If you are like me, you’re a bit bewildered by the whole coronavirus event. I do not mean to make light at all, as thousands of lives have been lost and millions have been disrupted, but some say it’s a full-fledged pandemic and is disrupting markets worldwide. Others say it’s little more than a specialized version of the flu, which can be fairly devastating on its own and in the US alone kills over 80,000 people annually. I admit, I don’t exactly know what to think, or which information source to trust, but I do know one thing: The coronavirus is affecting the fintech sector.

Here are some of the ways it is touching the many facets of financial technology:

Bitcoin Is Being Bitcoin

It’s rising! Wait, it’s crashing! Wait – it’s…. uh, doing what it always does – acting volatile. Feb. 4 closing price - $9173; Feb. 12 closing price - $10,347; Feb. 24 closing price - $9,670. So we can conclude –despite the numerous articles to be found online citing that coronavirus is affecting Bitcoin’s price– that at the end of the day, Bitcoin is just being its usual volatile “self”. 

No India Fintech Festival

At least for now. Last week, the organizers of the festival – scheduled for March 4-5 – announced the festival would be postponed, but no new dates have been announced. This, of course, correlates with other conventions that have been cancelled due to precautionary measures.

South Korea Rolls Back Regulations

In March, South Korea is planning to temporarily ease regulations on fintech and ten other industries, in an attempt to jumpstart its economy amid the coronavirus outbreak. The country’s Ministry of Economy and Finance is said to be planning to provide a “detailed list of the deregulation and review the importance of each sector, a process that will last until June this year,” according to international fintech website W7 News.

Bitcoin Mining Disruption

Bitcoin mining rig shipments from Chinese firms are being delayed, no doubt due to manufacturing slowdowns or stoppages, by Bitmain, Innosilicon, Microbt & Ebang. This is important in lieu of the pending Bitcoin halving event scheduled for May 12, 2020. No doubt, orders have been on the rise – but if factories are closed – no crypto mining equipment gets made or shipped.

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