The Bank of Japan has announced potential interest rate rises coming in January 2025, spreading concern among crypto investors. A cash rate increase would see a strengthening Yen vs the US Dollar – which could cause millions worth of positions to be liquidated. In such situations, high-risk assets like crypto are often the first to go from a portfolio. All eyes have been on the US Federal Reserve following Chair Jerome Powell's pledge to lower interest rates sometime this month. This presented a bullish case for the market, leading to an impressive fightback following the August 5th global crash. However, the focus on the USA ignores one of the biggest catalysts of last month's crash—the Bank of Japan. Related: Sugar High: Arthur Hayes Predicts Bitcoin Surge, Cites US Rate Cuts and Shifts in Yen Carry Trade Ever since some lax economic policies in the late 1980s led to a mass-scale recession, the Japanese Government has imposed a zero-percent interest rate policy to deal with the aftermath. But with the Japanese economy running hot in 2024, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) is gearing up for a second interest rate rise in January next year – sending the nation's cash rate above its two-decade high. BREAKING: Bank of Japan raises interest rates for the first time in 17 years.