The Bank of Japan (BOJ) raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points on Friday, lifting it to 1.25%, the highest level in 31 years, as it battles sticky inflation and a chronically weak yen.
The BOJ said it acted because of risks that inflation would move above its 2% target, driven by rising import costs and energy prices.
The move marks the central bank’s second hike in three months and comes weeks after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent publicly pressed Tokyo to tighten faster to support yen. He argued that an orderly yen market benefits Treasury market stability and defended the coordinated yen-buying intervention as serving U.S. interests.
The bitcoin-Japanese yen pair (BTC/JPY) listed on Tokyo-based bitFlyer exchange extended gains by a 0.5% to JPY 12.06 million following the BOJ rate hike. BTC’s dollar-denominated price jumped to $77,400, extending the rebound from the overnight low of $76,200, data from CoinDesk show.
The Japanese yen depreciated against the U.S. dollar, lifting the USD/JPY pair to 156.70 from 156.20.
