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What Moved Global Markets
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- Coronavirus update: The global coronavirus pandemic could be over by June if countries mobilize to fight it, a senior Chinese medical adviser said on Thursday, as China declared the peak had passed there and new cases in Hubei fell to single digits for the first time.
- Major sports events around the world which have been hit by the coronavirus outbreak. Even Rome’s Catholic churches were ordered closed on Thursday because of the coronavirus pandemic, in a move believed to be unprecedented in modern times. Broadway theaters in NY were shut down for a month.
- Stocks plummeted once again on Thursday after President Donald Trump and the Federal Reserve both failed to quell concerns over the economic slowdown stemming from the coronavirus, leading to a historic drop for the U.S. markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 2,352.60 points lower, or 9.99%, at 21,200.62. The index had its worst drop since the 1987 “Black Monday” market crash, when it collapsed by more than 22%.
- The five biggest tech firms, Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, Facebook and Microsoft lost a combined $416.63 billion in value. Oracle shares rose as much as 4% Thursday after hours, partly reversing an 11% drop during the day’s trading session, as the company reported fiscal third-quarter earnings that were better than analysts had expected.
Crypto Prices (from CoinMarketCap)
Bitcoin: Down 33.83% to $5,063.44
Total trading volume (24h): $66.99+ billion USD
Ethereum: Down 34.22% to $120.22
Total trading volume (24h): $27.65+ billion USD
3 biggest movers 24 hours
Biggest Mover 1: BitBall (BTB) is up 397.77% to $0.005954
Biggest Mover 2: 3X Short BNB Token (BNBBEAR) is up 104.61% to $393.77
Biggest Loser: WhiteCoin (XWC) is down 93.21% to $0.009120
What moved Crypto Markets (i.e. digital assets)
- Markets around the globe are in red. March 12th could be definitely called a day of panic for crypto as well – BTC hit record lows. Bitcoin is now trading at around $6,200 levels. This represents a new low since May 8, 2019.
- After similar efforts from the U.S. Federal Reserve on March 10, the European Central Bank, or ECB, announced a $135 billion stimulus — a number that dwarfs Bitcoin’s (BTC) entire market cap. The ECB, in an effort to combat struggling markets, decided not to cut interest rates further. Instead, the central bank announced the allocation of 120 billion Euros, or $135.28 USD, to its asset purchase program, a CNBC report detailed on March 12. After a stark drop in price, Bitcoin’s market cap values approximately $110 billion at press time, giving each individual coin a value of $6,040.
- CME Group, the U.S. firm which launched Bitcoin futures in late 2017, plans to close its trading floor in Chicago. The move is tied to the spread of coronavirus, which has gripped U.S. financial markets.
Other Specialties
Fintech: European businesses may soon have a new jurisdiction in which to experiment with security tokens while regulators evaluate the pros and cons. France’s markets regulator, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers — or AMF — is considering a regulatory sandbox meant to study the impact of security tokens in the European Union. The AMF announced on March 6 that it proposed a European “Digital Lab” regulatory sandbox allowing local regulators to waive requirements related to security settlements. The regulator hopes that such measures would result in the development of security token market infrastructure that could lead to a secure legal environment.
AI, Healthtech: AI and Baidu virus research: To support the research of the coronavirus’ RNA structure, Baidu has made its Linearfold algorithm available to scientific and medical teams fighting the outbreak. The Linearfold algorithm is significantly faster than traditional RNA folding algorithms at predicting a virus’s secondary RNA structure. Due to the recent outbreak, Baidu AI scientists have used this algorithm to predict the secondary structure prediction for the Covid-19 RNA sequence, reducing overall analysis time from 55 minutes to 27 seconds, meaning it is 120 times faster. Baidu has developed several tools that are effective in building awareness and screening populations, including an AI-powered, non-contact infrared sensor system that provides users with fast multi-person temperature monitoring that can quickly detect a person if they are suspected of having a fever.
Smart cities: 3D-printed air quality sensors are now available for loan at Helsinki libraries. The sensors measure the carbon monoxide content of outdoor air and the results can be viewed on a smartphone application. They are worn on the wrist and transmit data via Bluetooth.
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