Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins fell sharply today. Bitcoin slumped below $55,000 for the first time since October 13. While the leading cryptocurrency has decreased by about 7% in the last 24 hours, serious decreases have been seen in many altcoins.
While many different reasons were cited as the reason for this decline, the finding of a new variant of Covid-19 came to the fore. According to a report in Diken, a new variant of Covid-19 with a large number of mutations was found in the Republic of South Africa and Botswana. B. This new variant, designated 1.1 1.529, was seen in a person traveling to Hong Kong from South Africa and was described as a ‘super variant’. It is stated that this species has 32 mutations.
With the super variant causing concern, sharp decreases were observed in the markets in general. While Bitcoin fell by about 7%, losses were more serious for many altcoins.
According to CoinGecko data, among the top 100 cryptocurrencies, Harmony (ONE) has experienced the most loss in the last 24 hours. Cryptocurrency has dropped by about 19%. Its popular altcoin Avalanche (AVAX) is 17%. Followed by 8. The token that experienced the most decline in the last 1 hour was IOTX. Cryptocurrency 5% in the last hour. It fell by 7 percent.
There were also cryptocurrencies that were not affected by the drop. For example KLAY, 5% in the last 1 hour. It rose 5 percent.