Bitcoin vs. The Hantavirus: Is BTC Bracing for Another ‘Black Swan’ Event?

It’s like a few wars, rising inflation, and global uncertainty are not enough these days. Now, the world needs to pay attention to another health hazard that made the news in the past few weeks: the Hantavirus, and, more precisely, the Andes virus.

Aside from the potential threats it poses to human life (which we will explore later in the article), the question raised by some analysts is whether it will affect BTC as COVID did six years ago.

Will History Repeat?

For those of our readers who might not have been around the March 2020 developments, here’s a quick recap. BTC was coming out of a long bear market, but it had failed to stage a meaningful recovery in 2019, and all eyes were on 2020 as a halving year, which historically served as a major catalyst for future gains.

However, it all changed when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, especially since it was categorized as a global hazard in March. Over a two-day trading session, BTC plummeted from over $8,000 to a multi-year low of $3,750.

Analysts such as Crypto Rover have now speculated on a similar calamity if the Hantavirus explodes. The analyst with over 1.5 million followers on X noted that the mortality rate for COVID was 1%, while the Hantavirus’s is at 40%, which could spell a lot more trouble for everyone.

The Differences

The history of this version of the Hantavirus, according to National Geographic, shows that it stemmed from South America and caused significant harm on a Dutch cruise ship, including several deaths so far. It comes from the Hantaviridae family of viruses, carried by rodents. In most of its versions, it cannot be transferred human-to-human. However, this particular one, which the WHO called the Andes virus, is the only known hantavirus that can jump from human to human.

Some experts said its spread is “not particularly efficient,” unlike measles and COVID, which can be transferred by viruses lingering in the air after an infected person has left the room. Andes spreads only by close contact.

Nevertheless, Bradfute, alongside other experts, such as Dr. Emily Abdoler, believes this virus should not be a main concern for most people as its spread will not be anything like COVID.

Hopefully, that’s true. Because we have heard similar reassurances even with COVID, which was not supposed to become a global pandemic at first. But, even if they are true (again, hopefully it’s not such a big threat), that doesn’t guarantee that markets won’t panic and overblow the potential consequences, leading to another major BTC dip.

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