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Today in crypto, US federal prosecutors continue their case against SafeMoon’s CEO; Spar shoppers in Zug, Switzerland, can now pay for groceries in Bitcoin via the Lightning Network; and a new TRM Labs report shows rising DeFi usage in Yemen as US sanctions target the Houthi-designated terrorist group.

US prosecutors to pursue ex-SafeMoon CEO case despite DOJ memo

Federal prosecutors said they will continue pursuing their case against Braden John Karony, the former CEO of crypto firm SafeMoon, despite the US Justice Department issuing a memo suggesting a policy of abandoning “regulation by prosecution” related to digital assets.

In an April 18 filing in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, US Attorney for EDNY John Durham said his office had reviewed the April 7 DOJ memo issued by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and intended to proceed with a trial against Karony.

The former SafeMoon CEO faces securities fraud conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy charges for allegedly “divert[ing] and misappropriat[ing] millions of dollars’ worth” of the platform’s SFM token between 2021 and 2022.

Spar supermarket in Switzerland starts accepting Bitcoin payments

Global grocery giant Spar has rolled out Bitcoin-based payments in a Swiss city, marking another step in the growing adoption of cryptocurrency for everyday transactions.

A Spar supermarket in Zug, Switzerland, has implemented Bitcoin (BTC) payments via the Lightning Network.

The store’s Bitcoin payments went live on BTC Mao, a community-driven project highlighting stores that accept BTC payments, DFX Swiss, a crypto-to-fiat payment solution firm, announced in an April 17 LinkedIn post.

“This SPAR location is among the first supermarkets in Switzerland where you can pay directly at the checkout using Bitcoin (via LNURL), thanks to our new hashtag#OpenCryptoPay solution, an open P2P standard for in-person crypto payments,” DFX said.

Switzerland has long been regarded as one of the more crypto-friendly European jurisdictions with some of the earliest crypto-adoption initiatives.

In 2023, the Swiss city of Lugano adopted Bitcoin and Tether USDt (USDT) payments for all municipal fees, one of the world’s first city administrations to do so.

Yemenis are turning to DeFi as US sanctions target Houthi group

Yemeni citizens are increasingly using decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols to bank themselves amid US sanctions aimed at the Houthi group, which they have deemed a terrorist organization. 

DeFi platforms account for most of Yemen’s crypto-related web traffic, taking up over 63% of observed activity, while global centralized exchanges account for 18% of crypto-related web traffic, TRM Labs data shows.

In the past, internet infrastructure challenges and low financial literacy among the war-torn population contributed to relatively limited crypto adoption, according to an April 17 report from blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs.

“However, there are signs of growing interest and usage driven primarily by necessity rather than speculation,” the blockchain intelligence firm said. 

“For those who use cryptocurrencies in Yemen, the ability to bypass the disruption in local financial services offers a modicum of financial resilience, especially as banks can be difficult to access or are simply inoperable due to the ongoing conflict.”  

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