A relatively lesser known cryptocurrency token named after the Greek letter Omicron saw its price surge more than 10 times in a matter of two days outperforming top digital currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, soon after the World Health Organization (WHO) named the latest Covid-19 variant of concern Omicron.
The surge
According to Coinmarketcap, a cryptocurrency data platform, from Friday to Monday morning, the price of Omicron surged to $688 from less than $70 earlier. As of 10.45am IST on Wednesday, the cryptocurrency was trading at $324.73, as per the platform, with a fully diluted market cap of $324.73 million.
Coinmarketcap also said that Omicron was launched at the beginning of November — and for most of the past week, was trading steady at about $65.
“OMIC appears to have outperformed the likes of BTC (bitcoin) and ETH (Ethereum) over the weekend, but that doesn’t mean it’s a worthwhile investment. Little is known about this decentralized finance project, and robust data surrounding the project is proving hard to come by. Omicron’s official website describes itself as a “decentralized currency protocol built on Arbitrum,” it noted in a blogpost.
Other gains
A similar surge in prices was also witnessed with the crypto token SQUID following the popularity of Netflix show Squid Game despite there being no relation between the show and the currency.
The WHO is following the Greek alphabet to name significant Covid-19 variants, and the next Greek letter Pi also has a cryptocurrency named after it.
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Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/omicron-cryptocurrency-surge-explained-7650204/