Before the COVID-19 crisis, thousands of blockchain projects were in development, and a growing number of people were putting their money in digital currencies like bitcoin.
So what will the future hold for these two markets after the pandemic? Coin Journal has attempted to answer that question by assembling a veteran team of experts in the field of cryptocurrency and financial technology, including Yoni Assia, CEO of eToro; Simon Peters, eToro market analyst and crypto expert; Ciara Sun, Head of Global Markets at Huobi Group; Wayne Chen, CEO of Interlapse and Founder of virtual currency platform Coincurve; and Jerry Chan, CEO of BSV blockchain service provider TAAL.
The general consensus was that the pandemic has proven the need for a Universal Basic Income (UBI). In addition, the experts believe that blockchain technology can be a useful tool for research teams to interact with one another on a global scale, and that cryptocurrency can be resilient even during an economic crisis caused by social distancing and closed storefronts.
One area where the two can be used most effectively is in the pharmaceutical industry, which Chan explains “[has] realized the potential application of a scalable version of Bitcoin blockchain, which can be used to track COVID-19 testing and vaccination records, cross-state and cross-borders, in a way which could be used to corroborate or validate statistics submitted to global health organizations.”
As for cryptos, Peters predicts that leaders such as Bitcoin and Ethereum will survive and thrive once the COVID-19 crisis is over, believing that those with large market capitalization are here to stay. While Chan believes the coin to watch is Bitcoin SV—saying that “it is the only version of Bitcoin that is scalable”—Chen predicts that the original Bitcoin will retain its top spot and continue to grow.
In a blog posted on LinkedIn, Jay Hao, the CEO of crypto exchange OKEx, has speculated that a second United States stimulus plan could result in a growth in Bitcoin’s price, explaining that after the first stimulus legislation was signed in late March, the crypto rose by about 58 percent from $6,580 to $10,400.
