COVID-19

VanEck: Bitcoin Correlation to Gold Jumped in 2020 Amid Market Sell-off

New York-headquartered investment management firm, VanEck has revealed in a new report that Bitcoin’s correlation to gold has risen significantly in 2020, especially during the recent broad market sell-off caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the report published by Gabor Gurbacs, a Digital Asset Strategist at VanEck, Bitcoin’s correlation to gold has surged since the turn of the year and especially in recent weeks, further strengthening the debate the cryptocurrency is maturing as a safe-haven asset. Source (VanEck report) While the rest of the equity markets dipped in the

$50K Set To Be Distributed In Indonesia by Huobi Charity

The charity arm of the Huobi exchange has made an announcement today. This announcement is in regards to the initiative it launched in order to distribute aid in Indonesia as it fights the COVID-19 pandemic.Working Alongside ICAESCCThe Huobi Charity will work in partnership with the Indonesia-China Association of Economic, Social and Cultural Cooperation, or ICAESCC. This partnership will distribute aid to the country through the medical supply donation, monetary contributions, as well as the use of blockchain technology to help healthcare organizations.As an immediate measure, Huobi Charity will donate an

Ripple’s Co-founder Chris Larsen Fully Recovers From Coronavirus Infection

Chris Larsen, the co-founder and executive chairman of Ripple has become the latest COVID-19 Survivor, as he announced Thursday that he has fully recovered from the infectious Coronavirus.  With over a million people currently infected with the virus and more than 53,292 dead, Larsen said he is indeed grateful for his recovery.  Sharing his experience on Twitter, the Ripple executive expressed his gratitude to everyone on the frontlines who took it upon themselves to keep him and other COVID-19 victims safe.  He further encouraged those who have recovered from the

As Hospital’s Crumble, Venezuela’s President Airdrops Petros to Doctors

Nicolas Maduro, a former bus driver and Venezuela’s sitting president, has announced a campaign to support his country’s medical staff amid the coronavirus pandemic by airdropping one Petro to each doctor.The ‘Doctors of the Homeland’ initiative will see each Venezuelan doctor air-dropped one of the administration’s oil-backed Petro cryptocurrency tokens, as per an April 2 tweet published by a government official. Venezuela to issue Petro bonus to doctorsThe tokens will be distributed using Venezuela’s ‘Patria System’ — a platform launched by the government to bypass the nation’s failing banking system and

Spanish Tax Watchdog Puts 66,000 Crypto Traders on Notice

The Spanish tax authority has begun sending out warning notices to 66,000 cryptocurrency holders to remind them of their tax obligations.According to Europa Press, the Agencia Estatal de Administración Tributaria (AEAT) began the campaign on April 1, and will keep firing off letters until June 30 in the midst of the national COVID-19 crisis.The 66,000 notices represents a sharp increase from 2019, the first year of the campaign, when a reported 14,700 notices were sent out. The tax watchdog is also targeting those who earn income abroad and from real estate

Huge Rise in Chinese ‘Blockchain’ Companies — But Are They Real?

More than 35,000 blockchain companies are operating in mainland China —  but it’s believed that many of them do not even use blockchain technology.In the first quarter of 2020, as COVID-19 shut down factories, offices and cities across the  world, 2,383 brand-new “blockchain” companies sprung up in China.This brings the total to 35,010 companies as of April 1 — over 20,000 in Guangdong province alone — according to Tianyancha, a business data company.But in mid-February data firm LongHash estimated that approximately 70% of the total number of blockchain firms registered

Beware! Scammers Are Out for Crypto Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic

As the world continues to battle with the deadly coronavirus pandemic, immoral cybercriminals are once again on the prowl. This time, they are using the chaos and fear through phishing techniques and sophisticated malware hacks to access people’s crypto holdings.On March 27, residents in the United Kingdom received warnings from their local councils “to be on their guard against a series of scams attempting to take advantage of the coronavirus outbreak.” Scammers have been using other tricks to lure victims, including the use of false Bitcoin (BTC) donation channels, fake

How the Pressures of the Coronavirus May Open the Door for Tokenization

The coronavirus pandemic is the only thing on most people’s minds right now around the world.The pending economic fallout is only surpassed by the anxiety induced by surging cases in both the United States and Europe. People remain firmly in quarantine around the world, and consumer demand has fallen off a cliff as people are holed up with only basic necessities.Paired with the awful Purchasing Managers’ Index numbers published by the National Bureau of Statistics and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, as well asearly U.S. indicators, we’re about

Bitcoin in the Aftermath of COVID-19: Two Possible Scenarios

Futurist and author, Daniel Jeffries, shared with Cointelegraph his view on the future scenarios awaiting Bitcoin in the aftermath of COVID-19. Two possible outcomes In one particularly dark scenario,  the global economy will plunge into a severe recession and countries will turn to authoritarianism in order to survive. In such a scenario, world governments will impose capital control measures, curbing citizens’ financial freedoms. Authorities will then crack down on cryptocurrency to prevent people from circumventing their restrictions. Jeffries does not believe that Bitcoin would be able to survive in such a scenario. He