In 2007, Lebanese-American essayist, statistician and risk analyst Nassim Nicholas Taleb introduced the world to the notion of a “black swan.” A black swan is Taleb’s metaphor for large, unexpected events that wreak havoc across finance, science and technology. Thirteen years on, the world is reeling from its latest black swan in the form of coronavirus, with London Blockchain Week as the latest event in crypto to feel the effects. With public events being canceled around the world and with many people reluctant to travel until the Covid-19 scare blows over, event organizers at the summit must adapt to keep …

The crypto community continues to help fight the coronavirus outbreak, with Binance Charity donating new batches of medical supplies to hospitals and disease control command centers. On March 9, Binance Charity announced the completion of the second phase of its philanthropic initiative dubbed “Binance for Wuhan,” wherein the company gave 6 new batches of medical supplies to 130 hospitals, medical teams and disease control command centers. The shipment included protective suits from Israel and the United Arab Emirates, oxygen machines, gloves and protective goggles. Crypto space stakeholders in the fight against coronavirus In February alone, an array of cryptocurrency- and …

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has secured $4.7 million in funding from China’s central government for its blockchain trade finance platform. The funding will be administered over three years and has been designated for research and development projects. The blockchain platform was initially revealed by the PBoC in Shenzhen during September 2018. The platform is intended to facilitate transfers and create an untamperable ledger for secure information sharing between businesses and government departments. Blockchain drives efficiency savings for Chinese corporate financing By mid-January, it was estimated that the platform had processed $12.4 billion worth of transactions for the 38 …

Bitcoin (BTC) closed the week at $8,024, a shocking 9.92% loss and a new weekly low not seen since January 13, when the asset traded for $7,946. The abrupt correction took place as DOW, S&P 500 and oil futures plummeted as investor fears over the economic impact of the coronavirus continue to intensify. Crypto market daily price chart. Source: Coin360 Coronavirus fears grip the global economy Dow futures dropped more than 1,200 points (4.6%), S&P 500 futures fell 4.89% and Brent Crude fell 30%. The volatility in oil futures appears to be driven by a growing disagreement between Saudi Arabia …

Don’t miss the second episode of “Beer and Bitcoin”, where Cointelegraph YouTube hosts Giovanni Pigni and Jackson DuMont discuss everything crypto...while sipping cold beers! In this episode, our hosts debated Cointelegraph’s Top 100 list of the most influential people in crypto. Also, they showed how the Bitcoin halving is likely to impact Bitcoin price by analyzing different expert predictions. Finally, they discussed the impact the coronavirus is having on the crypto industry and the global economy. Grab a cold one and join them!

The second day of Fintech Worldwide’s Blockchain Summit kicked off to unusually glorious sunshine. But you’d be hard pressed to notice that in the venue because there was no natural light filtering through to the handful of attendees that braved the ongoing coronavirus scare. Despite COVID-19’s spectre looming large over the conference, panelists spoke about an impressive range of topics, including how Blockchain can help local women in the Maasai Mara, to the day’s debate on the state of adoption. As MakerDAO’s Gustav Arentoft told me during the conference, speakers in London often come from a more institutional perspective that …

Curiously, the search term “bitcoin coronavirus” has overtaken “bitcoin halving” on Google Trends. The odd search term is seeing the most traffic from Europe. Research indicates that Austria, Switzerland, and Ireland comprise the three jurisdictions that produce the most searches for “bitcoin coronavirus.” 12-Month Search Trends for “Bitcoin halving” and “Bitcoin coronavirus”: Google Singapore, Germany, Australia, and Canada are also producing significant traffic for the keyword, while the United States ranks 13th. Interest in ‘Bitcoin halving’ outpaces ‘ETH 2.0’ Interest in the Bitcoin’s upcoming halving is significantly dwarfing queries for Ethereum’s (ETH) upcoming ETH 2.0 revamp. 12-Month Search Trends for …

Bitcoin (BTC) price held $9,000 on March 6 as the spread of coronavirus played havoc with traditional markets. Cryptocurrency market daily overview. Source: Coin360 Bitcoin turns $9K from resistance into support Data from Coin360 and Cointelegraph Markets painted a buoyant picture for BTC/USD on Friday, the pair hitting local highs of $9,190. After reclaiming the $9,000 mark a day earlier, that level functioned as support overnight, with Bitcoin fluctuating around $9,100 as of press time. Bitcoin 1-day price chart. Source: Coin360 Stocks conversely saw another day of mayhem to close out the week. The Dow Jones, fresh off the back …

Day One, March 5 The world has a fever. A fever for blockchain. But that’s not the only infectious substance in the room. The spectre of the spiralling Coronavirus crisis looms large over today’s conference in the United Kingdom. London has sold out of hand sanitizer and some of blockchain’s biggest names are fist-bumping and elbow-tapping at London Blockchain Week to avoid hand contact. Although the summit is about extolling the virtues of blockchain, coronavirus is the elephant in the room. And there’s certainly room for an elephant in the cavernous main hall of 8 Northumberland Avenue, in the beating …

The advance of coronavirus in the region hasn’t precluded the launch of Huobi Thailand, which allows for a fiat gateway to BTC, ETH, HT, and USDT from the start, and plans to expand the offering in the near future according to the company’s press release Cointelegraph received today, March 5. Licensing Last year, Huobi was awarded a “Digital Asset License” by Thailand’s Ministry of Finance, and more recently it was cleared by the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission. According to Ciara Sun, VP of Global Business at Huobi Group, Huobi’s goal is “to help create an equitable world where wealth …

A blockchain trade finance platform developed by eight major banks, among them HSBC, BNP Paribas, and Citi, is now ready for commercial launch in Singapore in Q2 2020. Named Contour, the launch follows a successful trial of the platform involving over $30 million in letter-of-credit transactions last year, South China Morning Post reported on March 5. Letter-of-credit transactions are a payment mechanism widely used in international trade, in which a bank provides a seller with an economic guarantee for a buyer’s payment. As the coronavirus continues to shake global markets, a regional executive told reporters that the platform can ensure …

Cryptocurrencies have not been used as a safe haven amid challenges the global economy has faced at the beginning of the year, one expert says. The world has already seen a slew of market-shaking events this year including trade policy uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and the coronavirus epidemic, among others. With investors around the world struggling to find safe haven assets to insure themselves against potential crises, it was anticipated that many would turn to Bitcoin (BTC) and other digital currencies. Doubts of crypto’s capabilities However, some industry experts say that digital currencies have failed to serve as a safe haven. …