Bitcoin hits all-time highs against local currencies in Japan, Argentina and the Philippines

Author: Martin Young, CoinTelegraph; Compiled by: Baishui, Golden Finance

Bitcoin surged 7% on the day, hitting all-time highs in several countries in Asia and South America, pushing the cryptocurrency closer to its peak in terms of U.S. dollar.

On May 21, the price of Bitcoin hit an intraday six-week high of $71,650, up more than 7% in the past 24 hours.

According to CoinGecko, the asset is back to within 3.4% of its all-time high of $73,738 on March 14 in U.S. dollar terms.

However, the big move pushed Bitcoin to new highs against several other fiat currencies.

According to CoinMarketCap data, In Japan, BTC hit an all-time high of 11.2 million yen in early trading on May 21.

The asset's value exceeded 11 million yen for the first time. The local currency has continued to weaken against the dollar in recent months, losing 10% against the greenback since the beginning of the year.

Bitcoin/JPY 1-year price. Source: Coinmarketcap

Bitcoin prices also peaked in Argentina, with the asset hitting 63.8 million Argentine pesos (ARS) on May 21, just above its mid-March peak.

The South American country has been battling inflation rates, currently as high as 290%, and currency devaluation over the past few years.

Similarly,the value of one Bitcoin in the Philippines briefly hit an all-time high of 4.18 million pesos (PHP) on May 21, breaking its mid-March high.

Industry observer Thomas Fahrer noted on X that other countries where Bitcoin prices have reached or are very close to their mid-March peaks include the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Israel, Norway, India, South Korea, Taiwan, and Turkey.

A few hours ago, cryptocurrency analyst Willy Woo observed that a month's worth of accumulated Bitcoin short positions had just been liquidated.

He added: “To break through the all-time high, one more layer needs to be added.”

Source: Willy Woo

Meanwhile, Coinglass reported that 79,010 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours, with a total of $345 million in cryptocurrency liquidations, of which 78.5% were short positions.

In a market update earlier this week, Markus Thielen, head of research at 10x Research, predicted that “a break above $67,500 could set a new all-time high.”

BTC is currently trading at $70,945, just $2,500 away from its all-time high.