We Are Still Here, Everyone Is OK So Far, And Zap Is Going Strong

During March, the COVID-19 novel coronavirus jumped from a virus affecting only a handful of nations to a worldwide threat. Even remote islands in the Southern Hemisphere like the Falkland Islands in the far south Atlantic Ocean have begun testing for the virus. We address the effect of the virus on the crypto community more at length below, but first, let’s update you on the major progress Zap.org achieved in March.

CoinGecko Partners With Zap

A market leader in providing fundamental analysis for the crypto market, CoinGecko will work with Zap.org to create smart contract compatible data feeds using the Zap protocol. CoinGecko is one of the world’s leading crypto market news sources and, if a reported acquisition by Binance of CoinMarketCap.com occurs, CoinGecko perhaps would become the world’s preeminent independent site for market data.

This will increase the amount of market data available for decentralized applications, offered in a decentralized manner, through Zap protocol’s innovative bonding curve technology.

Developmental progress is advancing as the integration of the CoinGecko’s data APIs begins. Stay tuned for an official release concerning the deployment of any CoinGecko related oracle services.

Hackathon with Yerevan State Medical University

We are in the early stages of implementing a hackathon through hackthevirus.org to help confront the global pandemic of the COVID-19 virus as well as other infectious diseases.

Bonding curve technology provided by the Zap protocol allows us to tokenize each individual research team. From there, the erc20 token for each individual research team can be issued through the fully liquid decentralized exchange (DEX) which a bonding curve creates.

For the hackathon, these tokens can be used for both fundraising and decentralized competitions. Additionally, these projects, incubated during the hackathon, can continue to grow beyond it by using their erc-20 token/bonding curve widget in any other ethereum environment, competition or fundraising event, and tokens in circulation can even get listed on other exchanges.

We partnered with Yerevan State Medical University in Armenia to assist in the global effort to fight this current and all future viruses.

To join in the discussion, join the hackathon’s active discord at: https://discord.gg/CVs6Pqz

To view the hackathon’s Github, which is open for public development and will soon include an oracle repo, click here: https://github.com/zapproject/HackTheVirus.org

In the press:

The media outlet Armenian Weekly picked up on this work by Zap.org and others to “provide a blockchain-based solution to facilitate tracking, verifying and distributing of vital medical supplies such as masks and ventilators where they’re needed most to fight the epidemic.” You can read the article here: How the “Silicon Mountain” Handles Quarantine

And Now More About How We Are Dealing With COVID-19 And The Huge Social Changes

As we release this update, most of the world is in the throes of the global COVID-19 pandemic. This is presenting a health crisis of obvious gravity and undetermined severity the likes of which the world has likely not seen during the age of modern medicine and for at least 100 years (since the influenza epidemic of 1918), if not longer. We also recognize that the world’s economies are now in a state of deep uncertainty perhaps not seen since the darkest times of the Cold War, if not the end of the Second World War in 1945.

Yet it bears mentioning that the cryptocurrency and digital asset markets have been remarkably relatively stable during March 2020. During that month, major crypto assets have held their value better than the major stock market indices, and most commodities. As the world goes through an unprecedented crisis, the crypto markets’ relative stability is also noteworthy. We think this is encouraging for the industry and certainly for our prospects.

Zap.org continues to function, produce, and innovate. Our decentralized structure has meant that we have redundancies allowing projects to move to completion even if individual team members have interruptions from any cause. Our people are across the globe.

We extend our sympathies to all who have been negatively affected by this pandemic. We recognize the health risks, and then the psychological effects of massive social and cultural changes being imposed virtually overnight and of a new relationship between many governments and their citizens. We recognize this to be a time of rapid and uncertain upheaval, adjustment, and recalibration. We are not dreamers but are taking a realistic view of the global paradigm; these changes may be permanent or at least long-lasting.

Our approach to the future, and the immediate present, will be driven by one concept: adaptability. We will not be trapped by a nostalgia for the norms of yesterday. There is only one path: Forward!

On a personal note, we can report that no current team members have come down with the virus. Much of our time, by necessity, had to shift not only to personal preparation but to familial preparation as well. Thank you for understanding and we hope all who are reading this stay safe and healthy as we defeat this virus and then work to help our communities rebuild their relationships, connections and economies.