Bank of Japan’s expected rate hike – How will it affect Bitcoin and crypto traders?
The broader market sentiment has shrunk into “extreme fear” ahead of the Bank of Japan (BoJ) interest rate decision on the 19th of December.
This was similar to “fear levels” seen in mid-November when Bitcoin broke below $100K and during Trump tariff wars in Q1 2025.
Source: CryptoQuant
Historically, such past extreme fear readings also marked bottoms, providing exceptional buying opportunities. But will the BoJ rate hike drag BTC lower, or is it already priced in?
Is the BoJ fear overblown?
According to Polymarket, the market consensus leaned towards a 25 basis point (bps) rate hike for the December meeting. However, for the January decision, the rate pause was more likely.
Source: Polymarket
Given that the…
