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What Moved Global Markets
Coronavirus update:
– Global cases: More than 1.4 million
– Global deaths: At least 81,500
– US cases: At least 398,000
- New York state overtook Italy on Tuesday, reporting overall coronavirus cases second in the world only to Spain. In Italy, cases fall to 25-day low, deaths rise by 604. The U.S. state has 138,836 reported cases compared with Italy at 135,586. Spain has the most cases at 140,510. In total, the United States has recorded 380,000 cases and 11,800 deaths.
- U.S. President Donald Trump sharply criticized the World Health Organization on Tuesday, accusing it of being too focused on China and issuing bad advice during the coronavirus outbreak.
- Stocks rose, building on the strong gains from the previous session, as investors grew more optimistic about a decline in new coronavirus cases.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded more than 767 points higher, or 3.4%. The S&P 500 gained 3% while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.3%. The major averages were well off their session highs, however. Earlier in the day, the Dow was up more than 800 points.
- Governments and central banks around the world have unleashed unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus and other support for economies floored by the coronavirus pandemic. The G20 said on March 26 it would inject more than $5 trillion into the global economy to limit job and income losses and “do whatever it takes” to tackle the pandemic.
- Reuters’ overview of the main policy steps: North America, Asia, Europe, South Africa, Australia, Brazil etc.
Crypto Prices (from CoinMarketCap)
Bitcoin: Down 1.64% to $7,199.97
Total trading volume (24h): $41.52+ billion USD
Ethereum: Up 0.23% to $169.88
Total trading volume (24h): $20.38+ billion USD
3 biggest movers 24 hours
Biggest Mover 1: Lunes (LUNES) is up 130.94% to $0.017465
Biggest Mover 2: Swap (XWP) is up 54.05% to $0.028778
Biggest Loser: EDC Blockchain (EDC) is down 63.90% to $0.006009
What Moved Crypto Markets (i.e. digital assets)
- The Bitcoin price has increased by two-fold in less than a month, surging from $3,600 to over $7,350. Meanwhile, new research shows that bitcoin miners brought in an estimated $380.1 million during the month of March. That figure represents a 25 percent decline compared to February.
- Peer-to-peer (P2P) bitcoin exchange Paxful has added physical gold as a payment option, at a time when the yellow metal is in short supply. The new feature allows Paxful users to buy bitcoin with gold, and sell bitcoin for gold.
- ANSA, Italy’s main news agency and an international publication owned by 24 national newspapers, has launched a news tracking system based on blockchain to bring more trust between the company and its readers. Called ANSAcheck, the blockchain-powered tool purportedly allows users to verify the origin and history of news published on its platforms, its affiliated publications as well as third parties such as social media or other platforms, ANSA announced on April 6. Additionally, the technology implementation allows ANSA to keep track of its content use and link ecosystem actors, publishers and web agencies, the firm said.
Other Specialties
Fintech: The National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) found a new way to encourage people to start using its digital services. The bank has launched its latest campaign which aims to reward customers who opt to carry out their banking transactions through NBB’s digital platforms. The campaign, which kicks off today and is set to run until the end of this month, will reward NBB’s digital banking customers by giving out two iPhone 11 Pro Max per month for two lucky winners, while one lucky customer will receive the Grand Prize of a MacBook Pro at the end of the campaign.
Healthtech: Germany’s public health authority launched a smartwatch app on Tuesday in partnership with healthtech startup Thryve to help monitor the spread of COVID-19 and analyse whether measures to contain the novel coronavirus pandemic are working. The app gathers vital signs from volunteers wearing smartwatches or fitness trackers – including pulse, temperature and sleep – to analyse whether they are symptomatic of the flu-like illness. Results will be represented in an interactive online map that would make it possible – together with other data inputs – for the health authorities and the general public to assess the prevalence of infections down to postcode level.
Smart cities, AI: Artificial intelligence and security company Kogniz Health is launching an AI-enabled camera and software system that scans groups and crowds entering a facility and identifies anyone with an elevated temperature. It is designed to alert company personnel in real-time so that any individual with a fever can be isolated as needed to help limit the spread of the coronavirus. The company already has more than 12 large customers, each using multiple cameras.
The system can help organisations avoid the cost and risk of posting staff with handheld thermal devices at entrances to take individual temperatures. The health cams can be deployed at every entrance to an office, campus, warehouse or distribution centre where many people are coming through.
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