Although Bitcoin (BTC) and the crypto market have crashed right alongside legacy markets due to the coronavirus outbreak that’s wreaking havoc around the world, shuttering businesses, pulling the plug on entire industries and claiming over 10,000 lives, Brian Armstrong, CEO of crypto exchange Coinbase, says one unique aspect of crypto is proving to have a crucial benefit.
Armstrong points out the potential danger of using physical money in the midst of a global health crisis – banknotes can easily spread Covid-19.
In China, authorities are disinfecting and destroying potentially infected cash to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.
The US Federal Reserve is also imposing up to 10 days of quarantine for dollar bills coming from Asia and Europe as a precautionary measure.
We're working hard to make it easier for people to use global, inflation proof, digital payments with crypto!
Passing paper currency and coins between people has never been hygienic.https://t.co/fgzB688yaC
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) March 19, 2020
Armstrong says another unique feature of Bitcoin will remain a key advantage over fiat: it’s tight total supply of 21 million coins.
“Most peer to peer payment apps today are U.S. only and fiat currencies are going to lose their value more quickly with upcoming inflation.
It’s time for the world to have a global payment system based on sound money.”
Although Armstrong is a longtime Bitcoin bull, he recently declared that the true winner of the long-term race for the best cryptocurrency remains to be seen, comparing the early days of crypto assets to the advent of early internet browsers like Netscape.
