The Bank of Japan (BOJ) finally pulled the trigger, and as usual, the Bitcoin angle shows up in market conversations. The central bank raised its benchmark rate to 0.75%, a level Japan hasn’t seen since 1995. That sounds dramatic, but the size of the hike is probably what matters more than the FUD headlines some news outlets are making.
The Bank of Japan is widely expected to raise its benchmark rate Friday to 0.75%, the highest level since 1995. This would be the first rate increase since January. All BOJ watchers surveyed by Bloomberg forecast a rate hike for the first time since Governor Kazuo Ueda's term… pic.twitter.com/dt0QiquVMB
— Hedgie (@HedgieMarkets) December 18, 2025
The increase came in at 25 basis points as we were bracing for something much heavier. Some projections were floating around that assumed a 75-basis-point BOJ move, which would have tightened liquidity fast and put real pressure on crypto and Bitcoin sentiment. Under that scenario, a push down toward $63,000 for Bitcoin didn’t seem unrealistic.
The BOJ hiked by..25 basis points
I mean, the market was expecting 50 bp, some were saying 75bp.
And so the Yen is weakening.
Let the chaos ensue pic.twitter.com/pOTKxjBgEh
— Peter R Hann Goldbug Weirdo/Silver Affectionado (@PeterRHann1) December 19, 2025
Instead, nothing broke. Bitcoin stayed calm, steady at $87,000 after the announcement, with no meaningful move. We don’t see no panic, no sharp sell-off, the market just moved on. In that sense, Bitcoin reaction said more about positioning and accumulation than the BOJ policy.
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BOJ Context and What Bitcoin Is Showing Now
Zooming out a bit, the BOJ to Bitcoin link lines up with something else we should be watching closely. The US regulation. Michael Selig has now been confirmed as head of the CFTC, and he’s widely seen as someone who understands Bitcoin. This alone changes the vibe around derivatives and institutional access.
JUST IN:
Senate confirms pro-crypto Michael Selig as CFTC Chairman.
— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) December 19, 2025
Pricewise, Bitcoin hasn’t really changed its behavior. It’s still moving inside a kind of wide $84,000 to $94,000 range. Holders and believers continue to defend the lower end, and that area lines up with several key moving averages. On the upside, the $88,000–$90,000 zone remains the level to beat.
Apart from the US regulatory news and BOJ decisions, Bitcoin flows are also still structured. There’s the outline of an inverse head-and-shoulders pattern forming, though it’s not confirmed yet.
(source – BTC USD, TradingView)
On-chain data also helps the bullish case, with larger holders accumulating and exchange balances staying low. For now, we are still bullish.
Ethereum Moves While Bitcoin Holds the Floor
While BOJ headlines dominated macro chatter, Ethereum quietly stole some attention away from Bitcoin. ETH rose about 3.3% on the day and pushed close to $3,000, even as market mostly moved sideways.
Ethereum exchange balances are now at their lowest level since 2016. Only about 13.7% of the total supply sits on exchanges, which means there’s simply less ETH available to sell. At the same time, institutions and corporates have been accumulating aggressively, adding millions of ETH to their long-term holdings.
In previous cycles, this same setup didn’t last long without a move higher. Ethereum’s tightening supply points toward a possible run toward the $4,100 area. Staking demand and reduced issuance only strengthen that case.
All told, the market’s reaction to BOJ Bitcoin developments felt mature. Bitcoin is steady, while Ethereum is ready to run to lead the altcoin season.
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Bitcoin Option Expiration: What is It? Why it Matters?
As we are watching Bitcoin’s price action closely, a massive options expiration event approaches this Friday, and about $23 billion in Bitcoin options contracts are set to expire, creating a catalyst for flash volatility. This event follows a period of already sharp market movement, where Bitcoin’s price jumped to just below $90,000 last week before today’s dump cancelled its own run.
BEAT Crypto Sustains Skyrocket as FTN Crypto Erupts +200%: Hottest Altcoin to Buy This Weekend?
BEAT crypto has stayed on our radar over the past 24 hours, especially since we covered it yesterday. It briefly pushed higher again, which kept the conversation alive around as the hottest altcoin to buy, but the move didn’t last very long. Just as expected, price stalled and rolled over shortly after the spike.
Sentiment was already stretched, and all the signs show crowding.
But is BEAT the hottest altcoin crypto to buy? It does still check many boxes with strong narratives, visible liquidity, and constant attention. At the same time, fast run-ups without sustained volume almost always invite pullbacks. Yesterday’s price action played out by the book.
$BEAT game over? pic.twitter.com/2qOcVBY9IM
— Zady (@0xzady) December 19, 2025
Read the full story here.
Visa Adds USDC on Solana for Settlements as Stablecoin Race Heats Up
In a critical moment for global finance, Visa now settles some payments in the USDC stablecoin on the Solana blockchain, expanding beyond its earlier Ethereum pilots and pushing stablecoins into mainstream finance. The company already operates at a pace of approximately $3.5 billion annually for stablecoin settlement volume, so this is no longer a small experiment. It joins a wider shift in which banks, card networks, and even J.P. Morgan are moving real financial activity onto public blockchains during a period of growing on-chain finance.
For people like me who have been monitoring Solana’s evolution and the steady mainstreaming of stablecoins for Years, it’s clear this comes as big news for a bruised and battered Solana, which has seen a significant decline (-43% YTD) since hitting an ATH at $293 amid January’s pump.fun frenzy. This could mark the start of a rebuild, especially if Solana’s profile continues to rise as big names choose it for real-world deals, from J.P. Morgan’s tokenized debt trials to Visa’s settlement rails.
For regular users, this is not just a “tech headline” but an early signal that your future card payment or paycheck might travel over blockchains you recognize from crypto markets. But for Solana investors, while that shift may not move prices overnight, it quietly changes the fundamentals underpinning SOL USD price.
Rival Mastercard also builds stablecoin rails, working with assets like USDC and FIUSD, which turns this into a full-on competition between global payment giants. When the companies that already move trillions each year start using stablecoins, crypto stops looking like a side hobby and starts looking like plumbing for the next version of the financial system.
Read the full story here
The post Crypto Market News Today, December 19: BOJ Hikes Rates, Bitcoin Steady as Ethereum Bounces appeared first on 99Bitcoins.
