Bitcoin 

BTC

$18,890

 crisscrossed $47,000 on Jan. 3 as the first Wall Street trading days of 2022 got off to a modest start.

Ethereum steals the limelight

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.

Related: New year, same ‘extreme fear’ — 5 things to watch in Bitcoin this week

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.