Bitcoin Over $70K Amid Argentina Legal Tender Talks, Ethereum Flirts with $4K

Most of the top 100 tokens are in the green as Bitcoin jumps 2.5% and slips past $70,000 while Ethereum flirts with $4,000. The price of BTC is $70,136 while the price of ETH is $3,934 as of writing, according to CoinGecko data.

This comes as Argentina opens discussions with El Salvador’s Digital Assets Commission on their experience using Bitcoin as legal tender. 

“El Salvador has established itself as a global leader not only in the use of Bitcoin but also in the broader realm of digital assets,” Roberto E. Silva, president of Argentina’s National Securities Commission, said in a blog post. “We aim to strengthen our ties with El Salvador and are exploring potential collaboration agreements.”

El Slavador made headlines in 2021 when it became the first country in the world to make Bitcoin legal tender, leading to a surge in tourism and going on Bitcoin spending sprees. Now Argentina, with their new eccentric leader Javier Milei, is looking to explore Bitcoin as legal tender too.

According to WorldoMeters, Argentina is the 22nd largest country by GDP with a population of over 45 million people. While the meeting happened on May 23, the news didn’t spread until today as Bitcoin climbs 2.5% over the $70,000 threshold.

In turn, there’s been a whopping $28 million of liquidations—$23 million of them being short positions. Meanwhile, $17 million of short Ethereum positions have been liquidated, according to CoinGlass.

This is because Ethereum has seen similar gains of 3.8%, putting it within touching distance of the $4,000 mark. On Thursday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) made a landmark approval of spot Ethereum ETFs, effectively green-lighting Ethereum trading on Wall Street.

Over the coming hours and days the price remained largely unchanged, even dropping 4% at one point. But now, as anticipation for volume from the ETFs grows, the second largest cryptocurrency is starting to see gains.

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.