The recent hack of ByBit has coincided with a decline in U.S. markets, triggered by a new disease emerging from China. This combination has resulted in Bitcoin (BTC) $83,469 dropping to a support level of $95,000. After struggling for days to rise by $4,000, BTC abruptly reversed its direction, leading to significant losses. What should you know about this new virus?
Market Declines
The decline in cryptocurrencies can primarily be attributed to the ByBit hack. Additionally, the viral outbreak in China has escalated concerns, causing panic among investors. Lastly, weak economic data related to consumer expectations in the U.S. is contributing to this sell-off, with stock prices plummeting as inflation concerns reach levels not seen since 1995.
The reasons for the drop in stock prices overlap with those affecting cryptocurrencies, resulting in even greater losses for BTC. Unlike during upward trends where BTC did not follow stock gains, it certainly did during this decline.
Details on the Chinese Virus
COVID previously triggered a significant market collapse. Now, wary investors are responding to reports of a similar situation by engaging in aggressive selling to avoid being caught off guard. This scenario undoubtedly impacts the crypto market as well. A research report has surfaced discussing a new virus strain resembling the coronavirus.
Virologist Shi Zhengli and her team have identified a new virus in bats that can infect human cells. This strain shows similarities to SARS-CoV-2 and can penetrate human cells via ACE2 receptors, just like COVID.
The study describes HKU5-CoV-2 as a hypothetical risk. Although tests indicate potential for infection, it remains uncertain whether this discovery could lead to illness in humans.
A different strain of HKU5 coronavirus has been discovered in bats.
Bats use human ACE2 receptors and several other ACE2 orthologs.
The bat HKU5-CoV-2 RBD interacts differently with human ACE2 compared to other coronaviruses.
Bat HKU5-CoV-2 was isolated and infected cells expressing human ACE2.
In summary, another virus resembling COVID-19 has been identified. While this virus exists, there are numerous known and unknown viruses. This finding does not indicate an impending global pandemic; there have been no cases or quarantines reported. The panic-induced selling is the main issue here.
The Monkeypox virus previously raised alarms but has since faded from public concern. Today, we refer to past warnings without immediate remembrance of their details. This weaker threat will likely be forgotten after a few days in the news.