Bitcoin and Various Other Risk Assets Face the Brunt of the New Covid-19 Variant

On Friday, Bitcoin plunged along with other risk assets, reaching a seven-week low and effectively entering bear market territory.

Furthermore, Bitcoin (BTC) has lost more than 20% of its value after hitting an all-time high of about $69,000 earlier this month. A bear market is defined by a 20% or more drop in price from previous highs.

Other cryptocurrencies fell in value on Friday as well. Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency, dropped more than 10% to $4,059, while XRP sank 9.9% to a little under 95 cents.

Fears of a new, significantly mutated strain of Covid-19, first found in South Africa, are causing digital currencies to fall in lockstep with other risk assets.

The World Health Organization held a press conference on Thursday to discuss the new variant, known as B.1.1.529, which is likely to include more than 30 mutations. In reaction, the United Kingdom and other countries have temporarily halted flights from six African countries, including South Africa.

Global stock markets were in free fall on Friday, with European stocks likely to have their worst day in over a year and U.S. stock futures falling dramatically.

With U.S. Treasury yields falling dramatically, investors are fleeing risky assets for the relative safety of bonds. Bond yields are inversely proportional to prices.

Advocates of Bitcoin have referred to it as “digital gold,” a reference to the precious metal’s reputation as a “safe haven” asset.

Cryptocurrency investors argue that the virtual currency serves as both a store of value and a hedge against inflation.

It’s worth mentioning that Bitcoin is a highly volatile asset, with previous price movements of more than 10% occurring on just one day.

What Other Cryptocurrencies Can You Consider in the Meantime?

Even though Bitcoin did not respond well to the new Covid-19 variant, other virtual coins are still performing quite alright given the tough environmental news.

There are more than three times as many cryptos as there are U.S. listed stocks, with 14,865 in circulation and rising. Aside from the well-known cryptos such as Bitcoin, Dogecoin, and Ether, keeping an eye on of all the big movers in the cryptocurrency market is relatively impossible.

The introduction of new crypto coins has a connection with a powerful bull market for the industry, with a recent rally in Bitcoin helping to expand this industry to a market cap of approximately $3 trillion. Smaller digital coins such as Solana, Shiba Inu, and Cardano, which have experienced fantastic gains this year, have also jumped on the upward pattern.

Alternative cryptocurrencies, which are not as liquid and are more volatile, may cause buyers to suffer significant losses or gains in a short period of time. Despite rising millions of percentage points, the Shiba Inu dropped roughly 40% from its recent high. However, after making quick increases of 75,000 percent, there was a 99 percent drop in the squid game token in one day.

Investors can keep an eye out for which coins are gaining traction in the cryptocurrency world by watching out for the weekly winners.

As per to data from several crypto brokers, these five of the best-performing virtual coins with a market value greater than $1 billion over the past week, despite the drop in Ether and Bitcoin:

1. Gala
2. The Sandbox
3. Zcash
4. Basic Attention Token
5. com Coin

Key Takeaways

The main points to take away from this article are:

• Bitcoin fell to $53,549 at one point during Friday, its lowest rate since early October.
• The virtual currency has lost 20% of its value since hitting an all-time high of nearly $69,000 earlier during the month.
• Bear markets are characterized by a 20% or more drop in price from previous highs.
• While Bitcoin may have dropped, other virtual currencies are growing.