A single 0–100 number that quantifies the whole market's mood: the lower it goes, the more fear; the higher it goes, the more greed. Read it right and you get a mirror to check whether your own decisions are being driven by that same emotion.
Data source: alternative.me Crypto Fear & Greed Index · synced hourly · for reference only, not investment advice
The background bands correspond to the five sentiment zones; move your cursor (or finger) over the chart to see any day's reading.
| Date | Value | Classification |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-07-12 | 26 | Fear |
| 2026-07-11 | 26 | Fear |
| 2026-07-10 | 23 | Extreme Fear |
| 2026-07-09 | 22 | Extreme Fear |
| 2026-07-08 | 20 | Extreme Fear |
| 2026-07-07 | 27 | Fear |
| 2026-07-06 | 24 | Extreme Fear |
| 2026-07-05 | 23 | Extreme Fear |
| 2026-07-04 | 22 | Extreme Fear |
| 2026-07-03 | 21 | Extreme Fear |
| 2026-07-02 | 19 | Extreme Fear |
| 2026-07-01 | 11 | Extreme Fear |
| 2026-06-30 | 15 | Extreme Fear |
| 2026-06-29 | 12 | Extreme Fear |
| 2026-06-28 | 18 | Extreme Fear |
| 2026-06-27 | 15 | Extreme Fear |
| 2026-06-26 | 13 | Extreme Fear |
| 2026-06-25 | 12 | Extreme Fear |
| 2026-06-24 | 17 | Extreme Fear |
| 2026-06-23 | 23 | Extreme Fear |
| 2026-06-22 | 20 | Extreme Fear |
| 2026-06-21 | 23 | Extreme Fear |
| 2026-06-20 | 23 | Extreme Fear |
| 2026-06-19 | 14 | Extreme Fear |
| 2026-06-18 | 15 | Extreme Fear |
| 2026-06-17 | 22 | Extreme Fear |
| 2026-06-16 | 23 | Extreme Fear |
| 2026-06-15 | 20 | Extreme Fear |
| 2026-06-14 | 18 | Extreme Fear |
| 2026-06-13 | 13 | Extreme Fear |
The Fear & Greed Index is compiled by alternative.me for the crypto market, published once a day, blending several dimensions of market data into a single 0–100 reading: 0 means Extreme Fear, 100 means Extreme Greed.
The logic behind it is simple: short-term market moves are driven to a large degree by emotion — when prices drop, people panic-sell, often near the bottom; when prices rise, FOMO (fear of missing out) drives people to chase, often near the top. Turning "sentiment" into a number lets you objectively check: what collective mood is the market in right now, and is my own decision coming from analysis, or from being swept up in that mood?
Worth noting: the crypto version of the Fear & Greed Index is built mainly from Bitcoin and broad-market data. It shares a name with — but is a completely different methodology from — CNN's Fear & Greed Index for US stocks.
Each data source is first compared against its own historical average to gauge "hotter" or "colder," then blended by the weights below into the 0–100 total reading.
Bitcoin's current volatility and max drawdown, compared against 30- and 90-day averages. Abnormally high volatility is usually read as rising market fear.
Current trading volume and buying momentum compared against 30- and 90-day averages. Sustained high-volume rallies push the reading toward greed.
Tracks how often crypto topics are posted about and engaged with on platforms like X (Twitter). Unusually hot engagement signals an overexcited (greedy) market.
A weekly poll of investor sentiment (this data source has been paused in recent years, so its weight is effectively absorbed by the other factors).
Bitcoin's share of total crypto market cap. Capital rotating out of altcoins and back into Bitcoin for safety is usually read as falling risk appetite (fear).
Search interest for "Bitcoin" and related terms. A rise in negative search terms (like "bitcoin crash") pulls the reading down.
Typical market: Parabolic moves everywhere, everyone's talking about crypto, leverage and futures positioning surges
What it means: The market may be overextended. Many past cycle tops came alongside long stretches of extreme greed readings — a time to check your risk, not to add leverage.
Typical market: Broad-based rally, rising social buzz, early signs of FOMO
What it means: A normal zone within a bull market. You can hold, but start paying attention to take-profit discipline and leverage levels.
Typical market: Bulls and bears tug-of-war, no clear direction
What it means: Sentiment isn't adding much information here — lean more on trend and fundamentals for trading decisions.
Typical market: Grinding decline on thin volume, cautious sentiment, bad news gets more attention
What it means: Risk appetite is low. A good time to calmly review your positions and plan, rather than chase moves driven by emotion.
Typical market: Panic selling, cascading liquidations, negative headlines everywhere
What it means: The market may be overreacting. Many cycle bottoms have shown up in this zone historically, but the index can't tell you which day is "the" bottom.
It's not a buy/sell signal generator — it's a mirror on sentiment. Here are four tried-and-tested ways to use it.
"Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful." Extreme readings often line up with market overreactions: at Extreme Fear, panic selling may have already pushed price below fair value; at Extreme Greed, the rally may already be overextended. It's a cue to ask the contrarian question — not a signal to blindly trade against the crowd.
A common, disciplined approach: increase your DCA amount during Extreme Fear, and scale back buying — or take partial profit — during Extreme Greed. It's not about nailing the exact bottom or top; it lets your capital deployment naturally "buy low, sell high," countering the human default of chasing pumps and dumping in panic.
Treat extreme readings as a forced check-up alarm: when the index hits Extreme Greed, review your leverage, futures exposure, and take-profit plan; when it hits Extreme Fear, confirm your stop-loss discipline is still intact and you're not capitulating on emotion. The reading itself doesn't trade — your checklist does.
Any single sentiment indicator has limited predictive power on its own. A more reliable approach is multi-signal confirmation: Extreme Fear + price reclaiming a key moving average + funding rates turning back positive carries far more weight than one reading alone. Treat F&G as one link in a chain of evidence, not the sole basis for a decision.
A few extreme moments the market still references — note that extreme readings mark a "zone," never a precise single day.
| When | Event | Index Behavior | In Hindsight |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 2020 | COVID panic, global asset sell-off | Dropped to single digits (~8) | After the panic selling, this became the cycle's major bottom zone |
| February 2021 | Bull market euphoria, mainstream adoption surge | Extreme Greed near 95 | A deep correction followed in the following months |
| June–Nov 2022 | Luna and FTX collapses | Extended Extreme Fear (as low as ~6) | Turned out to be a bear-market bottom zone, but "Extreme Fear" persisted for months |
| March 2024 | BTC hits a new all-time high | Repeatedly pushed above 80, Extreme Greed | Volatile chop at the highs, followed by a period of correction |
Readings above are approximate, for illustration only; past performance doesn't predict future results.
The official index updates once a day (roughly around UTC 00:00, when the day's reading is published). This page syncs with the data source every hour, and the date shown at the top always matches the latest reading.
This page uses the Crypto Fear & Greed Index published by alternative.me — the most widely cited version for crypto markets, built from a weighted blend of volatility, momentum/volume, social media, surveys, BTC dominance, and Google Trends. Note that it's a completely separate methodology from CNN's similarly named index for US stocks.
Not mechanically, no. Extreme Fear only tells you market sentiment may be overly pessimistic — it doesn't give you an entry point, and it doesn't guarantee the price won't keep falling. During the 2022 bear market, the index sat in Extreme Fear for months at a stretch. A safer use is treating it as a mirror to check whether you're being driven by emotion, and cross-checking it against trend, funding rates, and on-chain data.
Greed is normal during a bull market — a reading lingering in the 56–75 range for weeks isn't unusual and doesn't mean a top is imminent. What's actually worth watching for is extended Extreme Greed (76+) combined with surging leverage — that's when it's worth reviewing your take-profit plan and position sizing, not adding more.
RSI is a pure price technical indicator measuring the relative strength of recent gains and losses. The Fear & Greed Index is a sentiment indicator blended from multiple data sources — beyond price action it also factors in social buzz, search trends, and more. They operate on different levels and complement each other: RSI reads overbought/oversold on the chart, F&G reads how hot or cold the crowd's emotions are.
Fear makes people sell at the bottom; greed makes people chase at the top — the indicator can remind you, but it can't change human nature. CoinTech2u's AI dynamic multi-strategy trading system has no emotions: it executes a defined strategy 24/7, with no FOMO and no panic, replacing flesh-and-blood willpower with discipline.
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