Bitcoin (BTC) stemmed some of its losses as Wall Street opened on Nov. 26 after concern over a new COVID-19 variant spark a global market sell-off.

BTC/USD 1-hr candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView

Pfizer gains every bit coronavirus panic sets in

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD ending its downturn at just above $53,500 on Bitstamp.

The pair then added nearly $ane,500 as some sense of equilibrium returned to crypto markets, trading at around $54,400 at the time of writing.

Both crypto and traditional assets were rattled on the day cheers to the proliferation of a new COVID-19 variant, designated "Nu," which some parties merits could pose a problem for vaccine programs.

Pfizer, one of the major producers of COVID-19 vaccines, conspicuously bucked the nervous market downtrend, up seven% at the Wall Street open. By contrast, the S&P 500 was downward 1.5%.

Pfizer 1-hr candle chart (NYSE). Source: TradingView

In what will be familiar to those who witnessed the events of March 2022, Bitcoin thus abandoned its asymmetrical investment traits to fall in line with both equities and the U.S. dollar.

The driblet below $54,000 was accompanied by a familiar cocktail of misgivings from sources, including mainstream media outlets, with CNBC joining Bloomberg in claiming that Bitcoin had "entered bear market place territory."

"Let'due south run across how the Daily candle closes," trader and analyst Rekt Capital said in cautious words virtually the affect of the day‐s moves on Bitcoin'due south longer-term outlook.

BTC transaction volume hits all-fourth dimension high

Among crypto analysts and other longtime participants, however, there were still few signs of genuine bearishness.

Related: Bitcoin offers 'Black Fri bargain' with sub-$55K BTC toll — Only similar 2022

"Massive corrections = massive buy opportunities," Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe summarized.

While the lows of Nov. 26 accept non been seen since mid-Oct, overall, Bitcoin's functioning in Q4 remains non only assisting simply fully in line with previous balderdash market years.

Amid the panic over spot price, meanwhile, information showed that Nov. 25 marked the day with the largest single on-chain transaction volume in Bitcoin's history.

"Bitcoin fix some other best loftier for transaction volume yesterday with $36.5 billion of value settled on-chain," researcher Kevin Rooke commented.

Bitcoin transaction volume chart. Source: Kevin Rooke/Twitter