The Bank of Japan raised interest rates on Friday to their highest since the 2008 global financial crisis, underscoring its confidence that rising wages will keep inflation stable around its 2% target.

Analysts at BBH said: “Two-day Bank of Japan meeting ends Friday with an expected 25 bp hike to 0.5%. Markets have firmed up the odds of a hike over the past week to around 85% after BOJ officials expressed more confidence on wage growth gathering momentum.”

The Bank of Japan raised interest rates to a 17-year high of 0.5%, with Bitcoin and major altcoins surging by 3-6%.

The Bank of Japan is expected to raise interest rates on Friday to their highest levels since the 2008 global financial crisis, as a broad stocks rally worldwide calms policymakers' fears U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threats could upend markets.

The board decided to raise the BOJ's short-term policy rate to 0.5% from 0.25% by an 8-1 vote. Board member Toyoaki Nakamura dissented to the decision.

Governor Kazuo Ueda and his fellow board members lifted the overnight call rate by a quarter-percentage point to 0.5% at the end of a two-day meeting.

According to a Jan. 22nd report by Bloomberg, BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda and the Bank of Japan (BOJ)’s board are gonna raise the overnight call rate by 25 basis points to 0.5%. If confirmed, this increase would be the largest since February 2007.