A day after Elon Musk gave crypto a tentative hug, Bitcoin appears to be quietly basking in that glow and holding the US$32K line, with some analysts even daring to suggest a further move up.

Of course, by the time you read this… five minutes after we press “publish”, things might’ve all changed.

The questions is, do the bulls have the strength for a proper, good old-fashioned, back-the-truck up reversal? Sections of the cryptoverse think so, but most have been proceeding with cautious optimism today.

Yesterday, triangle and wedge fan Bitcoin Charts was keeping the possibility of a “dead-cat bounce” in play. That might still be the case today, however the analyst was also mooting a potential bullish pennant – a sideways, consolidating move that could be building a bit of a platform.

Glassnode’s on-chain analyst Checkmate, while also cautious, was considering a local bottom. Which is nowhere near as dodgy as it sounds.

Another go-to charter of technicals, Michaël van de Poppe, was also happy Bitcoin seems to be holding and consolidating for the moment. He was more enthusiastic about Ethereum, though, calling for a possible US$2,400 move, or even US$2,900 as the next target.

Maybe once more people watch Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin’s super-clear explanation of the leading smart-contract platform, those targets will surely be met and left behind in a trail of moondust.

Bit of a spoiler, but watch for the cameo in this video from Hollywood actor Ashton Kutcher.

Anything bearish going on?

Always. But if you scan Crypto Twitter and the crypto news today, there’s quite a bit of positivity, too. Take this Zip Co story, for example. Or this one about the acrobatic Goldman Sachs.

For balance, though, and just to bring the mood down a notch, here’s a couple of negative news bites.

NatWest is the latest big UK bank to block payments channels to Binance, citing regulatory uncertainty. The UK hasn’t been the friendliest environment for crypto just lately.

BlockFi, a major crypto lending platform, is under scrutiny in Alabama and New Jersey, where it has a cease and desist order, for allegedly selling unregistered securities.

 

Mooners and shakers

At the time of writing, the entire crypto market is up 1.5% in the past 24 hours, with about a US$1.37 trillion market cap.

We can’t stop talking about play-to-earn hype train Axie Infinity (AXS), but it won’t quit being dramatic. Up 25.6% on the day, after a cracking day yesterday, too, it’s changing hands above US$25 once again.

XRP rival Stellar (XLM) was following closely behind AXS in today’s best gainers in the top 100 by market cap. It’s 15.4% to the good at US$0.258. This week’s news of Stellar’s MoneyGram takeover plans no doubt has something to do with the pump. That’s a developing story but certainly one to watch for XLM fans.

With most of the market having a green day, some other notables doing well include Flow (+15.8%), Sushi (+13.2%), and Terra (+13%).

After its recent exploit, THORChain continues a bit of a recovery, up 8.34% on the day, grinding its way back up to US$4.66.

Despite the stifling love from Elon, Dogecoin was down on the day (-4.8%). The Elon Effect – it’s not always the most reliable of indicators.