Don’t just focus on the minor ups and downs of candlestick charts—the real news worth paying attention to came on December 4th: the Bank of Japan officially announced it will assess the level of the neutral interest rate.

This move is even more drastic than directly announcing a rate hike.

In plain language: Japan doesn’t intend to keep being the “ATM” for global markets. The days of borrowing at near-zero cost over the past thirty years may be coming to a complete end. They plan to bring rates back to a “normal” range, and this action will directly affect the underlying logic of global capital flows.

Why is this significant? Because there’s a massive “pipeline” of funds in the global financial system that’s about to be shut off.

In recent years, Wall Street’s playbook has been simple: borrow trillions in cheap yen, then turn around and buy US stocks, US bonds, and Bitcoin. This is called the yen carry trade, and it’s one of the core engines propping up global asset bubbles. Now, that engine is about to stall.

Once the Bank of Japan gets serious: borrowing costs will soar, and the yen will start appreciating. Institutions relying on yen borrowing to maintain their positions will have to sell off their risk assets on a large scale in order to close out positions and pay back the loans.

Trillions in capital repatriation is already underway. When this kind of macro tide recedes, the crypto market’s scale simply can’t withstand the shock.

Many thought the Bank of Japan would remain silent forever, but things are different now—not only have they spoken up, they’re ready to flip the table.

At this point in time, you really need to be extra cautious. Don’t wait until you’re buried before realizing what’s happened.