Organisers of the Paris Blockchain Week Summit have postponed the event until December over the threat of a coronavirus pandemic.

Bosses at the highly-popular annual gathering of cryptocurrency and blockchain thought-leaders took the decision not to go ahead with planned event – set to open on March 31 – only an hour ago.

It is the first summit on the blockchain calendar to pull the plug over the virus, and observers anticipate it may open the floodgates to further cancellations around the globe.

A statement released just a short time ago suggested organisers were acting on advice from the French government.

“Over the past weeks, we have been closely monitoring global developments around the coronavirus outbreak,” the statement said.

“The security and safety of our attendees, speakers and sponsors will always be our top priority. “In addition, the recent guidelines issued by the French government which prohibit large gatherings put the status of the event at risk.

“With this in mind, we now feel that postponing the summit is the best and safest option.”

2,500 visitors

More than 2,500 visitors and 250 speakers were expected to pack out the Station F venue near the Alan Turing Square. The summit will now take place on December 9 and 10.

“Rescheduling PBWS allows us to ensure that our world-class conference proceeds without compromise – the venue, schedule and setup remain the same – and we will continue to update our agenda and speaker line-up with exciting new additions,” the statement added.

“We would like to thank all those involved in organising PBWS: our speakers, our sponsors, our media partners, as well as the team at our venue, Station F, for your continued participation and support.

“Please continue to follow our social media channels as we announce more speakers and sponsors in the months ahead. We look forward to welcoming you in Paris this December.”

Several governments across the world are slowly advising large event organisers to consider postponing events as the global health leaders attempt to contain the virus which has claimed the lives of more than 3,000 people.