“Extreme Fear” Grips Crypto Markets as Bitcoin Falls to 3-Week Low

The metric has fallen to 10 even though BTC is far from its February low.

Fear, even extreme fear, has dominated cryptocurrency markets for about two months, as evidenced by a popular index.

The latest drop in this metric took place over the past day, as the price of Bitcoin, like that of most altcoins, took a turn for the worse and fell towards $68,000.

Always extreme fear

The Fear and Greed Index combines various data to determine current investor sentiment toward bitcoin, but it could also apply to most altcoins, especially those moving in sync with the market leader. Some of these include volatility, market momentum/volume, social media comments, BTC dominance, and Google Trends data.

Final results range from 0 (extreme fear) to 100 (extreme greed). The metric peaked in 2026 at over 60, when bitcoin was targeting $100,000 in mid-January. However, it plunged in the following weeks (and months) when the asset was rejected.

It plunged to a multi-year low of 5 in early and mid-February when the leading cryptocurrency collapsed to a 1.5-year low of $60,000. Although BTC is now trading well above this level, the index has remained deep in the “extreme fear” zone for months. Its current reading is 10, even though bitcoin is 15% higher than its February low.

A blessing in disguise?

The latest drop in the Fear and Greed Index coincided with the decline in the price of the underlying asset over the past 12 hours. Recall that bitcoin was trading above $70,000 on Saturday, but Trump’s latest threats pushed it south towards $68,000 within minutes. The overall state of the market remains fragile at best, which is why investors continue to be gripped by fear.

However, this could actually be a blessing in disguise for BTC. History has repeatedly shown that when fear dominates the market for so long, a reversal follows. Cryptocurrency tends to work in the opposite way to what the crowd expects it to do, a narrative that has been true over the past decade.

You might also like:

Let’s remember Warren Buffett’s immortal investing advice: be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful. Obviously, this article is not intended to be investment advice, but don’t be too surprised if BTC reverses its trajectory shortly after such a long period dominated by fear and uncertainty.