BOJ: Financial Conditions Remain Accommodative, Rate Hikes to Continue

The signal here is less about the level of Japanese rates than about direction and optionality: the BOJ is keeping tightening on the table while explicitly flagging upside inflation risks, which matters for yen funding conditions that underpin much of the global carry trade. For crypto and other risk assets, the relevant channel is liquidity and cross-asset volatility rather than any direct link, since a steadily normalizing Japan gradually erodes the cheap-yen backdrop that has supported leveraged positioning. Whether the BOJ actually moves on the timing and pace it describes, and how markets reprice that path, is the open question.