Japanese Banks Are Failing: Why $100,000 Bitcoin Price Could Be Closer Than Ever

Bitcoin could be on track to the coveted $100,000 mark as the digital gold narrative gains popularity amid a banking crisis in Japan. Former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes says the failing Japanese banks will only propel Bitcoin and crypto markets higher.

Arthur Hayes Predicts Bitcoin Rally Amid Japan Banking Crisis

Similar to the scenario with U.S. banks in March of 2023, BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes contended on June 21 that Japanese banks would soon need a huge bailout due to the large amounts of underwater U.S. government bonds on their balance sheet.

“Y’all know what that means for Bitcoin and crypto … which is why I thought it necessary to alert readers about another avenue of stealth money printing,” Hayes wrote. He observed that the price of Bitcoin has risen more than 200% since last year’s banking crisis and its ensuing central bank bailout, to trade at around $64,255 today.  

Now this month, the fifth biggest bank in Japan, Norinchukin, has announced that it plans to sell $63 billion worth of U.S. and European bonds by March 2025 as its paper losses on those bonds have become unsustainable.

Hayes thinks this is only a small part of a larger problem as Japanese banks cumulatively hold $850 billion in foreign bonds at the beginning of 2022, including nearly $450 billion in U.S. bonds, according to an IMF survey. 

He suggests that a potential bond sale of this extent would be unacceptable to US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

“That cannot be allowed as yields would spike higher and make funding the federal government extremely expensive,” Hayes opined. “She will demand that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) purchase these bonds from Japanese banks it supervises.”

To achieve this, Hayes proposes that the BOJ utilize its Foreign and International Monetary Authorities (FIMA) repo facility, allowing it to use U.S. Treasuries as collateral in exchange for newly printed U.S. dollars. According to the crypto OG, this scenario will result in more money printing, benefiting those holding assets like Bitcoin.

Hayes thus said he’ll be rotating out of Ethena stablecoins and into “crypto risk,” and has urged crypto investors to “buy the fucking dip.”

“This is just another pillar of the crypto bull market,” he summarized. “The supply of dollars must increase to maintain the current Pax Americana dollar-based filthy financial system.”

BTC Price Breakout Targets $100,000

The price of Bitcoin is seemingly rangebound between $65,500 and $64,000 in recent days. Some analysts expect the price movement of the alpha crypto to remain muted for the time being.

However, for Hayes and other bullish analysts, the price of Bitcoin could break out to new all-time highs in the next few weeks. Based on historical chart patterns, the leading crypto could be on the verge of breaking into the $100K zone. Popular crypto analyst Trader Tardigrade posited in a June 21 X post: 

“Bitcoin is resting in the Resting Zone. This resting zone is set here for the next Powerful Run. Don’t be surprised if $BTC is sent to >$100k in just a few weeks.”