The price of Bitcoin plunged 10% in 12 hours and the cryptocurrency market lost nearly $ 300 billion on Friday as a new variant of the coronavirus sparked fear in markets around the world.
After climbing as high as $ 59,400 on Thursday night, the price of Bitcoin dropped to $ 53,500 around 7am EDT (1200GMT) on Friday for a 10% decline, according to data calculated by Anadolu Agency.
Ethereum, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency, fell 14% to $ 3,910, from $ 4,550, during that period. Some altcoins fell as much as 20% in half a day before showing limited recovery.
Read more: Bitcoin heads for worst week in months
The total value of the crypto market. diminished to $ 2.39 trillion, from $ 2.68 trillion, losing a staggering $ 290 billion, according to data from digital asset price tracking website CoinMarketCap.
The sudden decline came amid investor fears that a new variant of the coronavirus known as B.1.1.529 in South Africa could trigger further quarantine measures, business closures and halt the global economic recovery.
#Bitcoin & Ether, but Bitcoin bull Mike Novogratz warns that Jerome Powell's second Fed period could bring cryptocurrency prices pain. Novogratz said Powell can now feel freer to deal with inflation by adjusting MonPolicy. It would slow down assets, including crypto and technology. https://t.co/Q8H2JnMLCm pic.twitter.com/LTOkAHTzAj
- Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) November 25, 2021
The World Health Organization (WHO) called a special meeting early Friday to discuss the new variant, noting that it was detected "at remarkable speed" and that its impact will take a few weeks to understand.
"Early analyzes show that this variant has a large number of mutations that require and will be the subject of further study," WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told a UN news conference.
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Amid uncertainty and fear, Asian stock markets lost around 2%, while European stock markets sank more than 3%.
Anadolu with additional input from GVS News Desk
