The Bank of Japan officially announced an interest rate hike yesterday (December 20), which has stirred quite a ripple in the encryption market. The market atmosphere, which was originally crawling slowly, was instantly ignited, especially for some lesser-known altcoins, where both trading volume and price increases have shown significant rises.

From a macro perspective, the Central Bank's interest rate hike policy will affect the global liquidity landscape, which in turn will impact the funding of encryption assets. Interestingly, the main players in this wave of market activity are not leading cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, but rather a variety of small coins collectively surging.

I looked at the market data, and the examples with the most significant rise are quite representative. For instance, the cryptocurrency LIGHT has seen a rise of over 70% within 24 hours, with the current price approaching $2.38, and the daily trading volume reaching $68.8 million—it's worth noting that this coin usually has a daily trading volume in the millions, so this time it has truly "come to life."

The performance of SOPH is also remarkable. Although the unit price is only $0.01644, making it a typical micro-cap coin, it achieved a daily rise of 40%, with a trading volume surpassing $116 million, even outshining many mainstream altcoins. Even a meme coin called "67" saw a follow-up rise of 38%, priced at $0.028, with a daily trading volume of $11.49 million.

In addition, there are two cryptocurrencies, RESOLV and WET, which have risen by approximately 36% and 35%, respectively, with trading volumes surpassing 100 million. What does this phenomenon indicate? It indicates that when market sentiment is stimulated, funds are more likely to flow towards those varieties with relatively poor liquidity and larger fluctuations—after all, there are indeed quite a few investors seeking excitement in such market conditions.

Of course, the surging prices of these small coins also carry higher risks. The spike in trading volume indeed indicates an increase in attention, but the volatility and liquidity issues of small coins are often magnified. So if you want to follow the trend, you still need to keep your eyes wide open and not be blinded by the superficial price increase.