Bitcoin dips below $47K as US dollar surge dampens BTC price performance
It's not looking great for Bitcoin on short timeframes, and Ethereum is becoming an increasingly popular bet instead. Bitcoin (BTC) crisscrossed $47,000 on Jan. 3 as the first Wall Street trading days of 2022 got off to a modest start. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD acting in a narrow range as the week began, with traders split over short-term outcomes.
"It's just a matter of time before BTC breaks out, and the longer it takes, the harder it will pump," popular Twitter account Galaxy summarized. "Q1 is up only. You heard it here first."
Such optimism was far from universal, however. For Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe, the time had come to look closer at altcoins than BTC.
"Good bounce from Ethereum and I think this one is bottomed," he said about the state of ETH/USD Monday. "Still need additional confirmation, but shows more strength than Bitcoin at this point. Ultimate confirmation above $4,100."
ETH/USD was up over 2% in 24 hours at the time of writing, with BTC/USD conversely showing no inclination to tackle even daily highs. On macro markets, the S&P 500 was up a touch at the Wall Street open, amid predictions that the first half of the year would be a further boon for equities across the board thanks to the prospect of key interest rate hikes. The U.S. dollar, meanwhile, saw a sudden boost on Jan. 3, with the U.S. dollar currency index (DXY) rapidly gaining — as is customary, to Bitcoin's detriment.
Never mind the bearish divergence
Among Bitcoin-focused analysts, meanwhile, TechDev led calls to quash bearishness, arguing that on-chain indicators do not support a bearish thesis. Concerns about both the relative strength index (RSI) and moving average convergence/divergence (MACD) pale in comparison to more fundamental indicators still yet to print a bearish outlook, he said at the weekend. With conviction remaining high and selling declining, TechDev was in good company.
"In case no-one noticed, we have come a long way from nerdy retail HODL'ers being the buyers of last resort," entrepreneur Alistair Milne added. "We now have billionaires, multinationals and countries waiting to buy the dips. Whoever is taking the other side of the trade needs their head examined IMO."
A fresh influx of institutional interest is considered by some to be ready to begin this month.
Top Cryptocurrencies with Price Predictions
| # | Crypto | Prediction | Accuracy | CVIX | Price | 24h | 7d | Market Cap | 7d price change | |
| 1 |  BTC |
Bitcoin predictions | 64% | 76 | $23 414.18 | -0.57% | 1.32% | $451 444 140 453 |  |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 |  ETH |
Ethereum predictions | 65.6% | 64 | $1 660.60 | 0.87% | 3.91% | $203 213 799 353 |  |
|
| 3 |  USDT |
Tether predictions | 96% | 1 | $1.000139 | 0% | 0% | $68 038 057 989 |  |
|
| 4 |  BNB |
Binance Coin predictions | 81.2% | 39 | $332.21 | 2.49% | 7.92% | $52 455 756 881 |  |
|
| 5 |  USDC |
USD Coin predictions | 95.2% | 1 | $0.999870 | -0.01% | -0.02% | $41 954 575 977 |  |
|
| 6 |  XRP |
XRP predictions | 76.4% | 51 | $0.410035 | 0.05% | -0.66% | $20 829 395 994 |  |
|
| 7 |  BUSD |
Binance USD predictions | 92.4% | 1 | $1.000093 | 0.02% | 0% | $16 273 786 064 |  |
|
| 8 |  ADA |
Cardano predictions | 69.2% | 69 | $0.401700 | 0.32% | 2.18% | $13 898 855 921 |  |
|
| 9 |  DOGE |
Dogecoin predictions | 74% | 48 | $0.093742 | 2.62% | 6.67% | $12 436 791 556 |  |
|
| 10 |  MATIC |
Polygon predictions | 68% | 64 | $1.23 | 4.02% | 7.27% | $10 780 259 861 |  |
|
| 11 |  STETH |
Lido stETH predictions | 96% | 1 | $2 941.39 | -0.40% | -3.32% | $10 258 752 564 |  |
|
| 12 |  SOL |
Solana predictions | 61.6% | 88 | $24.55 | 0.87% | -0.41% | $9 145 525 743 |  |
|
| 13 |  DOT |
Polkadot predictions | 64% | 74 | $6.94 | 5.67% | 5.23% | $8 000 392 092 |  |
|
| 14 |  SHIB |
SHIBA INU predictions | 64% | 79 | $0.000014 | 14.51% | 18.56% | $7 679 941 030 |  |
|
| 15 |  LTC |
Litecoin predictions | 76.8% | 38 | $100.23 | 0.95% | 13.08% | $7 236 835 830 |  |
