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Coronavirus (COVID-19) Updates:
Stats via Johns Hopkins, Confirmed Cases - 1,765,030. Total Deaths - 108,167, Total Recovered - 401,323
“We have moved to a recession that will be worse than the one we experienced in 2008”
UN Deputy-Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed
Round the World in Markets - Recession Incoming
North America
The chairman of the new Pandemic Response Accountability Committee has been replaced after less than two weeks on the job. Glenn A. Fine, a former acting inspector general, has been replaced by Sean O’Donnell, the EPA’s inspector general to oversee the $2.2 trillion stimulus bill. This move has been criticized by Democrats who have applauded Mr. Fine’s reputation as being a tough and independent investigator. There has been no official reason from the White House for the change in leadership.
South America
Latin American countries are banding together to purchase the increasingly diminished supply of PPE or personal protective equipment. Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Paraguay have joined the international bidding war to acquire equipment that would protect medical workers and the general public from contracting the coronavirus.
European Union
Boris Johnson has been moved out of an ICU after being previously admitted for COVID-19. The UK’s Prime Minister spent three days in an intensive care unit before being released and is reportedly able to go on small walks. The Prime Minister previously downplayed the severity of the pandemic and continued to shake hands as other world leaders advocated social distancing.
Africa
French doctors have proposed testing a coronavirus vaccine in Africa, sparking outrage from the international community. Dr. Jean-Paul Mira of Cochin Hospital in Paris suggested that experimental treatments be carried out in African territories where “there are no masks, no treatments, and no ICUs.” Mira later apologized in a statement released by his hospital after several advocate groups quickly raised alarms, comparing this mindset to colonial behaviors of the past.
Asia
China has taken the first steps in lifting its quarantine. The city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus was first discovered, reported on Tuesday that it had zero new reported cases of COVID-19. The city of 11 million people is slowly coming back to life after being under lockdown since late January.
Hydroxychloroquine - What’s the big deal?
(Image Courtesy of: New York Times)
One drug that has been mentioned repeatedly as a possible COVID-19 treatment is Hydroxychloroquine. President Trump has brought it up numerous times during the daily press conferences, raising concern amongst experts and the medical community at large.
What is it?
Invented in 1934 to combat malaria and then later approved to treat lupus and other autoimmune diseases, hydroxychloroquine’s treatment of COVID-19 is still largely unproven. A study in early April alluded to it alleviating symptoms but longitudinal studies (longer-term) have not been carried out for this specific use. The institution that published the story later admitted that the study was not up to publishing standards. Doctor Art Caplan PhD of the New York University of Medicine remarked on the study: “It was pathetic.” In late March the FDA approved the use of hydroxychloroquine under its “Emergency Use Authorization,” while not endorsing the use. Emergency use authorization allows the drug to be used in dire circumstances when other treatments have failed in COVID-19 patients.
What’s the controversy?
Before a drug can be prescribed for a large population, a long process must be undertaken to determine if a drug is effective and reveal possible side effects. While hydroxychloroquine is not a new drug, there are still regulatory hurdles that need to be overcome. To date, there are 388 active drug trials underway to find a successful treatment for COVID-19. This is in addition to multiple vaccine trials that are not expected to be completed for at least 16 months. This legislative red tape surrounding hydroxychloroquine has been cut quickly by the US and other countries including South Korea as the disease has claimed over 100,000 lives worldwide.
The spike in visibility has created a sudden demand for the inexpensive drug, notably from President Trump’s assertion “What do you have to lose?” Doctors are experiencing shortages so severe that their existing lupus patients are having difficulty getting their prescribed doses. Earlier this week India instituted a ban on all exports of hydroxychloroquine before reversing it shortly after.
The President’s endorsement of hydroxychloroquine has resulted in several deaths so far. In March an Arizona man died and his wife was hospitalized after they both ingested chloroquine phosphate, an additive used to treat fish tanks. While chloroquine phosphate is not hydroxychloroquine, the couple in Arizona believed they were the same. Side effects of the actual drug include loss of eyesight, heart failure, and eath. In Nigeria, three people have died after overdosing on actual hydroxychloroquine. There are also reports of complications with people on certain diabetes medications.
Many have been confused as to why President Trump continues to sing the praise of hydroxychloroquine despite the reluctance of his medical advisors to endorse it. One recent story has linked a hydroxychloroquine manufacturer to Trump, who reportedly has a small stake in the company.
Highlight - Malaysia
(Image Courtesy of: Zika News)
The SouthEast Asian country of Malaysia makes up a small fraction of the global GDP and stock allocation. It occupies a peninsula roughly the size of New Mexico near the equator yet boasts a GDP of over $1.1 trillion. We are seeing them take similar actions to the US and other larger countries.
Malaysia’s leadership approved two stimulus packages valued at $4.8 billion and $57 billion respectively. These funds are to address the immediate needs generated by the coronavirus and provide relief for small to medium businesses. Similar to the US, direct cash payments will be made to families and additional wages for workers. Despite the large size of these economic assistance programs the finance minister, Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, is confident that these expenditures are one-off outlays of capital. “To ensure limited medium-term implication to public finance, measures introduced are one-off, temporary and time-bound. As these measures are non-recurring expenditures, fiscal consolidation efforts will resume once health and economic conditions stabilize.”
Like the rest of the world, the financial future of Malaysia is largely dependent on how quickly the COVID-19 crisis is contained. A popular tourist destination and hub for international business, Malaysia has been affected greatly due to the recent travel restrictions. Hotel occupancy rates are projected to be 25% of capacity, while profitability generally occurs over 40% capacity. As the recent stimulus packages will help brunt the financial blow, companies that can survive the dry season are looking forward. The Malaysia Tourism Board plans to introduce a new campaign following the coronavirus.
Looking at how nations other than the US are handling the economic impact can give a broader understanding of its overall impact. Even though there are more legislative safeguards and regulations in place than during the 2008-09 recession, the speed of the economic drop has been much faster. COVID-19 has caused more massive hardships in three weeks than the three years it took for the Great Recession to take hold of the collective consciousness. These next few weeks will be very telling in how the world markets react.
How to: Surviving the Asian Crypto Market
This special article piece is brought to you by Siwon Kim, Business Development Manager at MXC Foundation.
By: Siwon Kim
Working for MXC Foundation — an IoT token based in Berlin, Germany — while having Korean roots allowed me quite a few travels between Europe and Asia (at least when traveling was encouraged, and we did not have to fear a pandemic). While the travels gave me the expertise and the right contacts to lead business development especially in South Korea, establishing a new base in Asia was a completely different story.
Between back-to-back meetings and never-ending phone notifications, I truly resonated with the “Western” Blockchain projects that had to either spend an ungodly amount of cash or completely give up their expansion into the Asian market.
Within a year of tapping into the Korean market specifically, MXC now has an office in downtown Gangnam (let the references flow in) with designated staff, and thousands of community members and supporters.
So these are the lessons I learned while developing business opportunities in the Asian cryptocurrency market.
1. Know when to say “yes”, and when to say “no”
It seems quite obvious. I am assuming that you know when to say “yes”, and when to say “no”. However, in Far-East Asian culture that cares more for the other person’s feelings than his or her true intentions, it can be extra tricky.
Whether you are pitching to an Asian VC for funding or presenting to an Asian company for implementation partnership, no person will tell you a flat-out “no”. After all, they have just met you. It would be rude to shut you out like that.
Yet this births another common problem — chasing a dead lead. Even when an Asian company claims it is interested and would like a “further review”, this could simply mean that they expect you to wait in silence until everything fades away. The Western “can do” mentality and proactiveness usually makes projects take “further review” as a sign that a deal is almost there (but not quite), and invest more time and resources, not knowing the lead is dead.
So it is equally important to say “no” in the middle of a slowing flow and walk away. This will save time and resources, and give you the little vacancy of mind to chase other, more active leads.
2. Speak the local language (or hire someone who does)
East-Asian languages are some of the most difficult to master (I hear you, Hungarians and Nordics, but bear with me). While the grammar and sentence structure is nothing too tricky, there are many times when two native speakers would reach a non-verbal understanding that the subject of their conversation is implied with 100% accuracy for both sides. When you add this to Blockchain jargon and cryptocurrency slangs, even a native could struggle.
So it is always beneficial to speak the local language or hire someone who does. While many projects and companies in Asia do speak English, a majority of them do not. Conducting business in English can also result in paying more for services (especially in marketing and translations industries), and businesses being overly polite, making it even more difficult to determine whether they are a dead lead or not.
3. Network, Network, and Network
It is entirely common that even a dead lead can bring you promising connections. In a networking event, everyone really reaches out to everyone else (so also make sure to take plenty of business cards). This means that a single networking event will be more beneficial than searching for the target company and sending streams of emails. Even if the person you meet does not have the right connection, he or she will introduce you to someone who may have. Once you hop through a few “connection of a connection of an acquaintance”, you will have the opportunity to meet with the company (or an individual) that you have targeted as your primary lead.
Having a vast network of individuals is also beneficial when you are looking to hire services. Always contact some people from your network and ask for a price estimate. Then, get in some discounts. Now, you have a lower price estimate to use as a bargaining chip when negotiating for prices with the service provider you actually have in mind.
4. Learn to Ignore and Hug
When I meet with fellow professionals at different Blockchain events, almost all of them can agree on one thing: the Asian communities are the most active.
Take any Telegram group chat of a project, and compare the number of messages per user on a “Global” group to that of an Asian “country-specific” group. You will see that a lot of Asian community members (who are also small-scale investors) of a project tend to be very vocal.
Most of the time, these voices will have some type of criticism. The criticism is anything but ungrounded, as these are the investors who put their money into a project, however small. I have often made the mistake (and other projects continue to do) of addressing every single criticism and complaint. I wanted to do things differently, as I know that making people shut up or banning them is too common in Blockchain project management.
Then one day, those who kept on complaining told me that they were not looking for answers. It did not matter whether I answered them or not, and did not matter whether I believed I have resolved their complaints successfully. They simply wanted ventilation. Then they noticed that I was answering them almost immediately — however late or early in my local time — and had to tell me, since they felt bad.
Most complaints on English-speaking community groups tend to be looking for answers. Most Asian country-specific groups are just looking for a place to complain. So learn to ignore, and simply hug them with warm words. You will find that surprisingly, those who complained the most become the most fervent believer.
5. Play Your Advantage
Scarred by war, and assured with the economic boom, Asian culture tends to grant a sense of premium on Western products. As it is often a trait in an economy that went through rapid growth and success, people are also willing to pay the higher price that justifies the premium. Assuming that the features are similar, a Western product receives higher premium scores by default.
So do not be afraid to play your advantage.
When I meet people who work in Business Development for different projects, I am often tickled by a bit of frustration as so many Blockchain projects fail to put themselves as a “product”. They bore everyone with all the talks about technicalities and how A gets to B, so much so that they get lost in it.
I’m going to say it once and final — no one cares about your project’s technical aspect, as long as it works better than the previous solutions.
Once you have a working product, it becomes all about how your solution (or product, as I like to call it) is better than the others’. To convince the market, you have to portray yourself as a brand that is simply superior to be associated with. In that, you can play the advantages of automatic premium your project receives.
6. Be Genuine
Most of the Asian cultures emphasize the importance of politeness. When you combine it to the ever-so-exhausting speed of business in Asia, the notion of politeness often becomes a hindering block that stops people from expressing themselves. Quite frankly, a lot of people have a few bottled-up angers inside (perhaps this justifies the drinking culture).
This means that they are looking for a fresh shock to work as catharsis. In the cryptocurrency market, such may be the reason active investors and supporters choose to back a Western project and join the group chat channels. It could be another reason some people may come to a meet-up hosted by a Western project (Most humans are also curious by nature). On such channels and at such events, most Western projects also try to be overly polite that they lose the touch of who they truly are.
At a Meet-Up hosted in Seoul, I sat at a panel of experts to discuss the market situation and important developments in Blockchain. While others admittedly had more expert knowledge than I did at the time, they continued to be on the fence on almost all questions asked. There was a sense of enforced politeness that made the entire experience rather bland for my taste.
So I started to talk about the problems I saw. I blamed myself for the mistakes I have made, and I also put a few harsh words on where some of that blame should be appropriated. Then, everyone clapped.
After the meet-up, a lot of the attendees thanked me for being so genuine, and for saying the words they could not have said due to the enforced culture of politeness. Needless to say, some of those attendees are now some of the most active members of our Telegram and KakaoTalk groups.
So do not be afraid to show more color. Be more genuine. The often-portrayed images of submissive Asian culture are starting to break away, as more people are witnessing the consequences of blind and mute submissiveness.
In the End
Of course, every day I learn something new in Business Development. As this industry is reliant on people, Business Development is intertwined with culture. Some scholars say that it takes a minimum of 80 years for a cultural trend to shift, yet I firmly disagree with that. With every boom and every crisis, culture shifts by a measurable margin. The roller-coaster ride of economy and politics in Asia has shaped the culture to form what it is today.
Consequently, the current trend of economic downfall, the spread of a pandemic, lowering of outputs, temporary shifting of output products, and increased frequency of home office are already starting to change the cultural background in Asia.
It is only my hope that when the dust settles, the readers could take the information above and apply them in an appropriate manner and be an integral part of the shifting culture of the cryptocurrency market in Asia.
This newsletter, analysis, research, and commentary provided by Modern Markets, lead analyst Kaltoro, with contributions from TytanInc and Digital Lawrence. The publication incorporates data from numerous sources including, but not limited to, CoinMarketCap, Bloomberg, CNBC, Lunar Crush, and the team at FomoHunt.