Chinese Crypto and Blockchain Firms Grapple With Coronavirus Outbreak

The outbreak "Has caused psychological stress on people," says a crypto exchange executive.

Chinese cryptocurrency exchanges and other blockchain companies are coping with a new reality as the coronavirus outbreak continues to disrupt their daily operations.

While crypto trading, customer service and marketing remain largely intact, the outbreak has taken its toll on technical upgrades, product development, logistics and business travel, according to a dozen executives in China interviewed by CoinDesk.

The outbreak has had only a limited impact on daily operations of ZB's trading platform since the firm keeps a schedule to rotate its staff to maintain the exchange, according to Wong.

Estonia-based Bibox crypto exchange, which also originated from China, said it has a contingency plan to tackle the operational challenges due to the coronavirus outbreak.

"We originally planned a meeting for Chinese crypto funds and private equity firms in London to pave the way for our potential initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange in March," Wang said.

Outside of trading venues, other blockchain startups in the region say they've been significantly affected by the outbreak.

Conflux, a Beijing-based blockchain firm, is also coping with the outbreak's ramifications.

Another part of the blockchain industry which has been significantly affected by the outbreak is mining, the business of running expensive computers that race to solve math problems in order to record transactions and secure crypto networks.

The growth rate of mining difficulty, an indicator of the level of competition among bitcoin miners, has been slowing since the coronavirus outbreak, signaling that miners have paused upgrading to newer, more powerful machines.