Alba, Gwyneth Paltrow, Gary Vaynerchuk, and will.i.am.
Being selected on the show means that the Abra app would have a chance to become a featured app on the competitive Apple app store as well as the opportunity to earn a share in over $10 million dollars of venture capital investment funds.
The Abra CEO explained:
I go into this, not knowing how people will react — are they going to get Abra at all? Will they think we’re crazy? Will they be scared of blockchain technology? Will they get the consumer benefits? What happened totally blew me away because not only did all four of them get it, but all four were super excited about working with Abra, and I had to choose one person. To be honest with you, I didn’t think I was going to be put in that situation.
The Gwyneth Factor
Speaking about the Oscar winning actress and business woman, Bill Barhydt told Forbes:
She has been a huge value add. She’s opened up her network to us, given us valuable business advice, her insights on running a consumer business with hundreds of thousands of paying customers.
Bills escalator pitch can be seen in the video below;
Gwyneth Paltrow has previously made the leap into the digital world with her online Goop website, which grew from a lifestyle newsletter. It will be interesting to see what her contribution to the wallet app will be, but one of her first moves was to arrange a video conference call with Airbnb’s Brian Chesky. So it would appear that Paltrow’s connections and door opening name could truly help blockchain based applications reach the mainstream.
One thing is for sure, the Abra has already been propelled to featured status on the App Store and Bill Barhydt is keen to stress the app’s Bitcoin association.
https://twitter.com/billbarhydt/status/892559795500105728
Are you an Abra user? Could celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow bring the right kind of attention of Bitcoin? Let us know in the comments below.
Images and media courtesy of Reason, YouTube, Abra
