Some rumors suggest china has started the quarantine of used cash to stop the spread of coronavirus. Now members of the crypto community believe that Bitcoin should be considered as an alternative way of payment.
The Chinese government cut off the transfer and allocation of old banknotes across Hubei, the province where Wuhan is located.
Besides, the central bank is going to sanitize old money to reduce the risk of contagion. It also added 600 billion yuan new cash to Hubei and destroyed some money in areas hard hit by the coronavirus.
After provincial authorities changed the method for diagnosing cases, 15,000 new cases and 242 more deaths were reported only in Hubei province.
Many analysts and experts believe the government is underreporting the numbers. Official figures claim 68,000 people infected since December, and the number of deaths is above 1,665.
There has been a steady drop in using cash in recent years in China. The mobile payments and solutions like digital currencies had caused lots of people to avoid using banknotes.
But older people still prefer to use old cash for day-to-day transactions.
Coronavirus and BTC mining
Some bitcoin mining facilities in china closed amid the fear of coronavirus infection. But it had little to no impact on the BTC hash rate.
Anyway, some analysts believe it is hard to estimate the effect on the market right now. A spokesperson from bitcoin mining hardware manufacturer Bitmain said there is no impact on the hash rate and the network at all.
Lots of experts and fans in the crypto economy believe bitcoin and other digital currencies could have been the best alternative solution for banknotes.
Those assets eliminate the passing of paper money for paying, and therefore the issue of virus spread.
