Omicron Variant Sinks Bitcoin To $53K While ETH Drops Below $4000

The COVID-19 Omicron variant that emerged just a few days ago, sparked fear among people which eventually caused to sink Bitcoin to $53K and bring the rest of the market with it. So, let’s take a closer look at today’s altcoin news.

ConstitutionDAO’s token surged after the organization shut down the operations and other altcoins also hit new all-time highs. However, the reports of the COVID-19 Omicron variant emerging, took a toll on the stock and crypto this week before pulling the price of BTC down to $53,500 and Ethereum to $3,933. in a few hours, Bitcoin sank almost 9% which was the first drop of its kind since October. Ethereum started the day at $4400 which means its brief losses reached around 10% of its market value and the coin since managed to recoup its losses and trades at $4123 at the time of writing.

Bitcoin was 12.4% down from a week ago with the concerns over the US’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill mounted. The bill introduced tax reporting requirements for a variety of different crypto services such as exchanges like Binance, Coinbase, and more that are considered brokers. They will now have to provide the government with 1099 forms disclosing the names and addresses of their users making transactions. The non-custodial wallets could be considered brokers under the new regulation which posed some hard questions about the type of data they collect from their customers.

Bitcoin and the rest of the market however did catch a break in DC earlier this week because five democrat senators said they will not vote for the White House preferred nominee of crypto critic Saule Omarova for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency which is a role that will make her chief bank regulator in the country. The opposition to Omarova’s candidacy didn’t have anything to do with her stance with crypto.

A few other altcoins were able to escape the downturn this weekend as global markets turned bearish as the market leaders fell. However, some crypto assets managed to stay alive and even thrive. ConstitutionDAO was a hot topic this month and it was formed on Zoom after a group of crypto enthusiasts banded together to raise the funds and purchase a first-edition copy of the US constitution offered on an auction at Sotheby’s. They raised around $45 million before losing the auction to Citadel CEO Ken Griffin.