Late at night, a data chart showing "Cryptocurrency markets have all fallen 31% after three rate hikes in Japan" circulated across major communities, but one big holder acted quickly—converting several million assets into decentralized stablecoins. This is not a panic sell to cut losses, but rather a preparation for the upcoming market turbulence.

With the Bank of Japan's rate hike imminent, the market is once again filled with familiar panic. Does a rate hike mean a crash? This logic seems straightforward, but in reality, it hides a huge cognitive misconception. The true culprit behind each decline is actually different. The recent adjustments in the crypto market over the past few years reveal the truth only upon careful analysis.

The plunge in March last year was fundamentally a technical correction after Bitcoin soared from 24,000 to 73,000 within half a year—that was a necessary pullback. Japan's first rate hike in 17 years? That was just the last straw that broke the camel's back.

By July, the situation became more complex. Japan's rate hike coincided with worsening US unemployment data, and once recession expectations appeared, the global market began a collective deleveraging. That was the real "double kill."

In January this year, the driving force shifted again to geopolitical risks—the new government's policy expectations disrupted the market rhythm.

It may seem that all these are caused by rate hikes, but the actual logical chain is completely different. That’s why simply comparing historical patterns can be very dangerous. The real issue is that, in an era where global central banks are out of sync and liquidity patterns are fragmented, individual and institutional demand for stable assets has upgraded—not just for preservation of value, but also for control. This also explains why decentralized stablecoins have moved from niche topics to mainstream investors' attention over the past few years. They are not just simple copies of traditional USD, but offer an alternative—autonomy, transparency, and independence from single policies.

In the current environment of sustained high macro uncertainty, this demand will only grow stronger.