Ethereum breaks new ATH in Japan and Korea, reaching 639,455 yen and surpassing the previous record of 632,954 yen, dating from December 17, 2024.

A similar event took place in South Korea, where $ETH reached 5,971,000 won, beating the previous record of 5.9M won from December 2021.

The sudden surge is unlikely to be the effect of the changing exchange rate, which is known to influence the crypto market, because both the yen and the won appreciated against the US dollar.

Normally, this would suggest that crypto prices should go down, except the Japanese and the South Korean markets experienced the opposite. The only other explanation is an increase in local demand.

But what’s the driving force behind the surge in investor interest?

Growing Institutional Adoption Driving Ethereum Up

The likeliest explanation for $ETH’s record performance on the Asian markets is the growing institutional adoption at the global level, with companies like Bitmine leading the pack with an iron hand.

Bitmine has the largest Ethereum treasury, worth over $2.9B, with Chairman Thomas Lee stating that:

So, not only is Bitmine the largest $ETH player, but it plans to keep staking Ethereum for the foreseeable future, taking a page out of Strategy’s playbook, the largest Bitcoin holder in the world, with 628,946 $BTC, worth over 75$.

Trump’s recent executive order, which allows crypto into the 401(k) plans, also played a critical role in pushing $ETH up the food chain.

If and when that happens, keep your eye on the following three projects, which show the highest growth potential in 2025.

1. Snorter Token ($SNORT) – Multi-Chain Token Sniper That Rewards Opportunistic Traders

Snorter Token ($SNORT) is a Solana/Ethereum-based project that introduces the Snorter Bot, the opportunistic trader’s best friend.

The Snorter Bot tracks down and snipes hot tokens milliseconds after liquidity becomes available, making it more reactive and effective even than UIs like Pump Fun, Raydium, and Jupiter.

The Bot solves most problems associated with manual coin hunting, which include the risk of scams like honeypots and rug pulls, as well as the high entry-level tech knowledge requirement.

As a novice trader, you only need to learn how to customize the Bot to your liking, enabling its real-time alerts to protect against suspicious projects and setting up the specifics. The Bot will do the rest.

Snorter Bot is the ideal trading partner for beginners and professional traders, helping you target hot assets before they lose steam.

$SNORT powers the ecosystem with the help of a $2.9M presale and a price of $0.1009.

Given the project’s long-term potential, this may be the perfect time to invest. Our analysts predict a $1.02 $SNORT by the end of 2025, for a 910% growth.

2030 could see $SNORT pushing up to $1.50 or higher, depending on the mainstream appeal and implementation.

You can buy your $SNORT today by going to the presale page and following the steps.

2. Dogecoin ($DOGE) – The Friendly Shiba Dog Leading the Meme Market

Dogecoin ($DOGE) is the world’s most popular and beloved Shiba-dog-turned-meme, sitting at the forefront of the meme market.

While it started as a purebred meme coin, Dogecoin soon gained blockchain utility as peer-to-peer currency.

Today, you can spend $DOGE in online shops with third-party providers like Bitpay and Coinbase. The Dogecoin Foundation plans to expand on that and turn

$DOGE into people’s coin, pushing it into the mainstream even more, if that’s even possible.

$DOGE is backpedalling now, trading at $0.2291, witnessing a small contraction over the past 24 hours. However, this comes after a 12.75% push over the past week, which could paint this minor seatback as a buy signal.

Especially since analysts like Ali Martinez predict another bull run, similar to 2021’s ATH, when $DOGE experienced a 13,000% pump.

If you want to join the $DOGE run, go to your favorite exchange and refill your portfolio today.

3. Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) – Bitcoin’s Layer 2 Upgrade Promising Solana-Level Network Performance

Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) is Bitcoin’s official Layer 2 upgrade that promises a Solana level performance boost with the help of tools like the Canonical Bridge and Solana Virtual Machine (SVM.)

The Canonical Bridge connects the Bitcoin ecosystem to Hyper, minting wrapped Bitcoin into the Layer 2 in numbers equivalent to what the users deposit into the Bitcoin network. The Bitcoin Relay Program is the main transaction validator, ensuring fast throughput.

The Canonical Bridge decongests the Bitcoin network and enables near-instant finality, aside from supporting complex DeFi operations like DEXs and staking.

The Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) enables lightning-fast execution for DeFi apps and smart contracts for Solana-level throughput and scalability.

These tools aim to lift Bitcoin’s traffic cap, currently at 7 transactions per second (TPS), and bring it more in line with modern standards. By comparison, Solana works with 2,909 TPS.

$HYPER is in presale now and has already accumulated over $8.3M, making it one of the most successful presales of 2025. Based on the project’s long-term goals, our analysts predict a 2025 price point of $0.02595 by the end of 2025.

A five-year prediction could place $HYPER at $0.253 if Hyper sees successful implementation and growing adoption.

If you want to support Hyper or simply aim to diversify your portfolio, go to the presale page and buy your $HYPER today.

$ETH Bull Incoming?

$ETH is stable now, but the asset’s performance in the Asian markets can soon reach the Western shores. Especially in the pro-crypto context created by Trump’s 401(k) order and the GENIUS Act as the modern foundation of the new crypto financial system.

More importantly, Bitcoin is still bullish, and if it rallies to another ATH, we could expect the entire market to rally, with projects like Snorter Token ($SNORT) and Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) seeing increased interest.

This isn’t financial advice. Do your own research (DYOR) and invest wisely.

Billionaire Chamath Palihapitiya is predicting a resurgence of the American balance sheet and an influx of new capital into the US.

In a new episode of the All-In podcast, Palihapitiya says current forecasts of the US economy are overly negative and don’t factor in the potential development of two events.

According to Palihapitiya, President Trump’s tariffs are likely on track to contribute an extra $300 billion in receipts to the US government’s current account in what he says is a big positive for the economy.

The investor says that when factoring in the likelihood of at least 100 basis points in Fed rate cuts, the US is on track to save $300 billion as well – meaning a total of $600 billion in revenue boosts to the United States, providing a big jump to overall confidence in the American economy and markets.

“We all thought that this was like a bogeyman that you weren’t allowed to touch it, and if you touched the stove, you’re going to get burned. The mathematical reality is that this is actually going to work out much better for us than we anticipated, and it’s going to be somewhere in the range of $300 to $400 billion of extra revenue per year. That’s a huge win. 

So why is that important? That then sets up this next cataclysmic thing that we’re going to see in the next 60 days, which is, what does Jerome Powell do? If Jerome Powell stays politicized, his incentive will be to keep interest rates where they are.

If Jerome Powell looks at the conditions on the ground, especially when you start seeing inflation stay in the low 2s, and approach 2.0, the real thing that he’s going to be under tremendous pressure to justify is ‘Why are you not cutting?’

And just to give you a sense of how important that is, if we cut by a hundred basis points, that’s another $300 billion. In that case, that’s not money we get in, but it’s money we don’t have to spend.

So if you add these two things together, we are in the next 60 days, going to have to reforecast the American balance sheet where this is, or we’re actually going to be able to positively forecast an extra $600 billion – $300 billion of incremental revenue and $300 billion of savings. 

If that happens, watch out. It means that every single risked dollar is going to run to America. Every single one. Forget Japan, forget Europe, there is no place to put your money except the United States.”

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In a conversation with journalist Laura Shin on the latest episode of Unchained, Bitwise Head of Alpha Strategies Jeff Park sketched a future in which Japan’s financial system—and the political imperatives that underpin it—place the country at the fulcrum of the next major wave of institutional Bitcoin adoption. Park, a former macro portfolio manager who now advises the$3.5 billion crypto asset manager, argued that Tokyo’s structural role in global credit markets, its historically deflationary domestic economy and a fast-emerging retail fascination with “digital gold” together give Japan unique leverage in shaping the monetary order that is forming around BTC.

Park called Japan “the centre of the entire financial system today,” citing the long-standing yen-funded carry trade that exports Japan’s ultra-low borrowing costs into dollar markets. When Japanese rates rise, he noted, “you see a violent unwind of the carry trade that directly impacts US rates,” illustrating how tightly interwoven the two economies remain despite different growth trajectories. Against that backdrop, Park contends that a credible move by the United States toward adding BTC to its own reserves cannot happen in isolation: “When the US does go on the journey of acquiring Bitcoin for their sovereign wealth or treasury assets, then Japan must be a little bit privy to that because they would probably want to act in concert.”

In Park’s telling, Tokyo’s response is not merely a diplomatic nicety. If Washington were to accumulate Bitcoin without warning, “Japan would be pretty upset,” he said. “They would say, ‘Hey, we have to do it together because I’m on the other side of the trade. If you’re going to front-run me, then I’m going to front-run you.’” That tension, he suggested, is one reason US policy makers have so far hesitated to follow El Salvador, by placing Bitcoin directly on the national balance-sheet. “Once the US starts doing it,” Park warned, “there are other tangential players who would be conflicted… and I think Japan is at the centre of it.”

Japan Might Flip The Switch On Global Bitcoin Adoption

Park sees a convergence of incentives pushing Japanese actors—retail, corporate and state—toward Bitcoin. Years of negative deposit rates and chronic demographic headwinds have left savers “starved for yield,” while institutions searching for growth “invest in US stocks directly” as an extension of the carry trade. Adding Bitcoin to that toolkit, he argued, offers Japanese investors an instrument “not only just incredibly volatile but high-performing… backed by Bitcoin, the one collateral that you can lean on that isn’t you being subservient to the funding model.”

The first tremor of that shift, Park said, has already surfaced on the Tokyo Stock Exchange through the meteoric rally in Metaplanet Inc., the listed hotel operator that adopted a “Bitcoin-first” treasury strategy in April. “The meteoric rise of Metaplanet is truly a cultural one,” he told Shin. “Japanese investors are waking up for the first time to understand what Bitcoin can do for their wealth-accumulation strategies and their portfolio construction.” Although Park did not disclose whether Bitwise holds Metaplanet shares, he framed the company’s ascent as evidence that domestic demand exists for securities that express a long Bitcoin thesis inside Japan’s familiar corporate wrapper.

Park’s analysis moves beyond price action and into geopolitics. He portrayed Bitcoin as a neutral reserve asset that could soften the asymmetric burdens created by dollar hegemony. “If Japan understands where the world is going in the store of value,” he said, “they should have an eye on a way to preserve wealth that touches Bitcoin.” He went further: “At the core, Japan is going to be a big player in ushering the era of Bitcoin adoption.” For Park, that eventuality follows from simple arithmetic. Should Japanese authorities choose to diversify even a modest slice of the country’s$1.1 trillion in foreign-exchange reserves—or the $8.7 trillion held in life-insurance and pension pools—into Bitcoin, the liquidity shock would be profound.

The interview also highlighted how a coordinated US–Japan approach could reshape the strategic Bitcoin reserves landscape. Park, while cautious about a unilateral American move, implied that a tandem accumulation programme might dampen market disruption and embed Bitcoin within existing alliance structures. “I think the US really does not understand the role of Japan even today,” he continued. “Japan is hinged to the butt of the American experience and the US must succeed together as an alliance.”

For now, Park sees the private sector leading. He pointed to Bitwise’s own analysis showing Japanese corporate treasuries experimenting with modest Bitcoin allocations, while regulators in Tokyo continue to refine guidance on custody, accounting and trust-bank administration of digital assets. That interplay between policy pragmatism and grassroots enthusiasm, he argued, could make Japan a laboratory for the capital-market instruments—convertible debt, perpetual preferred shares and exchange-traded funds—already proliferating in the United States.

Asked by Shin whether Japan’s ascent might accelerate if US mortgage rates remain high and domestic political consensus frays, Park nodded to generational dynamics: younger savers find Bitcoin “directionally the right thing to own as a way to grow wealth,” while Japanese youth, long resigned to stagnation, increasingly view the cryptocurrency as a lifeline. “It’s actually very acutely obvious to young people the role that Bitcoin can serve,” he said earlier in the programme when discussing housing affordability. In Japan’s context, he suggested, that clarity is amplified by a three-decade struggle against deflation and now a sudden, unfamiliar bout of inflation.

If Tokyo elects to move, it could catalyse coordinated reserve diversification, accelerate financialisation of Bitcoin-linked securities and underscore the cryptocurrency’s emerging role as a geopolitically neutral asset. As Park summed up: “Japan will be an incredible player for Bitcoin adoption”—and in the tight weave of global finance, the timetable for that pivot may ultimately set the cadence for everyone else.

At press time, BTC traded at $107,818.

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Japan is preparing to innovate and implement a robust payment system as its economy gradually becomes cashless.

Kazushige Kamiyama, executive director of the Bank of Japan (BOJ), said that while he has not yet had a firm stance on CBDC, he needs to develop other payment options as society becomes more and more cashless.

According to an article published by Reuters on June 4, 2025, Kamiyama said that while banknotes still exist in high circulation in Japan, physical currencies could see a sharp decline in usage as Japan rapidly becomes digital.

“So Japan must consider the steps now to ensure that the retail settlement system is convenient, efficient and universally accessible while still safe and resilient,” he said.

He further explained that the government and Congress have decided to issue CBDCs and that they have not made any decisions on the issue so far.

BOJ has not yet said its CBDC plan, but is promoting innovation in digital payments

Japan is not currently issuing digital yen, but Boj is urging it to upgrade to a payment system in the age of cashless.

The move follows the global CBDC debate that has been rekindled by Trump’s digital dollar ban. pic.twitter.com/thkdn2qqgd

-PIQ (@PIQSUITE) June 4, 2025

However, the country’s central banks conducted experiments with private companies in digital yen and exchanged opinions.

Explore: Best Meme Coin ICOS to Invest in June 2025

Asia appears to be leading CBDC rates

The talk around the CBDC appears to be in decline and flowing, largely restrained after President Trump banned US CBDC jobs. But they seem to be revived at least in Asia.

Several Asian countries have been successful in CBDC testing and pilot projects. For example, India’s CBDC Pilot Program has successfully provided farm loans directly to tenant farmers in the country.

Additionally, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is considering cross-border CBDC pilots as the electronic rupee circulation exceeds Rs. 1,016 crores (over $118 million) from rupee. In 2024, it would have been 232 crores (approximately $27 million). We are also considering entering a multilateral CBDC initiative through the Bank of International Strements (BIS) Innovation Hub.

Additionally, RBI believes it is expanding the use cases and scope of both e-Rupee retail and e-Rupee wholesale pilots. Plans are in place to improve the technical aspects of the aggregator framework and further increase transparency, convenience and efficiency.

Other Asian countries have also warmed up to CBDCs. For example, Korea is testing two CBDC projects. Project Hangan and Project Agora are domestic tokenized deposits involving multiple banks and institutions.

Interestingly, Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-Yong personally visited six largest US banks to defend the role of wholesale CBDCs after the bank announced its announcement of plans to develop joint stability coins.

Explore:12+ Hottest Encryption Presale to Buy Now

Cashless payment transition in Asia

Driven by technological advances, changing consumer behavior and government initiatives, Asia is rapidly moving towards a cashless society. The adoption of India’s unified payment system is highlighted by network processing, which processes more than 13.1 billion transactions by fiscal year 2023.

China’s Alipay and Wechat pay accounts to over 1 billion users. Furthermore, cash transactions in China are expected to fall to just 3% by 2027. Beyond these Asian giants, other Southeast Asian countries like Thailand and Singapore are accepting cashless payments.

They developed interoperable systems such as PromptPay and PayNow, enabling cross-border transactions and reducing their reliance on Western credit card networks.

The surge in smartphones has been the catalyst for this conversion, especially in areas where bank penetration has previously been low.

Explore: 9+ Best High Risk, High Reward Crypto Buy in June 2025

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Bitcoin’s recent all-time high may be linked to ongoing issues in the Japanese bond market in a development that may signal BTC’s growing recognition as a hedge against instability in the traditional financial (TradFi) system.

Bitcoin’s (BTC) price rose to a new all-time high of $112,000 on May 22, before retracing to change hands above $109,700 at the time of writing on May 26, Cointelegraph data shows.

While some attributed the rally to geopolitical developments, including U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of Russia–Ukraine ceasefire talks on May 19, macroeconomic factors appear to be playing a larger role, according to market analysts.

Japan bonds hit yield record

Bitwise’s head of European research, André Dragosch, pointed to growing concerns around Japan’s sovereign credit outlook, highlighting a spike in the country’s long-term bond yields.

The 30-year yield on Japanese bonds reached a new all-time high of 3.185% on May 20, 2025, before retreating to 3.115% on May 23, TradingView data shows.

Related: $1M Bitcoin by 2030: Big names predict massive debt-driven BTC rally

Government bonds are typically considered safe-haven assets. But when yields rise sharply, it often signals investor concerns about fiscal sustainability and repayment risk. Japan’s debt-to-GDP ratio exceeds 250%, compared to Germany’s 62%, yet both countries had 30-year bond yields near 3.1% on May 21, noted The Kobeissi Letter.

“Because yields are increasing, sustainability becomes more of an issue, meaning credit risk increases, meaning yields increase even more,” Dragosch said. “And so you end up in this kind of fiscal debt doom loop.”

Dragosch said the growing volatility in Japan’s bond market could be prompting some institutional investors to reconsider Bitcoin’s role as a hedge against sovereign default risk.

“This is now affecting other bond markets, especially the US Treasury market,” Dragosch added.

Related: Crypto, NFTs are a lifeboat in the sinking fiat system: Finance Redefined

Sovereign risk drives crypto appeal

Japan’s bond market instability raises sovereign credit risk concerns, leading to more Bitcoin adoption among TradFi participants, Dragosch told Cointelegraph, adding:

“Bitcoin is an immutable asset. It’s free of counterparty risk. It’s a hedge against sovereign risk and sovereign default.”

“Perceived default risk continues rising, yields continue rising? This is a rough benchmark of why Bitcoin could be heading toward $200,000,” Dragosch said, adding that this remains conditional on the continued Bitcoin accumulation from corporations and exchange-traded fund (ETF) holders.

Meanwhile, the US spot Bitcoin ETFs are less than $1.3 billion away from surpassing the monthly inflow record of $6.49 billion from November 2024, Cointelegraph reported on May 23.

Magazine: Arthur Hayes $1M Bitcoin tip, altcoins ‘powerful rally’ looms: Hodler’s Digest, May 11 – 17

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/bitcoins-new-highs-may-have-been-driven-by-japan-bond-market-crisis/feed/ 0 38424 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/grantee-roundup-january-2022-japan-local-grants-edition/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/grantee-roundup-january-2022-japan-local-grants-edition/#respond Mon, 19 May 2025 05:54:53 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/grantee-roundup-january-2022-japan-local-grants-edition/

Blast from the past? In 1998, Buffalo Japan introduced the “skeleton hard disk,” a drive designed to showcase its inner workings. To mark its 50th anniversary, the company is releasing an updated version of the original HDD. Priced at 100,000 yen (approximately $696), the new Skeleton Hard Disk offers a 4TB capacity – but getting your hands on one will be a challenge.

Buffalo designed the Skeleton Hard Disk as an external USB drive with a premium package and design, though its technical specifications aren’t groundbreaking. Using a standard USB 3.2 (Gen 1) interface, the drive lets users see the spinning magnetic surface and moving read/write heads during I/O operations. Forget state of the art. We want novelty.

Unfortunately, Buffalo didn’t release specific internal specifications, so it’s unclear whether Buffalo chose CMR or SMR recording technology for this celebratory product. While Buffalo designed the USB HDD as a desk centerpiece, the company reassures customers that it still serves as a standard external USB storage device.

Buffalo offers a dedicated application called SeekWizard, a Windows-only utility that runs the HDD in various “demo” modes. The tool lets users choose from different head movement patterns, including “random seek,” “sequential seek,” and “second hand step.”

Buffalo says the new Skeleton Hard Disk builds on a modernized version of the original concept design, retaining the essence of its innovative predecessor while offering a more refined, contemporary look. The hefty chassis provides a “unique” desk presence and reinforces the product’s premium feel, making it stand out as an exclusive collector’s item. The elegant packaging adds an unexpected touch of sophistication – something rarely seen with standard USB hard disk drives, enhancing the overall luxury appeal.

The company designed the Skeleton Hard Disk to appeal to Buffalo’s most devoted magnetic recording storage technology fans. Only 50 units are available, so the company will hold a Japan-exclusive lottery to determine which lucky customers will receive one of these extremely limited edition HDDs. Winners should expect their shipments sometime in June.