Cause and effect of Black Thursday
A concept note for a roundtable discussion on the ramifications of the March 2020 crypto market crash
The week from 9th to 15th March 2020 was the wildest week on Wall Street since the Lehman Brothers crisis in 2008. It seemed like it was armageddon. On 12th March, Thursday all hell broke loose on the crypto and stocks market across the world. Bitcoin prices crashed 50% and came down to $3700 before the day-end bell could ring.
if Bitcoin is an uncorrelated asset that is meant to act as a “safe haven” during times of turmoil, why did the Bitcoin market still crash 50% (“the single largest one-day drop in Bitcoin’s price since 2013”)?
This raises questions which merit answers:
- Was it just a market correction?
- Is COVID19 to be blamed for this?
- Is Bitcoin not a safe haven anymore?
- Why did it hit both the Stocks and Crypto markets at the same time?
- What does this market movement tell us about the future?
This roundtable brings to light these and some more issues which need to be addressed. We are getting some great people together in a room online, to discuss and analyze the moments which we all call #Blackthursday and get some answers to help us prepare for the future.
The Roundtable Knights
In order to discuss this topic, we needed some people who have had a deep insight into why this unrelated market phenomenon took place. The people we got in touch are stalwarts in their own might with not only profound knowledge on crypto and blockchain but also have a keen eye on the financial market trends and beat. They were more than willing to spend their time and brainstorm this very relatable topic.
This Chainbusters Global Roundtable Discussion Series №1 brought together some of the best proponents and experts on in the field of fintech, stock markets, blockchain, and cryptocurrencies. Our aim was to ensure a freewheeling conversation to discuss what could be the cause and the effects of this crash which the world experienced.
- Pavel Bains, CEO, Bluzelle
- Joeri van Geelen, Managing Partner (APAC), Prysm Group
- David Shin, General Manager (APAC), [redacted]
- Sandeep Nailwal, Co-Founder & COO, Matic Network
- Darius Sit, Managing Partner, QCP Capital
Our Guests
Pavel is the CEO of Bluzelle, a decentralized database that solves the security, integrity, reliability issues facing data management.
He often speaks on panels and conferences about where digital media, finance, and technology are heading. Pavel also is a contributing writer to Fast Company, Venture Beat, Forbes, and The Huffington Post.
Joeri is Managing Partner APAC at Prysm Group, which is a New York and Singapore-based economic consulting firm led by Harvard Ph.D. economists specialized in distributed ledger and blockchain technology.
Over the past 10+ years, Joeri held various commercial and management roles across the globe working with Shell, Gazprom, Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Siemens, Statoil/Equinor, and Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs across the Energy, Supply Chain and Digital Technology industries. Joeri’s passion is building tomorrow’s Autonomous Economy by enabling technical breakthroughs across various Digital Technologies over the past 10+ years, Joeri held various commercial and management roles across the globe.
David Shin is an Entrepreneur and an ex-Banker who has been involved in several startups around the world. He was the key crypto and blockchain expert at TD Bank and advised Canadian Regulators as to how cryptocurrencies should be regulated in Canada.
David also worked with Bitcoin.com as the Head of their exchange. Currently, he works with Redacted, a cybersecurity company based in San Francisco. In addition, he is also an Advisor to the Tezos Foundation where he advises the Board with the Asia strategy.
David is considered to be an early adopter of digital currencies which has led him to appear on regional and global media outlets like CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg, NY Times, Swiss TV, and The Economist.
As the Co-founder & Chief Operations Officer of Matic Network, Sandeep is responsible for the following: Onboarding decentralized applications on Matic Network to achieve scalability and faster transactions
- Fueling user adoption for Matic network and its based Dapps
- Designing product/network strategy for long term network velocity
- Design and Deployments of Dapps on Matic network”
Darius is co-founder and Managing Partner at QCP Capital, a digital asset trading firm headquartered in Singapore.
Formerly a Macro Trader at Dymon Asia Capital, he spent years trading cross-asset derivatives with a focus on Asian FX/NDFs and model-based strategies before moving on to manage the Asia FX & Bonds book at BNP Paribas in New York.
Special Thanks
Our entire series was ably managed and moderated by Pavel Bains, CEO, Bluzelle. He brought a 360-degree outlook in fintech, investments, DeFi, and many things blockchain and Crypto. Our gratitude to him for making these discussions much more focussed and directed.
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