Deep Tide TechFlow message: On August 11, according to BitMEX co-founder and Maelstrom Chief Investment Officer Arthur Hayes, in a post on his Substack, U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent has publicly called for expanding the Federal Reserve’s FIMA (Foreign and International Monetary Authorities) repurchase facility. This would allow Japan’s Ministry of Finance (MOF) to use the U.S. Treasury securities it holds as collateral, borrow U.S. dollars from the Federal Reserve, and then exchange those dollars for Japanese yen—thereby achieving a yen appreciation without having to sell U.S. Treasuries.

Hayes believes that this mechanism is, in essence, the Federal Reserve directly printing money. Its upper limit depends on Japan’s government and GPIF (Japan Government Pension Investment Fund) combined holdings of U.S. Treasuries, about $1.37 trillion. Once the Federal Reserve’s Foreign Currency Subcommittee holds a meeting and modifies the FIMA rules, this “money-printing switch” can be activated, with no need for congressional approval or a public hearing.

Hayes pointed out that the era of cheap yen is coming to an end, and the next round of USD liquidity expansion will drive up the prices of Bitcoin, gold, and the stocks of gold mining companies. He specifically singled out Ethereum (ETH) as a “large-cap sleeping asset” and expects Ethena (ENA) to achieve a 5x gain after Bitcoin’s price rebounds. Currently, Maelstrom is heavily positioned in Bitcoin and is waiting to increase its holdings further once the FIMA rules are amended.