At 3 a.m., a crucial monetary policy decision is about to be announced. The market widely expects a 25 basis point cut, almost a certainty, but what really makes traders nervous is the signaling of a shift hidden behind this "gentle knife."

Simply put, this is a delicate operation of "cutting rates but not easing"—meeting market expectations of a slight rate cut while using language to put an end to subsequent easing.

Three details worth paying close attention to:

**The Chairman’s Wordplay**
The post-decision press conference is the main event. Wall Street analysts generally believe that the statement will revisit defensive phrases like "cautious assessment." The key is how to define the "reason for pausing rate cuts"—is it due to uncooperative inflation data? or the resilience of the employment market exceeding expectations? This sentence will determine the market sentiment in the coming months.

**Internal votes may be quite revealing**
There are significant disagreements within the decision-making body. The dovish camp worries that the labor market is cooling too quickly and advocates for continued rate cuts to stabilize. The hawks focus on core inflation data, insisting that pausing now is the responsible move. There might even be multiple dissenting votes—greater disagreement increases the uncertainty about the future policy path.

**An easily overlooked move**
Beyond the rate decision, balance sheet operations are also noteworthy. To ease liquidity pressures, there is a possibility of restarting small-scale bond purchases. While this does not mean a full return to quantitative easing, it signals a marginal improvement for short-term liquidity.

Interestingly, the market has already reacted ahead of the announcement. BTC broke above $94,588, ETH surged to $3,397—funds are voting with their feet, betting on volatility opportunities created by policy expectation gaps.

After tonight, will the cycle of monetary easing truly come to an end, or is this just a tactical pause? The answer will be revealed soon.