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. 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.” Yemen has been in a civil war between the government and the Houthi group since September 2014.
Source: TRM LabsSome local Yemenis also use peer-to-peer crypto transactions to move funds across borders or conduct remittances.“Although these interactions do not necessarily imply high transaction volumes, they reinforce that for some individuals in Yemen, decentralized infrastructure may provide a necessary alternative to traditional payment rails,” TRM Labs said.“The interest in DeFi services may reflect the appeal of systems that allow users to transact without intermediaries, particularly where local banking institutions are inaccessible or unreliable.” Increasing sanctions could spark higher crypto adoption in Yemen Currently, Yemen doesn’t have legislation in place for the use of crypto; TRM Labs speculates that increasing sanctions against the Houthis could be the spark that ignites higher crypto adoption in Yemen.
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.
or
Share This Story
Article Details
Author / Journalist: Cointelegraph by Stephen Katte
The story "Yemenis are turning to DeFi as US sanctions target Houthi group" has 502 words across 12 sentences, which will take approximately 3 - 5 minutes for the average person to read.
Which news outlet covered this story?
The story "Yemenis are turning to DeFi as US sanctions target Houthi group" was covered 1 weeks ago by Coin Telegraph, a news publisher based in United States.
How trustworthy is 'Coin Telegraph' news outlet?
Coin Telegraph is a fully independent (privately-owned) news outlet established in 2013 that covers mostly crypto news.
The outlet is headquartered in United States and publishes an average of 14 news stories per day.
It's most recent story was published 7 hours ago.
What do people currently think of this news story?
The sentiment for this story is currently Negative, indicating that people regard this as "bad news".
How do I report this news for inaccuracy?
You can report an inaccurate news publication to us via our contact page. Please also include the news #ID number and the URL to this story.
