Gear Up For Coronacoin: The first Morbid Cryptocurrency with Proof-Of-Death Consensus Protocol
Have you heard about Coronacoin (NCOV), the cryptocurrency that is betting on Coronavirus fatalities and earning investors profits, every time a new person is confirmed dead from Coronavirus?
Well, a few developers came together and decided there should be a COVID-19-backed token, Coronacoin. It was first announced twenty-five days ago on Reddit, and it allows the cryptoverse to bet on the spread and deaths caused by the virus, and its value rises as the virus spreads even further.
Reuters first picked up on the Coronacoin story on February 28, and as the Reddit post indicates, not everyone was on board with the idea. Some of the comments include:
“Frankly, this is amoral.”
“Tasteless.”
“This is why we can’t have nice things.”
“You should be ashamed. I feel sorry for you and the rest of the team who play on people’s lives.
While others felt aghast, some seemed to agree with the value of the coin. One comment said”
“Thanks for the airdrop. I hope you can bring awareness to the spread of the virus, so people are prepared.”
One Coronacoin is Equivalent to one infected or Dead Person
The total supply, which is morally unbelievable and sensible at the same, is based on the world’s population 7, 604, 953,650 NCOV, and it makes you wonder what the last man standing will do with all that money if we all die from the virus. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
Coronacoin is an ERC-20 token based on the Ethereum blockchain, and according to its official website, the token is not all that bad, as it is raising awareness and relief funds towards the outbreak. 20% of the profits will apparently be donated to charitable organizations towards fighting the Coronavirus, including Redcross.
The fact that is based on Ethereum and designed to be burnt once every 48 hours according to the number of new infections and fatalities to avoid inflation, shows that the developers put a lot of effort and thoughts to developing the coin.
Coronacoin, the Morbid Cryptocurrency
All blockchain platforms use one type or a hybrid of consensus algorithms to validate transactions. Some of these include Proof-of-Work (used by Bitcoin), Proof-of-Stake (Tezos), and Delegated Proof-of-Stake. However, this is the first time that Proof-of-Death is being used as a consensus protocol.
One of the identified European developers of Coronacoin Sunny Kemp had this to say about Coronacoin:
“Some people speculate a large portion of the supply will be burned due to the spread of the virus, so they invest.”
On the CoinGecko crypto-exchange, the price of NNCOV is $0.00082690. Other exchanges where with NCOV listing include Etherdelta, Saturn, Ledgerdex, Bamboorelay, and MCAFEEDEX.
The crypto exchange Saturn seems to be generating the most traffic from Coronacoin, with 60% of its volume coming from NCOV’s trade activity.
As you can see, major and global exchanges seem to be avoiding Coronacoin like the plague it is backing. According to Sunny Kemp, however, the developer team of seven is looking to bring even more onboard as the virus continues to spread and cause even more deaths.
How profitable is Coronacoin?
First, consider the number of new infections and deaths that have occurred since the epidemic started.
Since there is no official report from Coronacoin developers as to how many coins have been burnt, the WHO estimates globally 118322 people are infected, and 4263 have died. At the time of writing, these figures shows that there are 4623 new infections and 4623 new deaths.
The trading volume is still low compared to other “famous” cryptocurrencies, and looking at its price, the demand is still low, but this could change depending on how investors feel about the coin.
The cryptocurrency cannot, however, be used to condemn the whole cryptocurrency industry as some major players have used more conventional charitable methods. One of these is Binance, which has donated $1.5 towards the relief of coronavirus victims.
Is Coronacoin Justified?
The effect of Coronavirus is being felt globally, and with its epicenter in China, which has a vast cryptocurrency fan base, their economy, as well as the global economy, are looking at possible regression.
Recently, Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan told CBNC that the coronavirus epidemic is far from over, and the whole world will feel its social and economic effects for more than one year.
Further defending Coronacoin amidst criticism, the developer’s argue that the idea is similar to pandemic bonds, Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility (PEF) issued by The World Health Organization:
“The PEF will provide more than $500 million to cover developing countries against the risk of pandemic outbreaks over the next five years, through a combination of bonds and derivatives priced today, a cash window, and future commitments from donor countries for additional coverage.”
As a response to this, Kemp Said:
“There are currently active pandemic bonds issued by the World Health Organization. How is this different?”
So now that you know as much as there is to know about Coronacoin and where the world is headed in terms of effects of the Coronavirus, do you think it is a good idea, and would you invest in it?