Bank of Japan hits 31-year high, and crypto decides to hike too 🚀

Bitcoin rose after the Bank of Japan raised interest rates to a 31-year high, climbing from about $65,600 in Asian trading to more than $66,500 during European hours. The largest cryptocurrency was up 1.5% over the past 24 hours, extending a recovery from a June 5 low below $60,000, with $BTC last changing hands at $65,668.86.

Several altcoins posted stronger gains. Stellar's $XLM, Injective's $INJ and Uniswap's $UNI rose between 13% and 16%, ranking among the best performers in the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. UNI's move followed Standard Chartered's initiation of coverage on Uniswap with a long-term $UNI price target of $100 by 2030. Memecoin $SIREN extended a steep decline, falling another 21% in 24 hours and shedding 77% month-to-date, with blockchain trackers on X pointing to a large holder selling coins representing 92% of the token's supply.

Crypto derivatives data pointed to a return of risk appetite. Total 24-hour trading volume climbed 51% to $207 billion, open interest rose 2.4% to $113.41 billion and liquidations jumped 64% to $561 million, with short positions accounting for the bulk of forced exits. BTC futures open interest increased to 747,000 $BTC, the highest since June 4 and a third straight daily gain, while annualized perpetual funding rates held near zero and a positive 24-hour OI-adjusted cumulative volume delta pointed to a more balanced, less fearful market.

$Ether futures open interest ticked up to 14.20 million $ETH from a recent low of 13.64 million. Among major tokens, $LTC, at $45.70, stood out, with open interest rising 6.6% to 6.86 million tokens in 24 hours. Sentiment has turned negative on Avalanche and its $AVAX token as attention shifts to rivals such as Solana and Sui, though some analysts view the pessimism as a potential contrarian signal.