Speculation is swirling about the potential for the Bank of Japan to raise its interest rates soon, marking the end of a 17-year period. This comes after Japan's largest union group announced its strongest wage demands in over three decades, leading to a slight decline in the yen against the dollar.

The focus of the current week is expected to revolve around crypto and the global market, as major central banks in Japan, the US, Australia, and other countries unveil their plans for interest rate hikes. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) is set to commence its two-day policy meeting in this regard.

In Asian trading, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index saw gains driven by a rally in Japan, buoyed by a weaker yen, while the Nikkei 225 index experienced a significant increase. US equity futures also rose, following a 0.7% dip in the S&P 500.

According to data from Bloomberg, swap traders have priced in around 28 basis points of rate hikes for this year, with an expected increase in March of about 54%. Goldman Sachs predicts that the BOJ will raise rates due to wage growth, with the short-term rate likely to be maintained between 0% and 0.1%. Tomohiro Ota, an Economist at Goldman Sachs, has indicated that the BOJ does not need further data to justify the policy shift.

This week could bring more volatility to Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin's price was $65,000 last week, experiencing a swift recovery, and it is currently trading at $68,620.21, with a market capitalization of $1.348 trillion.

QCP Capital analysts have observed a significant increase in the sale of BTC puts, suggesting diminishing investor apprehension. Moreover, there is a trend towards long-dated September and December BTC calls targeting prices between $100,000 and $150,000.

As for Ethereum, there is uncertainty as perpetual funding turns negative and risk reversals persist, indicating a downward bias. Despite the ongoing rally in alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins), concerns persist about a potential decline in ETH's price.