With the new coronavirus now having killed a reported 638 people, most of them in China, the ramifications of the outbreak are continuing to affect lives and businesses in the region. The cryptocurrency industry is no exception.
According to an announcement, the TOKEN2049 crypto conference, planned for March 17-18 in Hong Kong, has been pushed back to October over concerns about the outbreak.
“Over the past weeks, we have been monitoring the global developments around the Coronavirus closely. Whilst Hong Kong is managing the situation well and has taken strict precautions to contain any potential impact, uncertainty prevails,” according to the announcement.
While the dates have changed, the event will remain the same in most aspects, the post adds, including the venue and schedule. The agenda may see changes as new speakers are signed up, it adds.
The news comes days after crypto exchange Binance was also forced to postpone its Binance Blockchain Week Vietnam, originally scheduled for Feb. 29 to March 4 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
“At Binance, we prioritize everyone’s health and safety during our events, and amid this global public health emergency, we have committed to do the right thing and protect would-be attendees from health risks associated with public gatherings. Thus, we have to postpone this event,” the exchange wrote Feb. 3.
As yet, new dates for the Vietnam event have not been announced.
As of the latest report from CNN, the coronavirus – officially known as “2019-nCoV” – has now infected at least 31,000 people in over 25 countries and territories. The U.S. now has more than 12 confirmed cases, while the U.K. has three.
In Hong Kong, authorities are ordering people entering from mainland China to “self-quarantine” for 14 days, the incubation period of the virus. The island now has around 24 cases of the viral pneumonia, according to a live map from Johns Hopkins University,’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and recently saw one of the first deaths from the disease outside China.
The Chinese doctor who alerted the world to the potential severity of the coronavirus, and died of the illness on Thursday, has now been memorialized on the ethereum blockchain. A smart contract on ethereum with code formatted in the shape of a monument to Dr. Li Wenliang – who had been reprimanded by local police for sending ”false information” – was created in the early hours of Friday.