Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum and global markets were sent into a tailspin following the emergence of the fast-spreading Omicron COVID-19 variant.

But one relatively new crypto named Omicron has seen a massive spike. Bn Monday, the token OMIC surged by 945 per cent since Saturday to reach an all-time high of $689 (€610).

The token coincidently bears the same name as the COVID-19 variant that was found on November 23 in South Africa.

The B.1.1.529 strain was named after the fifteenth letter of the Greek alphabet by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday.

What do we know about OMIC?

The token came into existence earlier in November and appears to have risen for no other reason than the newly-named coronavirus strain.

A similar occurrence happened with the cryptocurrency SQUID, which is inspired by the hit Netflix series Squid Game.

Earlier in November, the crypto rose by 600 per cent but suddenly nosedived by 99.99 per cent. The incident left investors high and dry and is now currently under investigation.

Omicron's official website describes itself as a "decentralised currency protocol built on Arbitrum".

The token was created as a fork of the OlympusDAO DeFi protocol, built on the Ethereum blockchain.

Each OMIC DeFi token is said to be backed by a basket of assets, "giving it an intrinsic value that it cannot fall below".

But details about the current market cap and supply of the OMIC token are unclear at the moment.

The total supply of this crypto token is capped at 1,000,000, meaning that the majority of its tokens are still to be mined and traded.

Is it a good investment?

OMIC appears to have outperformed Bitcoin and Ethereum over the weekend.

But little is known about the crypto and there is not much data available. We don’t know, for instance, if the project has any malicious intent but experts fear it could be the same story as the Squid Game token.

The WHO has a policy of naming new COVID variants after the Greek alphabet.

Next on the list will be Pi, and of course, there is already a cryptocurrency that bears the same name.