Cryptocurrency linked to a new virus has grown by 700%

The HANTA memecoin, created on the Solana blockchain just three days ago, soared 700% in value amid the news of a hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship. By Thursday evening, the token’s capitalization reached $ 6 million, doubling in just half a day, and the trading volume exceeded $ 10 million.

According to the Dexscreener service, several hantavirus-themed meme coins hit the top of the investor interest list. Most of them grew by 150−200%, but the liquidity of these assets remains low, with a market capitalization of less than $ 50,000.

The crypto hype was triggered by a tragedy on a cruise ship: three passengers died and at least seven fell ill due to the hantavirus. The liner left the Argentine city of Ushuaia on April 1 as part of a polar cruise and is now anchored off the coast of Cape Verde, where the patients are being evacuated to European hospitals. The WHO and other medical organizations have confirmed the infection with the Andean strain, which in rare cases can be transmitted from person to person. The virus itself appeared in rodents about 50 years ago and was named after a river in southern Korea.

The HANTA story is not the first time that high-profile events have turned into a meme rally. In April, the JONATHAN token soared by 1400% after the news of the death of 193-year-old Jonathan the tortoise, the oldest land animal on the planet. However, it later turned out that the news was an April Fools' Day joke.

Earlier, MOODENG memecoin, dedicated to the dwarf hippo Mu Den from Thailand’s Khao Kheow Open Zoo, demonstrated similar volatility. The token has repeatedly risen and fallen sharply depending on the news about the animal, which has become an internet meme. And in January, the Nietzschean Penguin zoo crypto coin, launched through Pump. fun, jumped 564% in a day after the official White House account posted a tweet with Donald Trump and the caption Embrace the Penguin.