This week, the cryptocurrency market will face two major events that could trigger significant volatility! The U.S. non-farm payroll data for November will be released on December 16, along with the Bank of Japan's interest rate decision on December 19.
In the current market environment, the impact of U.S. non-farm data on cryptocurrencies shows an 'abnormal' logic— the weaker the employment data, the better it is for crypto. This is because non-farm data that is weaker than expected (for example, new jobs far below 50,000 or an unemployment rate higher than 4.4%) means that the U.S. economy is cooling, which will strengthen expectations for the Federal Reserve to accelerate interest rate cuts. A low interest rate environment will drive funds into high-risk assets, and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum often see significant increases as a result; historically, in similar scenarios, daily gains can reach 10% or more. Conversely, if non-farm data significantly exceeds expectations (new jobs over 150,000), it may lead to a cooling of interest rate cut expectations, putting strong selling pressure on the crypto market, with short-term declines possibly reaching 8-15%.
At the same time, the Bank of Japan is almost certain to raise interest rates on the 19th (from 0.5% to 0.75%), marking the highest level in thirty years. This action will boost the yen's exchange rate and accelerate the unwinding of 'carry trades,' pulling funds out of risk assets, which poses a significant negative impact on cryptocurrencies. The yen carry trade unwinding in the summer of 2024 has previously triggered a flash crash in Bitcoin.
In summary:
If the non-farm data is weaker than expected, and Japan raises interest rates slightly as anticipated, the two may partially offset each other, with the crypto market potentially showing fluctuations under high volatility, with price changes within ±8%.
The worst-case scenario is if the non-farm data is stronger than expected combined with interest rate hikes from Japan, leading to a significant decline in crypto, with a possible drop of 10-20%.
The most optimistic scenario is if non-farm data is extremely weak, and Japan unexpectedly adopts a dovish stance (not raising interest rates or signaling easing), which may lead to a strong rebound in cryptocurrencies, with weekly gains exceeding 20%.
In short, the crypto market will be extremely sensitive this week, with very high short-term volatility risks. Investors need to closely monitor the deviation between the actual non-farm numbers and expectations, as well as the hawkish or dovish tone of the Bank of Japan's post-meeting statements, and implement strict risk control. In the long term, the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut cycle remains the main driver, but the normalization of Japanese monetary policy has become a new variable that cannot be ignored.
#非农 #日本加息