‘Extreme Fear’ Grips Crypto Markets as Bitcoin Drops to 3-Week Low

The metric is down to 10 even though BTC is far from its February bottom.

It has been roughly two months in which fear or even extreme fear has dominated the cryptocurrency markets, as evident from a popular index.

The latest decline in this metric took place over the past day as bitcoin’s price, alongside most altcoins, took a turn for the worse and dipped toward $68,000.

Still Extreme Fear

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

The final results range between 0 (extreme fear) and 100 (extreme greed). The metric peaked in 2026 at over 60 when bitcoin aimed at $100,000 in the middle of January. However, it nosedived in the following weeks (and months) as the asset was rejected.

It plunged to a multi-year low of 5 in early- and mid-February when the primary cryptocurrency crashed to a 1.5-year low of $60,000. Although BTC now trades well above that level, the index has remained deep within ‘extreme fear’ territory for months. Its current figure is 10, even though bitcoin is 15% higher than its February bottom.

Blessing in Disguise?

The latest drop in the Fear and Greed Index coincided with the underlying asset’s price slip in the past 12 hours. Recall that bitcoin traded above $70,000 on Saturday, but Trump’s latest threats pushed it south toward $68,000 in minutes. The overall market state 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 shown multiple times that when fear dominates the market for so long, a reversal has followed. The cryptocurrency tends to perform in the opposite manner of what the crowd expects from it, a narrative that has proven over the past decade or so.

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Let’s not forget Warren Buffett’s immortal investment 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 soon after such a long period dominated by fear and uncertainty.