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.

Airbnb IPO Afflicted?

The Financial Times has chosen to include an IPO in its discussion around fintech and the coronavirus and has noted that the pending IPO for Airbnb could be adversely affected due to the larger implications for travel that have resulted from the epidemic.

Transactions Slow Down

And finally, AsiaTechDaily has done the best job of noting the effects to fintech by correctly tying the coronavirus to the fundamental slow down of transactions at all levels – from supply chains to retail to conferences to theme parks. fewer transactions, fewer fees collected by companies on the payments side of the fintech sector. 

The publisher also notes that venture capital is also drying up for startups as they sit in the sidelines to wait and see what the full fallout will be from the health crisis.

While all of the above items are technically “international” news (for now), and some are somewhat less dire than others, it is wise to take note of what is happening internationally so American firms in – or touching – the fintech sector are ahead of the curve when it comes to planning for potential business disruptions from the coronavirus.