Bitcoin price: Crypto bounces back while world stock markets plunge over Omicron fears
Cryptocurrency has made an incredible comeback while the rest of the world is feeling the economic shockwaves from Omicron.
Bitcoin has had an incredible start to the week while the rest of the world has plummeted over fears of the new Omicron Covid-19 variant.
Despite stock exchanges around the world going into free fall from Friday onwards following the WHO’s official warning against the new viral strain and subsequent border closures around the globe, bitcoin seems to be defying the trend by rising six per cent in just a few hours on Monday.
The cryptocurrency is climbing upward while Wall Street is in the red.
Bitcoin hit a 24-hour high of US$58,270.29, according to CoinDesk. At time of writing, the blockchain is sitting slightly lower, at US$57,643.
Meanwhile, the rest of the world is bottoming out with US, European and Asian markets failing to escape the fallout of the mutant virus.
Like everyone else, bitcoin plunged on Black Friday following the WHO announcement, dropping by eight per cent in a single day.
Other cryptocurrencies also dropped considerably, especially Ethereum, which dipped below US$4000 on Friday and, after a brief rally, again on Sunday.
By Saturday the bitcoin Fear and Greed Index, which measures the emotions of coin holders, deemed investors “extremely fearful”.
CoinDesk reported that was the index’s lowest level since the end of September.
However, on Monday, bitcoin had bounced back considerably.
Meanwhile, stock markets were feeling shockwaves from Omicron. Australia’s ASX 200 started the day down 1.7 per cent before beginning to recover and the US was down by two per cent while the UK crashed 3.6 per cent.
France and Spain fell even further, both experiencing a five per cent decline.
It’s unclear what exactly caused the bitcoin market to soar while every other stock exchange fell.
“The fate of the crypto market could face weeks of uncertainty as investors await omicron’s potential impact,” CoinDesk noted.
It’s not the first time the experimental coin has seemingly bucked the trend.
Earlier this month, the US government announced inflation had reached a 31-year high.
Instead of dragging bitcoin down, the blockchain rose by $2500 within 45 minutes of the announcement.
