The BioMedWire Podcast

On episode 106 of the Wild West Crypto Show, crypto cowboys Drew Taylor and Brent Bates, hosts of the show, were at it again, bringing their loyal fans up to speed with developments in the crypto space. The buzz about Virtual Blockchain Week, which took place April 26 through May 2, 2020, in Las Vegas, was evident.  Organized by Joel Comm and Travis Wright of the Bad Crypto Podcast, Virtual Blockchain Week 2020 was a global livestream event focused on blockchain, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

As always, the weekly news update with Jonathan Keim, communications director of CryptoCurrencyWire, was a central feature of the show. First up was news of a recently released study on blockchain that highlighted two challenges – lack of awareness and scalability – that the technology must overcome (http://ccw.fm/blQE6). Despite these caveats, further development of distributed ledger applications continues to proceed, as the next item demonstrates.

“Bitcoin ATMs pump to over 7,500 worldwide,” the news proclaims (http://ccw.fm/Mm4K1). Bitcoin ATM installation has climbed by around 70% over the past year, bringing the estimated total of ATMs to 7,500, two-thirds of which are in the United States. The pace of installation picked up this year, with approximately 1,200 units, or 16% of the total, being installed this year. This is a decidedly rapid increase. It took four years, from 2014 to 2018, for the number of bitcoin ATMs installed globally to reach 2,000.

Finally, our communications director covered a headline that shows how the industry is taking the fight to the coronavirus: ‘Virtual Blockchain Week Partners with Binance Charity to Donate Funds to Crypto Against COVID Campaign’ (http://ccw.fm/KfE25). Event organizers of Virtual Blockchain Week joined forces with Binance Charity, a nonprofit organization founded by Binance, to raise funds for the charity’s campaign, Crypto Against COVID. Donations will be used to purchase medical supplies from vetted suppliers to support hospitals and first responders around the world who are risking their lives to tackle this virus.