Industry players said Bitcoin's (BTC) price could be impacted once U.S. governing bodies lift COVID-19 prevention measures, such as stay-at-home orders and business closures. "When the world economies begin to recover and come back online after printing, in the case of the U.S. government trillions of dollars, Bitcoin will most likely become more bullish than we've ever seen it," Metal Pay CEO Marshall Hayner told Cointelegraph in a message, adding: "Altcoin markets with solid foundation and utility with strong usage will potentially move beyond previous heights as we will begin to see the first large crypto banking platforms like Metal …

April 17, as part of the BlockDown 2020 online blockchain conference, CoinMarketCap’s Chief Strategy Officer and Interim CEO, Carylyne Chan, presented the company’s report into the cryptocurrency market for the first quarter of 2020. Trends analyzed through market cap and user insights Chan began the presentation by looking at how price and market cap had been affected during Q1. After a strong start to the quarter, both Bitcoin (BTC) and the wider market took a bashing at the hands of the COVID-19 pandemic. This has now largely retraced and the market seems to be on its way back to recovery. …

The president of the Swiss Crypto Valley Association, or CVA, said that the Coronavirus pandemic had a major impact on the local crypto ecosystem. A recent report claims that the representatives of nearly 80% of crypto valley’s firms said they will most likely go bankrupt over the next six months. Crypto Valley Association president Daniel Haudenschild explained to Cointelegraph what the survey means for the Crypto Valley Startup ecosystem, he said: “The information has been built from a smaller sample size however it certainly seems to mirror the sentiment that we feel in the market.” A dire situation The report …

An Internet of Things (IoT) blockchain specialist and a healthcare data firm have teamed up to devise a solution for fighting the pandemic that complies with European data privacy laws. On April 17, IoT blockchain startup Ubirch and Nasdaq-listed Centogene announced their partnership on a solution for securely handling the results of COVID-19 mass testing. Volkmar Weckesser, CIO for Centogene — which has collected epidemiologic, phenotypic and genetic data for 500,000 patients worldwide to date — said that when combined with Uirch’s blockchain portal: “[SARS-CoV-2] test results can be accessed everywhere in a forgery-proof manner ─ spearheading a return to …

The former CEO of Intercontinental Exchange subsidiary Bakkt and a current Republican senator for Georgia, Kelly Loeffler, has been rewarded with a new appointment despite recent controversies. In a tweet published on April 16, Loeffler wrote: “Thank you, @realDonaldTrump for appointing me to your task force on re-opening America safely in the wake of #COVID19. With 22 million Americans filing for unemployment, it’s clear we must start working to revive our economy and get the American people back to work safely.” The appointment follows hot on the heels of news that Loeffler sold off seven figures’ worth of personal stock …

The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked unexpected and revealing patterns among cryptocurrency traders, according to new research. In their paper entitled “How Crisis affects Crypto: Coronavirus as a Test Case,” posted to the Oxford University Faculty of Law blog on April 17, Hadar Y. Jabotinsky And Roee Sarel observed that the crypto markets took a pronounced U-turn midway through the crisis. Analyzing the period of Jan. 1–March 11, the researchers found that initially, both spot market prices and overall trading volume increased as the number of identified COVID-19 cases rose. This positive correlation then reversed and investors began pulling their cash …

Bitcoin (BTC) mining firm Riot Blockchain has entered into a deal to relocate a portion of its mining operations to a facility in New York operated by Coinmint. Riot claims to have assessed the risks associated with operating in New York amid the COVID-19 pandemic and determined that Coinmint’s “plug and play” infrastructure mitigates many of the concerns pertaining to coronavirus. The partnership comes amid thin profit margins for many United States-based mining companies resulting from the mid-March crypto market crash. Riot Blockchain relocates S17s to New York In a press release, Riot states that it has entered into “a …

Vottun, a company that specializes in the certification and traceability of data on the blockchain, has released a digital health passport that could enable employees currently in lockdown to go back to work. The digital credentials system — known as an ‘Immunity Passport’ — created by Vottun records your immunity status on the blockchain which can easily be checked. Rohan Hall, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Vottun, told Cointelegraph the passport “can be verified at any time using cryptography by any mobile phone that can read a QR code”. Credentials “are securely stored” and “immutable” and the system is as …

A Spanish research team of more than 100 people is developing an app that uses AI and blockchain to predict the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic and to help manage lockdown measures. The app, which has the support of the Institute of Biomedical Research of Salamanca and the Artificial Intelligent Research Institute, is currently at proof-of-concept phase. It uses blockchain to store and verify digital identities and licenses for individuals to perform certain tasks, such as returning to work or going to the supermarket during the lockdown period. Each identity is in the form of a certificate recorded on the …

American financial technology firms are now able to help Main Street businesses affected by the COVID-19 crisis via a federal relief plan, but cryptocurrency-native companies apparently don’t fit the bill. Last week, the United States Small Business Administration released an application form for nonbanks to sign on as lenders under the federal Paycheck Protection Program, referred to as the PPP, so that they can provide low-interest, forgivable loans to small businesses affected by the pandemic. Since then, a number of high-profile fintech companies have joined the scheme, but none of the crypto-focused lenders interviewed by Cointelegraph said they were going …

As Americans wait for COVID-19 stimulus checks, the Digital Dollar has returned to legislation in the United States that looks to extend monthly payments for the long haul. The ABCs of aid during crisis On April 16, Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) introduced the “Automatic Boost to Communities Act,” or the ABC Act in the House of Representatives. The bill looks to extend monthly payments of $2,000, called BOOST payments, until at least next March, and further requires the development of digital dollar wallets for citizens to receive them. The bill reads: “No later than January 1, 2021, the Secretary shall …

Russian authorities are not stopping their efforts to help Alexander Vinnik — an alleged fraudster who is accused of laundering as much as $4 billion in Bitcoin (BTC) — to return to his homeland. In another attempt to extradite Vinnik, the Russian Embassy reportedly requested that France place the alleged former BTC-e operator under house arrest in Russia. The latest extradition request is reportedly driven by intensifying concerns over Vinnik’s health amid the COVID-19 outbreak. The news was reported by Russia’s pro-government publication RT on April 15, citing Alexey Meshkov, the Russian Ambassador in Paris. France purportedly ignored Russia’s request …