Prospects of interest rate rises are no longer just the U.S. story. Traders are now betting the Bank of Japan (BoJ) could tighten too as the resource-scarce nation faces inflation risks from the ongoing Iran war.

Traders see a roughly 69% chance of the BoJ raising its benchmark borrowing cost at the April 28 meeting, according to data tracked by Bloomberg. Action in options tied to U.S. interest rates shows traders expect the Fed to raise borrowing costs in the coming weeks.

BoJ’s policy meeting summary released Monday showed one member calling for a bigger rate hike in response to the conflict in the Middle East and its inflationary impact on Japanese society. Comments also noted that any move would factor in incoming economic data and anecdotal signals from the market.

The Fed’s tightening is a well-known headwind for risk assets, including bitcoin. The Bank of Japan can be just as impactful. Years of ultra-low rates encouraged traders to borrow in yen and invest in higher-yielding markets (the so-called carry trade), keeping borrowing costs suppressed globally and greasing rallies in risk assets.

So, a shift toward tighter policy in Tokyo could reverse these flows, sending ripples across markets and potentially deepening the crypto bear market. The BoJ has already raised its interest rate to 0.75% from -0.1% over the past two years while simultaneously ending its massive asset purchase program. Yet, rates in Japan remain significantly lower than the 3.5% seen in the U.S.

The bank, therefore, has plenty of room to hike if the Iran crisis worsens, potentially driving higher energy prices and imported inflation in Japan and other oil-dependent countries.

Easier said than done

Hiking rates, however, will be a challenging task given Japan’s strained fiscal situation. The country’s debt-to-GDP ratio stands at a staggering 240%, meaning higher rates could sharply increase borrowing costs and strain government finances.

Economists have said that Japan is caught between a rock and a hard place. If it hikes rates and allows government bond yields to rise, it could put Japan’s debt sustainability at risk. If it keeps rates low, the yen will likely depreciate significantly, adding to inflation concerns.

Strains are already evident in the FX market. The Japanese yen continues to weaken and is currently just around 160 per U.S. dollar, its weakest level since mid-2024. The JPY has depreciated by 54% since 2021.

South Korea’s Naver Financial has delayed plans for its share swap with crypto exchange Upbit’s parent firm Dunamu.

According to a regulatory filing with the country’s Financial Supervisory Service, Naver said it will hold a shareholder vote on Aug. 18, following which it will complete the transaction on Sept. 30. 

With the new timeline, the deal has now been delayed by nearly three months from earlier target dates of late May or early June.

While the company did not disclose the reason behind the delay, it said the deal remains subject to multiple regulatory approvals tied to changes in major shareholding and business combination review. It added that the transaction could be subject to further delays or cancellation depending upon how the approval process unfolds.

The deal may also be impacted by South Korea’s proposed Digital Asset Basic Act, which is expected to be implemented in the first half of 2026.

The planned legislation is the second phase of the country’s crypto regulatory framework and is set to expand beyond the current user protection regime to put in place a broader rulebook for the digital asset sector.

In the meantime, Dunamu has reported weaker operating performance, with its revenue and profit both falling in 2025 as market activity across the crypto market has slowed.

Per its annual filing, the company posted a 10% year-on-year decline in revenue, while its operating profit fell 26.7% and its net profit fell 27.9%.

Naver Financial first disclosed plans to acquire Dunamu last year, with local media reporting at the time that the company was preparing a share swap to bring the Upbit operator under its umbrella. The deal was subsequently confirmed in November as a roughly $10.3 billion all stock deal.

Around the same time, the company also announced plans to launch a stablecoin wallet service in collaboration with blockchain investment firm Hashed and the Busan digital exchange. As previously reported by crypto.news, the companies plan to develop a wallet named “Silk Pocket.”

Key Highlights

• Aletheia Capital maintains Buy recommendation on AMD with $330 price objective
• Server CPU revenues expected to expand at 45% CAGR through 2028
• Data center business projected to surge from $17B in 2025 to $77B by 2028
• Company has evolved into comprehensive AI compute solutions provider
• CEO Lisa Su joins Trump administration’s science and technology advisory council

Advanced Micro Devices ($AMD) continues to attract bullish sentiment from Wall Street analysts, with Aletheia Capital maintaining its Buy recommendation and establishing a $330 price objective for the chipmaker. Trading at $201.99, the stock presents substantial appreciation potential based on the firm’s analysis.

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., AMD

The investment case from Aletheia focuses heavily on AMD’s positioning within the emerging agentic AI landscape. The research firm contends that central processing units — rather than solely graphics processing units — represent the optimal semiconductor architecture for agent-based computational tasks, positioning AMD favorably to capitalize on this shift.

Aletheia’s financial projections anticipate AMD’s server CPU business will achieve a remarkable 45% compound annual growth rate spanning 2025 through 2028. This aggressive expansion forecast forms the foundation of the firm’s optimistic outlook.

Regarding data center operations, the analyst firm forecasts revenue climbing from $17 billion in 2025 to $58 billion by 2027, ultimately reaching $77 billion in 2028. This trajectory represents approximately 4.5-fold growth over a three-year period.

Aletheia employed a sum-of-the-parts methodology to derive its $330 valuation. For comparison, InvestingPro’s Fair Value analysis places AMD at $225.24, which still exceeds current trading levels.

The company delivered 34% revenue growth over the trailing twelve months. This performance validates the thesis that AMD is capturing increased market share within the AI computing sector.

Aletheia’s perspective on AMD has broadened beyond viewing the company as merely an alternative GPU supplier. The firm now characterizes AMD as a “comprehensive AI compute provider” — terminology that underscores the company’s strategic transformation.

However, the firm acknowledged several risk factors including end market demand volatility, execution challenges, and geopolitical uncertainties. These considerations carry significant weight given current macroeconomic conditions.

Wall Street Consensus Strengthens

Wolfe Research similarly maintains an Outperform stance on AMD with a $300 price objective. The firm emphasized AMD’s conviction in its AI accelerator development timeline and sustained server market traction.

Seaport analyst Jonathan Golub observed that semiconductor sector valuations, including AMD’s multiple, have contracted since July. He interprets this compression as creating attractive entry opportunities.

Corporate Updates and Strategic Moves

AMD and Celestica unveiled the Helios rack-scale AI platform designed for data center infrastructure applications. This collaboration capitalizes on Celestica’s engineering and production expertise.

The company also finalized a multi-year licensing arrangement with Adeia Inc. This agreement provides AMD access to Adeia’s semiconductor intellectual property library while settling all pending legal disputes between the parties.

CEO Lisa Su secured an appointment to President Trump’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. This role positions her among influential leaders guiding U.S. technology and scientific policy direction.

AMD communicated concerns regarding its client computing and gaming divisions due to escalating memory component costs. These segments have demonstrated weaker performance relative to the robust data center business.

InvestingPro designates AMD as a “prominent player in the Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment industry.” The stock declined 0.87% during the trading session at time of publication.

Bitcoin (BTC) buyers made a tepid comeback on Monday, pushing BTC price to its intraday high of $67,860. Analysts said that Bitcoin remains in a bear market, with several metrics pointing to a potential bottom below $50,000.

Key takeaways:

• Bitcoin price turns $70,000 into resistance, clearing the path for a deeper correction.

• Bitcoin’s short-term holder realized price bands moved lower, with a potential bottom around $46,000.

• Historical retracement levels and a bear flag breakdown point to $39,000–$41,000 as the final low for BTC price this cycle.

Bitcoin’s “path of least resistance” is downward

Data from TradingView captured ongoing BTC price gains, up 1.5% on the day to trade at $67,750, as $69,000-$70,000 became new resistance.

Analyzing Bitcoin’s price action on lower time frames, Telegram trading resource Technical Crypto Analyst said losing the $68,000-$69,000 support “confirms short-term bearish momentum,” adding:

“Unless price quickly reclaims $69K–$70K, the path of least resistance remains downward toward the $65K demand zone.”

Related: Worst six months since 2018? Five things to know in Bitcoin this week

“Great bounce upwards, but nothing confirmed as of yet on Bitcoin,” MN Capital founder Michael van de Poppe said in a Monday post on X.

It “all depends on macroeconomic events; however, I’d rather see a breakout above $71K for confirmation,” he added.

“On the other hand, a classic little sweep to $65K just before the push upwards would signal that we’re going to get that momentum.”

Analyst Kyle Chassé said that with the Fear and Greed index still in the “extreme fear zone” and the order books showing more shorts than longs, the market leans “towards more downside.”

Where will the Bitcoin price bottom?

Bitcoin’s 46% drawdown from its $126,000 all-time high has seen the cost basis of short-term holders (STH) — the average price of entities who have held BTC for less than 155 days — drop from $113,500 to $83,200.

“​​This is a sign that the pricing for a potential bottom has also moved lower,” said CEO and founder at Alphractal Joao Wedson in an X post on Monday.

Similarly, the lower line of the STH realized pricing bands (blue line) has also moved “even lower, which could confirm that Bitcoin may form a bottom around $50K or slightly below,” Wedson added.

The chart below shows that Bitcoin bottomed out just below the lower band of the STH realized price during the 2022 bear market. 

Analyst Willy Woo said that the bear market bottom for Bitcoin could be between its realized price, currently at $54,000, and the Cumulative Value-Days Destroyed (CVDD), now at $45,500.

“Old school onchain models suggest a BTC bottom between $46K-54K. ”

The CVDD measures the cumulative value of “Coin Days Destroyed” (long-term holders selling) relative to the market’s age, creating a rising “floor” price during bear markets. 

Crypto analyst Crypto Jelle said Bitcoin’s bear market lows have historically formed between the 0.618 and the 0.786 retracement levels, which are at $57,600 and $39,000, respectively.

As Cointelegraph reported, the current “last stages” of the bear market are producing predictions of as low as $41,000, based on a bear flag breakdown.