For the first time in history, the price of one Bitcoin exceeded 11 million yen in Japan, with prices also peaking in Argentina and the Philippines.
Bitcoin reached all-time highs in multiple countries across Asia and South America following a 7% surge in a single day, pushing the cryptocurrency closer to its peak value in U.S. dollars.
Bitcoin (BTC) prices hit an intraday and six-week high of $71,650 on May 21, following a gain of over 7% in the past 24 hours.
The asset is now within 3.4% of its March 14 all-time high of $73,738 in U.S. dollar terms, according to CoinGecko.
This major surge propelled Bitcoin to new highs against various other fiat currencies.
According to CoinMarketCap, BTC hit an all-time high of 11.2 million yen in early trading on May 21 in Japan.
This is the first time the asset has exceeded 11 million yen. In recent months, the local currency has weakened against the U.S. dollar, losing 10% of its value since January.
In Argentina, Bitcoin prices peaked at 63.8 million Argentine pesos on May 21, slightly higher than the March high. The South American nation has been struggling with inflation — currently at a staggering 290% — and currency devaluation in recent years.
Similarly, Bitcoin briefly reached a record high of 4.18 million pesos in the Philippines on May 21, surpassing mid-March highs.
BTC prices have reached or approached their mid-March peak levels in several countries, including Britain, Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Israel, Norway, India, South Korea, Taiwan, and Turkey, according to industry observer Thomas Fahrer on X.
Crypto analyst Willy Woo recently noted that a month's worth of Bitcoin short positions had been liquidated.
"One more layer is needed to short-squeeze past all-time highs," he added.
Meanwhile, Coinglass reported that in the past 24 hours, 79,010 traders were liquidated, with total crypto liquidations amounting to $345 million, 78.5% of which were short positions.
In a market update earlier this week, Markus Thielen, head of research at 10x Research, predicted that a breakthrough above $67,500 could potentially lead to new all-time highs.
