This weekly summary from our 6 experts, brings you insights based on their experience as investors, entrepreneurs & executives.

Ilias Hatzis started his first company, an internet search engine, during the dot-com era & now focusses on crypto.

Efi Pylarinou worked for top tier Wall Street firms and is now a top global Fintech influencer.

Jessica Ellerm is CEO of Zuper Superannuation & previously worked for a top Fintech startup, Tyro.

Patrick Kelahan is a CX, engineering & insurance professional, working with Insurers, Attorneys & Owners.

Sheldon Freedman is a Fintech lawyer at Hassans International Law Firm

Bernard Lunn is the CEO of Daily Fintech author of The Blockchain Economy, advisor, serial entrepreneur and blogger

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Your Editor is Bernard Lunn. He is also the CEO of Daily Fintech and author of The Blockchain Economy.

Monday Ilias Hatzis @iliashatzis our Greece-based crypto entrepreneur (Founder & CEO at Mercato Blockchain Corporation AG and Weekly Columnist at Daily Fintech) wrote The Crypto-Coronavirus Opportunity

We are facing challenging times globally, that affect all of us economically and for some even our existence. The Coronavirus is a global pandemic that has brought the world economy to a grinding halt. While we do not know how bad it may turn out to be, a crisis can alway be an opportunity. It can help us reshape and implement digital strategies and create new opportunities that accelerate the application of new technologies. How will Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies fare during this chaos?

Editor note:Read this post to learn about some proximate causes of why Bitcoin crashed so much harder than other asserts and to learn which very credible technologist is saying that it is a good time to buy Bitcoin. From the perspective of the end of the week, after a price rally, you might wish you had read this post and acted on it.

Bernard Lunn, CEO of Daily Fintech, author of The Blockchain Economy, advisor, serial entrepreneur and blogger wrote A Bug Is Crashing The Financial System And Decentralization Is The Best Way To Fix It

Yes that is a play on words. Software programmers borrowed a medical word – bug – to describe an error that could crash their software systems.

Now a bug from Wuhan is crashing the financial system. Yes global finance is a system and systems are vulnerable to bugs.

Editor note: This, the first in a series on the world that comes after the coronavirus crisis, focusses on the destructive part of creative destruction by looking at how our financialized economy is being destroyed.

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Tuesday Efi Pylarinou @efipm our Swiss-based Fintech Adviser,  founder of Efi Pylarinou Advisory and a Fintech/Blockchain influencer – No.3 influencer in the finance sector by Refinitiv Global Social Media 2019 wrote Time to check US Consumer debt, delinquencies, and refinancing applications

It was only a month ago that economists were talking about interest payments on debt for individuals in the US (the top G7 indebted country on a personal basis) being low and manageable as the job market was strong.

Fast forward to today and the same numbers have to be interpreted differently. The global economy is taking a hit and both businesses and individuals are at risk. We need to look at the facts & figures and then see what can be done by banks or fintechs.

Editor note:Efi reports on data that was troubling pre Coronavirus and may turn into crisis in April. Both Banks and Alt Lender Fintechs will be tested in this economic cycle.

Bernard Lunn, CEO of Daily Fintech, author of The Blockchain Economy, advisor, serial entrepreneur and blogger wrote the XBRL news for week ending 17 March 2020 

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Wednesday Jessica Ellerm @jessicaellerm, our Australia-based Fintech entrepreneur and thought leader specializing in Small Business and the Gig Economy & CEO/Co-Founder of Zuper, a new superannuation startup in Australia wrote Niche Fintech Could Catch The Coronavirus Bug

After being the darlings of the fintech space for so long, startups in the payments space have been some of the first stocks to feel the full force of the economic punch that is the coronavirus.

Around the world retail, hospitality and tourism are coming to a screeching halt, faced with a combination of forced lock down and pure consumer avoidance. With jobs on the line across multiple industries, discretionary spending is basically dead for the foreseeable future.

Editor note: Coronavirus is hitting all the fun stuff that economists call discretionary spending hard. Niche payments vendors rely on this. Consumers  may revert to legacy payment methods when panic buying at the grocery store

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Thursday Patrick Kelahan @insuranceeleph1, our US based Insurtech expert (a CX, engineering & insurance professional, working with Insurers, Attorneys & Owners who also serves the insurance and Fintech world as the ‘Insurance Elephant’) wrote COVID-19 supplants InsurTech – moving lower on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Business Needs

Staff working from home.

Premium growth or reduction?

Staff being repurposed or subject to RIF.

Claims- virtual handling or on-site assessment?

Innovation efforts underway- suspend or continue?

Customers with reduced access to the firm or agents.

Supplies- how much to stock, if the supplies can be found?

Start ups- traction had been tough, now there is no friction.

VC’s and funding orgs- how can we support any investment?

Coverage determination for pandemic or microbial infestation.

Vendor partners- how to maintain relationships or leverage their skills?

Editor note: Pat raises the question of whether Coronavirus will lead to a slowdown in innovation. This did not happen in the 2008 crash, when early stage financing was (counterintuitively) strong. Read Pat’s fascinating insights at this time because Insurance is critical for everybody in these difficult times and Pat deals with the subject from the point of view of those with the difficult job of actually insuring us.

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Friday  Sheldon Freedman, Fintech lawyer at Hassans International Law Firm

wrote: Security Token news for Week ending 20 March 2020

Editor note: This weekly snapshot is the news that matters for busy senior people in the Security Token market.

Most of our posts this week had a Coronavirus theme. It is hard to avoid the elephant in the room, but this too shall pass.

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Source: https://dailyfintech.com/2020/03/20/this-week-in-fintech-ending-20-march-2020/