Crypto Firms Tout Dispersed Workforces as Coronavirus Contingency Plan

As firms around the world scramble to develop protocols for what is increasingly likely to become a pandemic, some crypto exchanges say they are going about business as usual.

The coronavirus contingency plan is built in.

A number of cryptocurrency exchanges have favored dispersed workforces since their launch.

While firms around the world scramble to develop protocols for what is increasingly likely to become a pandemic, and as capital markets plummet on global investors' fears that the worst of the coronavirus outbreak is yet to come, these exchanges say they are going about business as usual.

"The Binance team works in a decentralized way, with team members scattering in different countries and regions," said Binance representative Cecilia Zhang.

Binance's Zhang claimed the exchange has "Not been impacted by the coronavirus outbreak." Its employees have been working remotely and in clusters for over two years.

It's spinning coronavirus into a hiring and publicity opportunity, boasting on Twitter Thursday that its decentralized workers are "Thriving" despite rising international fears.

Many remain tied to headquarters, and have in recent days rushed to create policies around what could happen if and when coronavirus reaches them.

Coinbase has become the highest-profile company to list a contingency plan, outlining a four-part process where it would shutter offices and have employees work remotely depending on if and how an outbreak might progress in areas where employees live and work.

In China, where the outbreak began, exchanges and blockchain firms have had to cancel networking events, encourage employees to work remotely and delay tech upgrades.