Bitcoin (BTC) may have begun a “decoupling” from traditional markets to focus on price gains, but this week will be crucial, says Willy Woo. In a series of tweets on March 23, the respected statistician said that recent price gains for BTC/USD in the face of continued turmoil for stocks and the wider economy were encouraging. Woo: Bitcoin “seeking decoupling” from markets “Decoupling of safe havens from equities showing hints it may have begun (i.e. when BTC and Gold go bullish),” part of one post reads. “We'll have more confirmation in a week.” At press time, Bitcoin traded at around …

With vast swaths of the world markets in virtual lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic, some predict that the shocks rippling through the global economy in early 2020 may yet come to dwarf the magnitude of the 2008 financial crash. Just as Bitcoin (BTC)’s creation is bound up with 2008 and the Great Recession, Galaxy Digital founder Mike Novogratz sees this year as make-or-break for the cryptocurrency. In a tweet posted on March 22 — just hours after the United States Congress failed to reach a bipartisan agreement on a proposed $2 trillion economic support package — Novogratz wrote: “$BTC will …

Don’t worry — this time there’s news coming out of China that isn’t connected to the coronavirus outbreak. With so many people around the world working from home, social distancing, and self-quarantining after possible exposure to COVID-19, online searches surrounding cryptocurrencies have gotten a bump. According to a report available to Cointelegraph, the Chinese search engine Baidu has seen a considerable jump in searches for “Bitcoin” (BTC). The data index shows searches for BTC increased by 183% over the past thirty days, while the number of those looking for information on the cryptocurrency on mobile devices also shot up. The …

A memorandum published by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has named blockchain managers among the nation’s essential critical infrastructure workers. On March 19, the DHS’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) published a memo emphasizing the special responsibility of workers within a critical infrastructure industry to maintain normal working schedules amid the intensifying coronavirus lockdown. Blockchain named alongside healthcare and pharma as critical infrastructure industries The document names blockchain managers alongside healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and food supply as critical infrastructure industries. The inclusion of blockchain managers on CISA’s list may indicate the DHS’s recognition of the potential for …

Catherine Coley, the CEO of Binance US, revealed that the coronavirus quarantine in Asia drove a surge in trade volume during an interview with Bloomberg on March 16. On the subject of the recent correlation between Bitcoin (BTC) and the S&P 500, Coley asserts that both the traditional cryptocurrency markets are playing out a familiar long-term cycle. She states that the markets are experiencing what she terms the “CRIC cycle” — where “crisis” yields a market “response,” followed by “improvements,” and then a return to “complacency,” before the cycle then repeats: “So, in the regular traditional asset classes, as with …

Bitcoin’s (BTC) correlation with the S&P 500 is at a 2-year high. This is a bearish sign for the cryptocurrency market. Cryptocurrency market research firm, Santiment, pointed out that the recent market downturn resulted in a high correlation between Bitcoin and the traditional financial markets in a March 20 tweet. According to Santiment, Bitcoin’s correlation with traditional equity cyclically moves from negative to positive values. The coronavirus pandemic, according to the firm, resulted in the growth of this correlation: “With this pandemic, we are obviously seeing very similar movements in tandem as the coronavirus justifiably has investors in virtually every …

The Italian Red Cross is now seeking Bitcoin (BTC) donations to purchase emerging medical equipment after its first-crypto initiative surpassed its goal within three days. On March 12, Italy’s Red Cross launched a BTC fundraising campaign to purchase an advanced medical post for pre-triaging coronavirus cases. Red Cross crypto fundraiser surpasses target in three days Just three days later, the Red Cross announced that its goal of around $10,710 (€10,000) had been reached and that it had begun purchasing the materials needed to deploy the pre-triage facility. After reaching its first goal so quickly, the Red Cross has continued to …

Kelly Loeffler appeared on Fox News last night to discuss her sale of more than $1 million in equities the day after she attended a private Senate Health Commission hearing about the coronavirus on Jan 23. Loeffler was formerly the CEO of the digital asset custody service, Bakkt, and is the most-recent appointee to the United States Senate. Appearing on Fox News on March 21, Loeffler again sought to distance herself from the decision-making process surrounding her trades, stating: “I’m not involved in the decision around buying and selling, there is a range of different decisions made every day with …

Ryan Selkis, the CEO of crypto market analysis software firm, Messari, and long-time cryptocurrency commentator, has reportedly been shadow-banned on Twitter for his coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. Both twitter pages belonging to Messari and Ryan Selkis went offline for a number of hours. As of 2AM EST service to the pages seems to have been restored. Messari runs a tracking service that provides updates on the number of coronavirus cases globally, including state/provincial data for several countries. Ryan Selkis and Messari appear to stoke Twitter’s ire Selkis posted to Messari’s website on March 20 announcing that both his personal …

The International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) has announced a partnership with South Korean data intelligence startup, S2W Lab, to analyze dark web activity, including cryptocurrency transactions. The startup announced the partnership on March 20 — with S2W Labs signing a one year contract with Interpol. Interpol sets its sights on the dark web S2W Lab claims to have “captured a massive amount of Dark Web data” and “established a Dark Web database.” The S2W examines the data using artificial intelligence to establish “links among multiple domains and among multiple timeframes.” S2W boasts that it has secured several patents “on the …

It seems like the entire world has been told to stay inside their homes as the coronavirus outbreak continues to wreak havoc. As a result, the world has become almost entirely digital. A recent article from NPR showed that visits to news sites have increased by 60%, and that people are spending more time playing online video games. At the same time, online teaching platforms have started offering free, or heavily discounted, virtual courses. Below are a list of online blockchain and cryptocurrency courses worth exploring while spending time at home. Coursera: “Blockchain Revolution Specialization” Ranked by e-learning hub Digital …

The coronavirus pandemic was just the spark that ignited the current global economic meltdown, not its cause, the CEO of Binance says. In a blog post on March 20, Changpeng Zhao, known as “CZ” in cryptocurrency circles, argued that coronavirus had shown that the world’s economy is far too weak. CZ: The economy “should be stronger” Asked whether he felt conditions this year were different from the global financial crisis (GFC) of 2008, he summarized: “In 2008, there wasn’t a pandemic pausing global economy. But I believe the Coronavirus is just a trigger, not the root cause. Our economy should …