Crypto investor Arthur Hayes warned on August 3 that markets should watch this week’s Federal Reserve H.4.1 release for signs that Japan used US Treasury holdings as collateral to obtain dollars during recent yen intervention efforts.
The move has raised questions about how central banks may manage currency pressure without disrupting bond markets, with potential effects on global liquidity and risk assets like Bitcoin (BTC).
Watching the Fed’s Balance Sheet
The H.4.1 report publishes weekly details on the Fed’s balance sheet, including any repo activity with foreign central banks, which is why Hayes pointed traders there for confirmation.
His post followed last Friday’s coordinated currency action, which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said had been taken to counter “disorderly yen movements,” and that his department is still in close contact with the BOJ and Japan’s Ministry of Finance and “will not hesitate to participate in further joint intervention.” He also called for the FIMA repo facility, which lets foreign central banks borrow against Treasury holdings, to be expanded in the coming months.
“If Bessent can get the counterparty limit increased then the Fed can create money using MOF TSY as collateral,” Hayes wrote in response.
The H.4.1 publication adds to a list of macro events already on the radar of traders, including Friday’s Nonfarm Payrolls report and this week’s ISM Manufacturing PMI.
Bitcoin advocate Adam Livingston called the US-Japan action “one of the funniest pieces of elite macroeconomic theater,” pointing out how the Asian economic giant had spent years pinning rates low, monetizing debt, and turning its fiat currency into a funding source for global carry trades. Now it has weakened, with Washington describing it as “substantially undervalued.”
The crypto author noted that Japan needs dollars to defend the yen, and it holds a large stock of US Treasuries, which, if sold, could push American yields higher and raise US financing costs as well as tighten liquidity. However, a bigger FIMA facility allows Japan to borrow dollars against those Treasuries instead of dumping them onto the market.
The crypto community has been watching the yen issue because Japan’s low-rate environment supported the yen carry trade for years. Investors borrowed the currency cheaply and placed money into higher-yielding assets, like stocks and cryptocurrencies. Last week, analyst EGRAG CRYPTO warned that a fast unwind of such carry trade-funded positions could force selling across risk assets, including BTC, if the yen strengthens too quickly.
Where Crypto Stands This Week
At the time of writing, the global cryptocurrency market cap was holding near $2.2 trillion after a slight 0.8% dip in 24 hours. BTC was trading closer to $63,000 than $62,000, down about 1% on the day and over 4% across one week. Meanwhile, Ethereum (ETH) sat near $1,800, about 6% from where it was a week ago.
Analyst Daan Crypto Trades observed that Bitcoin and the broader crypto market have underperformed the recent bounce in tech stocks. He attributed the pattern to a liquidity rotation where speculation returns more readily to equities once they recover, leaving crypto lagging unless stocks move sideways for a stretch.
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Source: https://cryptopotato.com/heres-why-crypto-traders-need-to-watch-the-feds-h-4-1-report-this-week/
