A key developer in the cryptocurrency community, Zhen Yu Yong has been hit with the coronavirus. The co-founder of Torus Labs made a public statement on his condition and encouraged those who had come in contact with him to get tested.
Yong’s doctors suggest that he may have caught the bug from France. It is likely that he contracted the bug from a blockchain conference in February.
According to Yong,
“My symptoms turned up the night before last and in general, they are; fever, breathlessness, cough, and a running nose – although you don’t have to have all of them to have it.”
Recently, the price of Bitcoin collapsed, losing over 50% of its value. Prices fell below $4,000 to a one year low. Coronavirus scares have been blamed for the fall in prices.
Despite the weak hands in the market, notable figures in the community see an opportunity for gain. Privacy advocate and former Central Intelligence Agency employee, Edward Snowden recently made a tweet expressing that he feels like buying Bitcoin as people panic with “too little reason”
The coronavirus scares had brought hope earlier in the month for more money to be poured into the cryptocurrency markets. At the time, figures showed that Bitcoin mining activities slowed down.
Chinese Bitcoin miners had shut down operations due to the coronavirus epidemic. While it is not clear how many miners chose to put a pause on operations, the reduction in supply power has had a significant effect on the wave of events.
Some analysts suggest that owners of significant portions of cryptocurrency may be trying to shift the markets and take advantage of groupthink as people react to the virus which has lower fatalities than the flu and more deadly diseases such as AIDS.