Bank of Japan to double ETF sales to ¥860bn a year from January 2027
The Bank of Japan will more than double the pace at which it sells exchange-traded funds, lifting planned annual disposals from about ¥330 billion to ¥860 billion at book value from January 2027, the central bank said following its 30 October decision.
At indicative market value the new pace works out to roughly ¥2,460 billion a year, a conversion the BOJ based on the market-to-book ratio of the ETFs it sold between January and September 2026. The sales will be spread across the year rather than concentrated in a single window.
The bank calibrated the new pace to about 0.1% of trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market, using January-September 2026 data. The earlier setting, fixed at the September 2025 decision, targeted about 0.05% of market trading at that time, though the two shares rest on different reference periods. The BOJ said disposals since January 2026 have proceeded smoothly without a major market impact, and its framework lets it temporarily adjust or suspend sales if financial conditions shift.
The decision concerns equity supply, not interest rates: the overnight call-rate guideline stays around 1.25%, the target set in September and effective from 24 September, so the ETF announcement adds no fresh increase to yen borrowing costs. The funds hold Japanese equities rather than bitcoin, but the link is indirect. A September 2024 Bank for International Settlements review described how August 2024 turbulence saw yen appreciation, carry-trade unwinding and equity volatility coincide with broader deleveraging and margin calls, including in crypto. Carry trades fund higher-yielding positions with borrowing in lower-rate currencies.
If equity volatility rises, leveraged investors facing portfolio limits or collateral calls could cut holdings across assets, potentially reaching bitcoin. January's implementation will test how comfortably the market absorbs the faster sales.
