The organizers of Consensus 2020 announce the upcoming crypto and blockchain conference in New York City will be virtual-only due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the world. As governments fight to contain the spread of the virus, many events are being scrapped.

No meet and drink at Consensus 2020

The latest event casualty at the hands of the coronavirus is the upcoming Consensus 2020 conference that was to be held in New York City from May 11 through May 13. The organizers have just released an email that says the conference will now only be a virtual experience that will be free of charge for everybody around the world.

The email says the goal of the conference has always been to bring the cryptocurrency and blockchain community together into a physical location in order to promote education, growth, and personal connections.

However, the ongoing coronavirus outbreak has made such a gathering impossible. The governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, recently announced a ban on gatherings of 500 or more people. This order has also led to the closing of Broadway until April 12.

The Consensus 2020 announcement discusses what viewers can expect of the conference’s virtual experience, saying:

With premier speakers discussing the most important topics of our time, all coordinated by CoinDesk’s experienced journalists and moderators in a rolling live TV-like experience, we are confident that a virtual Consensus 2020 will be an enriching experience for our audience. And they can enjoy it from the safety of their homes.

Those who had purchased tickets to the conference will get a full refund. The organizers are upbeat, saying that the conference will be back, bigger and better, next year.

Cancellations everywhere

Consensus 2020 is just the latest victim of the coronavirus outbreak. Major League Baseball has ended spring training and pushed back opening day at least two weeks. The NBA has suspended its season with just 11 games remaining, and college basketball fans are in despair as the March Madness tournament has been canceled.

In California, Disneyland is shutting down due to COVID-19. A good number of musical acts, such as Billie Eilish, have canceled or postponed concert tour dates.

The South by Southwest film, tech, and music festival was recently canceled, which was soon followed by the cancellation of E3 2020.

Many companies are now offering employees the ability to work from home in the hope of not spreading the virus.

Chances are that more events will be canceled in the near future as medical experts wait and see if the upcoming summer season will slow the outbreak.

At the time of writing, there are 139,499 reported coronavirus cases worldwide with a total death toll of 5,120. China, Italy, and Iran combine for the vast majority of the numbers, totaling 107,292 cases and 4,707 deaths.

Featured image courtesy of Jonathan Maycock / Twitter