Bad news often loses its power the moment the market has already digested it.

The Bank of Japan just announced a 25 basis point rate hike, raising the policy rate to 0.75%—a new high in nearly 30 years. Theoretically, this should be bearish, but reality gave the market a loud slap: Bitcoin didn't plunge; instead, it held steadily above $87,000 and even tested upward to $87,500.

This movement left many new entrants confused. Isn't rising interest rates bad for risk assets? Why is the crypto market still rising this time?

In fact, this precisely reflects a key change—The crypto market is growing up. When everyone is waiting for something to happen, and it actually does, it no longer causes damage. The market has already priced in the expectations.

**The Sunset of Yen Arbitrage Business**

The most direct impact of this rate hike on the market is that it crushed those who made quick profits through yen arbitrage.

Remember the zero-interest-rate era? Large institutions could almost get free yen, exchange it for dollars, and buy high-risk assets like Bitcoin. The risk was minimal, and the returns were surprisingly high. Now, with Japan's interest rate climbing to 0.75%, although it doesn't sound high, the financing cost has actually increased by 7.5 times. What was nearly zero cost before now costs an extra $75,000 per year for every $1 million borrowed.

This gradual withdrawal of leveraged funds will indeed cause short-term liquidity shocks. But in the long run, this may not be a bad thing. The market will no longer be driven by leverage as a roller coaster; instead, it will be driven by genuine demand and fundamentals—more stable and healthier.

Recently, a phenomenon worth noting is that although the overall market leverage remains quite high, the proportion of long-term holders' positions is gradually increasing. This indicates that the number of people truly optimistic about Bitcoin is growing, rather than speculators frantically leveraging for a few percentage points of profit.