Fed Money Printing For Japan Good For Bitcoin: Arthur Hayes

Bitcoin could break out of its โ€œsideways funkโ€ if the United States central bank attempts to support a failing Japanese bond market by printing money, according to BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes.

Hayes proposed a theory on Wednesday about how the Federal Reserve โ€œcould be printing money to manipulate the yen and JGB [Japanese government bond] markets.โ€

Japan faces a dual crisis: the yen is weakening while Japanese government bond yields are rising simultaneously, signaling a potential loss of market confidence. This also impacts the US because Japanese investors might sell US Treasurys to buy higher-yielding JGBs instead.

โ€œWill a meltdown of the yen and JGB markets cause some sort of money printing by the BOJ [Bank of Japan] or the Fed? The answer is yes,โ€ said Hayes.ย 

โ€œThis discussion of Japanese financial markets is important because for Bitcoin to exit its sideways funk, it needs a healthy dose of money printing.โ€

Fedโ€™s intervention mechanism could be a liquidity trigger

Hayes believes the Fed will intervene by creating dollar reserves with banks like JPMorgan, selling dollars for yen โ€” which strengthens the yen โ€” then using yen to purchase JGBs, lowering Japanese bond yields.

This expands the Fedโ€™s balance sheet under โ€œForeign Currency Denominated Assets,โ€ he explained.ย 

โ€œThis Fed intervention is just what the filthy fiat system needs to limp along a little longer.โ€ย 

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How the Fed will print money to expand its balance sheet and intervene in the dollar-yen currency and JGB markets. Source: Arthur Hayes

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Hayes appears to be putting his money behind his theory and waiting for some movement from the central bankโ€™s money printers, keeping an eye on the Fedโ€™s balance sheet viewed through its weekly H.4.1 report.

โ€œBitcoin fell as the yen strengthened against the dollar. I will not increase risk before I confirm the Fed is printing money to intervene in the yen and JGB markets,โ€ he said.ย 

Dollar โ€œdoing greatโ€ at four-year low

The US Dollar Index (DXY) slumped to 95.6 on Tuesday, its lowest level since January 2022, according to TradingView.ย 

The greenback has slid 10% over the past year, but US President Donald Trump still maintained it was โ€œdoing greatโ€ at a speech in Iowa on Tuesday.ย 

โ€œI mean, the value of the dollar, look at the business weโ€™re doing. No, the dollar is doing great. You know itโ€™s very interesting, if you look at China or Japan, I used to fight like hell with them because they always wanted to devalue their yen … you know that, the yen and yuan, and theyโ€™d always want to devalue it,โ€ he said, according to CNBC.ย 

โ€œThey devalue, devalue, devalue. And I said, โ€˜not fair.โ€™ They devalue, because itโ€™s hard to compete when they devalue.โ€

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