‘Omicron’ cryptocurrency rides new variant rollercoaster

As global markets fell last week following the discovery of the Omicron coronavirus variant, a cryptocurrency with the same name soared after the Greek letter entered the investor lexicon.

The price of the hitherto-obscure digital token, whose Twitter feed has little more than 1,000 followers, rose almost tenfold from Friday to Monday morning, when it hit $688, before tumbling as much as 75 per cent, crypto tracker CoinGecko said.

Omicron the token, which its website describes as “a decentralized treasury-backed currency protocol,” was trading at about $371 at 8.05 pm. On Thursday, it was worth about $65.

The World Health Organization, which on Friday named the new Covid-19 variant Omicron, said it carries a “very high” global risk of surges, although scientists have said it could take weeks to understand its severity.