Author: IreneLim; Source: FX168
Bitcoin price returns to 50,000 for the first time since December 2021 USD and above. Meanwhile, a Spanish city is working to become Europe’s first crypto-friendly city, and Argentinians are using black market exchanges known as “crypto caves” to exchange pesos for stablecoins.
Bitcoin’s price topped $50,000 for the first time in more than two years
On Monday (February 12), the price of Bitcoin reached a more than two-year milestone, amid a broad market upward trend. It climbed above $50,000, a gain of more than 4%. This is the highest level since before the crypto winter in December 2021, bringing Bitcoin’s market capitalization to $982 billion, placing it among the ten most valuable assets in the world.
Many analysts expect Bitcoin’s upcoming “halving” to be the next major catalyst for the market. At current production rates, Bitcoin’s next quadrennial halving is expected to be 55 days away.
Spain is committed to building Europe’s first crypto-friendly city
Torrevieja, a tourist center in the Spanish province of Alicante with a population of 82,000, announced that it will Becoming the first cryptocurrency-friendly city in Europe by allowing its stores to accept cryptocurrencies.
To transform Torrevieja into Europe’s crypto-friendly city, local government and businesses will use blockchain technology to digitize local commerce.
The first phase will “focus on facilitating commerce” through the use of cryptocurrencies in transactions, allowing customers to pay for products and services using cryptocurrencies and “other crypto-assets.”
Local business councilor Rosario Martínez Chazarra said she hoped the measures would incentivize cryptocurrency owners, while the University of Alicante would launch a dedicated course on digital payments for local businesses.
Argentina “Crypto Cave”
In Argentina, black market exchanges known as “Crypto Cave” have emerged, selling USD stablecoins to locals to circumvent strict currency regulations Regulation and triple-digit inflation in the Argentine peso.
Guillermo Escudero, CryptoMarket’s strategic alliance manager, told Cointelegraph that these underground peer-to-peer exchanges operate discreetly and hide in “invisible places.”
If locals use crypto caves to buy stablecoins like Tether, they can get better exchange rates than the official rate.
Crypto caves emerged from long-standing “financial caves,” entities that once operated as currency exchanges but went into hiding after Argentina imposed currency controls in the 1980s and still operate as Trade in "blue dollars" (the country's unofficial and informal dollar exchange rate).
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Escudero said that some crypto caves have been investigated and even raided by authorities, but they have not left a "bad image" for locals ".
With inflation in Argentina hitting a 32-year high of 211.4% in 2023, crypto caves are one of the few places where you can trade the inflation-plagued peso.
It was "widely expected" that currency controls would be lifted under Mire, Escudero said, "but because tax pressures are so great in Argentina, we will continue to have a ' black market', which tends to operate entities under the watchful eye of the Auditor General".
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