China: Blockchain Deployment Rises Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

Amid the ongoing coronavirus epidemic, China has turned to blockchain technology to manage medical data, track supply of virus prevention materials and consult the public.

For the first two weeks of February, China saw the launch of as much as 20 blockchain-based applications designed to help fight the coronavirus outbreak, domestic news outlet People's Daily Online reported on Feb. 17.

Local authorities noted that blockchain lets them effectively track and secure collected information.

The coronavirus has indeed compromised the normal course of things in Asia, forcing a number of cryptocurrency-related conferences to postpone.

Hong Kong-based blockchain remittance startup Bitspark also abruptly announced its closure.

The closure came along with the coronavirus outbreak in China and anti-government protests in Hong Kong, where Bitspark's headquarters is located.

As Cointelegraph reported earlier in February, insurance firms in China use blockchain to manage coronavirus-related claims amid the outbreak.

Thus, online mutual aid platform Xiang Hu Bao added the coronavirus to the list of illnesses eligible for a maximum one-time payout of around $14,300.

Blue Cross Insurance, owned by the Bank of East Asia is reportedly helping to decrease the bureaucratic impact of the coronavirus outbreak with a medical claims app.

In the meantime, it has been reported that China started a quarantine of its used bank notes to try to stop the spread of the coronavirus.