Oct 12, 2018

Gary Cohn joins blockchain startup

Gary Cohn speaks at an event hosted by the Economics Club of Washington D.C. Photo: Samuel Corum/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Gary Cohn, former economic adviser to President Trump and Goldman Sachs president, has joined the advisory board of Spring Labs, a startup developing blockchain tech to help lenders and other companies verify customer identity, he told the Financial Times.

Why it matters: Cohn is not the first Wall Street executive to be interested in this new area of digital currencies, nor the first to focus his enthusiasm on the underlying technology rather than the cryptocurrencies themselves.

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Axios

Fear of coronavirus pandemic escalates

Photo: Abdulgani Basheer/AFP/Getty Images

In the blink of an eye, we've entered a new phase on the coronavirus.

The big picture: Italy, Iran and South Korea are at "decisive" points in their responses, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

Go deeper1 hour ago - Health

Courtenay Brown

Stocks fall 4% as sell-off worsens

A trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Photo: Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images

Stocks fell more than 4% on Thursday, extending the market’s worst week since the financial crisis in 2008 following a spike in coronavirus cases around the world.

The big picture: All three indices are in correction, down over 10% from recent record-highs, amid a global market rout. It's the S&P 500's quickest decline into correction territory in the index's history, per Deutsche Bank.

Go deeperUpdated 2 hours ago - Economy & Business

Axios

Coronavirus updates: California monitors 8,400 potential cases

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, and China's Health Ministry. Note: China numbers are for the mainland only and U.S. numbers include repatriated citizens.

33 people in California have tested positive for the coronavirus, and health officials are monitoring 8,400 people who have recently returned from "points of concern," Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday.

The big picture: COVID-19 has killed more than 2,800 people and infected over 82,000 others in some 50 countries and territories. The novel coronavirus is now affecting every continent but Antarctica, and the WHO said Wednesday the number of new cases reported outside China has exceeded those inside the country for the first time.

Go deeperUpdated 3 hours ago - Health