Tag: Coronavirus

Mining Sector Sees Extreme Volatility Amid Coronavirus and Crash During Q1

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Crypto research firm, TokenInsight, has published a report covering the crypto mining industry during the first quarter of 2020. The report emphasized swings in Bitcoin (BTC)’s hash rate and the phasing out of older ASIC models. However, volatility has had a greater impact on Chinese miners — with Antminer S9s becoming unprofitable during March. Miners using old ASICs are impacted by price crash The report describes BTC hash rate as having been “extremely volatile” during the early months of 2020 — ranging from between roughly 70 exahashes per second (EH/s)…

Bitcoin Won as Store of Value in Coronavirus Crisis — Hedge Fund CEO

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Bitcoin (BTC) has in fact functioned very well as a store of value before the coronavirus crisis, raw data suggests. In a Twitter discussion on May 1, Travis Kling, head of crypto hedge fund Ikigai, produced fresh evidence that, despite volatility, Bitcoin has preserved its investors’ wealth. BTC protected hodlers from “catastrophic event” Since February, BTC/USD has delivered stable returns of 0.6%, Kling said, smoothing out any pain to “hodlers” sparked by one of the most unnerving financial implosions of recent history last month. “The price of #Bitcoin increased 0.60%…

Matic Announces a Privacy-Centric Coronavirus Tracking App

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Blockchain scalability solution, Matic, launched a privacy-focused coronavirus tracking mobile application. According to an April 29 announcement, the new app — dubbed Tracy — leverages the Matic network for contact tracing and quarantine management. The solution also uses decentralized data storage solution, MóiBit, to store sensitive data. Per the announcement, Tracy is the first blockchain-based solution that was developed for quarantine management and contact tracing. The application is meant to let users understand how likely they are to have come in contact with somebody who tested positive for the coronavirus.…

CoinMarketCap Sees Fewer Chinese Users Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

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CoinMarketCap, which recently became a Binance company, released a report on Q1 crypto market performance, as seen from its perspective. One of the more interesting details is the significant decrease in users from China.  As revealed by the report, published on April 30, China fell from 13th to 24th position in the country rankings by page views. A less dramatic but sizable decrease was also seen from South Korean users, who fell by 3 positions to the 19th place. Furthermore, CoinMarketCap noted that the decrease largely occurred in the period…

Why Bitcoin Hit $8k Ahead of FOMC Update, Wiping Out Coronavirus Losses

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Bitcoin closed above $8,000 this Wednesday, wiping all its Coronavirus-induced losses from mid-March. The cryptocurrency’s move uphill came ahead of Jerome Powell’s press conference at 1430 ET today. The Federal Reserve chairman is likely to discuss strategies to tame the contracting economy, with investors expecting him to keep the interest rates lower. Bitcoin jumped above $8,000 for the first time in almost two months as investors braced for the Federal Reserve’s views on the health of the U.S. economy. The bitcoin-to-dollar exchanged surged 5.52 percent to top at $8,180 on BitMEX,…

Bitcoin Hits $8K Erasing Coronavirus Crash — 13 Days Till Halving

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Bitcoin (BTC) price finally hit $8,000 on April 29 as a solid week of gains continued to buoy markets. Cryptocurrency market daily overview. Source: Coin360 BTC price returns to $8,000 Data from Cointelegraph Markets and CoinMarketCap showed BTC/USD breaking the $8,000 after a seven-week absence. The move firmly reverses Bitcoin’s crash in mid-March, when the cryptocurrency shed 60% in a day to plumb 15-month lows of $3,600. Bitcoin 1-day chart. Source: CoinMarketCap At press time, the new levels had yet to cement themselves amid short-term volatility, with highs on exchange…

Storj Launches Free Storage Program for Coronavirus Research

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Decentralized storage network, Storj, has launched a program providing free storage to organizations participating in COVID-19 research. The program follows widespread contributions from the crypto community toward the distributed scientific research platform, Folding@Home. Organization researching COVID-19 qualify for 2TB in storage On April 22, Blockchain-based cloud network, Storj, announced a program offering free online storage to organizations engaged in research contributing to the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Storj’s storage program will provide qualifying organizations with one terabyte of free cloud storage. Qualifying entities will also receive a monthly…

Coronavirus Has Put Bitcoin’s Safe Haven Narrative to the Test

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The price of Bitcoin (BTC) suffered a tremendous crash on March 12, falling from almost $8,000 to stabilize at around $5,000, a loss of about 40% in the span of less than two days. This happened in the context of a global sell-off in all equity markets, where United States stock market indices such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 lost around 10% in a single day — a substantial loss for traditional markets. Some were quick to decree the end of the narrative that Bitcoin…

3 Key Factors Pushing an Early Coronavirus Vaccine Breakthrough

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Coronavirus vaccines can be produced before the projected 18 months, scientists say. In the U.K., Oxford researchers injecting the first vaccines in humans said a vaccine could come by September. The U.K., South Korea, China, the U.S., Switzerland, and Germany are prioritizing vaccine testing. The expectations for a coronavirus vaccine has waned in the past several weeks, following Dr. Anthony Fauci’s firm statement that it is unlikely to arrive in the next 12 to 18 months. But, three key factors indicate that there is a possibility vaccines can be produced…

Why Your Favorite ‘Coronavirus Stock’ Just Took Wall Street on a Nasty Ride

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Gilead Sciences’ promising coronavirus drug made waves last week. Today, leaked WHO documents showed it flopped in a 237-person trial. Gilead was quick to downplay the trial as too small to be conclusive. But the firm wasn’t so conscientious about last week’s much smaller trial. The U.S. stock market ended Thursday flat after suffering a wild wobble midway through the session. The culprit? Every retail investor’s favorite coronavirus stock – Gilead Sciences. The Financial Times reported that the most promising coronavirus treatment – remdesivir – failed in a clinical trial.…