Crypto Fear & Greed Index
A live 0–100 gauge of crypto market sentiment. See today's reading against yesterday, last week, and last month, with a 30-day history. No signup, runs in your browser.
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How to Read the Fear & Greed Index
- 1Read the needle and number — 0 is maximum fear, 100 is maximum greed.
- 2Check the colour zone: red (extreme fear) through green (extreme greed).
- 3Compare today with yesterday, last week, and last month to see the direction of sentiment.
- 4Scan the 30-day history to judge whether the current reading is an extreme or the new normal.
Sentiment as a Contrarian Signal
The Fear & Greed Index is most useful as a contrarian gauge. When the reading sits deep in Extreme Fear, prices have usually fallen hard, weak hands have sold, and the market may be closer to a bottom than it feels — historically some of the best entry points have coincided with single-digit readings. When the gauge is pinned in Extreme Greed, the crowd is euphoric, leverage is high, and the risk of a sharp pullback rises. This is the mechanical version of “be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.”
The key word is signal, not trigger. Sentiment can stay extreme for weeks — a greedy market can grind higher and a fearful one can keep falling — so the index tells you about risk and crowd positioning, not the exact day to buy or sell. Pair it with price levels, your position sizing, and a plan. It works best as a check on your own emotions: when the gauge confirms what you are already feeling, that is precisely when a contrarian pause is worth taking.
Using the Index Well
Watch the trend, not just the level
A reading of 40 rising from 20 tells a very different story than 40 falling from 70. Use the yesterday/week/month comparison to see which way sentiment is moving.
Extremes matter most
The middle of the range is noise. The index earns its keep at the extremes — sub-20 Extreme Fear and 80-plus Extreme Greed are where contrarian opportunities and risks concentrate.
Never use it alone
Sentiment is one input. Combine it with price structure, trend, and your risk plan. The index can stay extreme far longer than a single trade can survive on sentiment alone.
Mind your own emotions
The most valuable use is as a mirror. If you feel euphoric and the gauge screams greed, or panicked while it screams fear, that alignment is your cue to slow down and think.
It updates daily
The index is a once-a-day reading, not a live tick. Intraday price can swing far from where sentiment last printed, so treat it as a daily backdrop, not a minute-by-minute tool.
Crypto ≠ stocks
This is the crypto-specific index. Do not confuse it with CNN's stock-market gauge — the two use different inputs and often disagree.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Crypto Fear & Greed Index?
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index is a single number from 0 to 100 that summarises the overall mood of the cryptocurrency market. A low reading (0–25) means investors are fearful, often during sell-offs; a high reading (75–100) means they are greedy, often near local tops. It condenses several market signals into one gauge so you can read sentiment at a glance.
How is the index calculated?
The index published by Alternative.me blends several factors: price volatility (about 25%), market momentum and trading volume (25%), social media sentiment (15%), Bitcoin dominance (10%), Google Trends search data (10%), and historically a survey component (15%). Each factor is normalised and combined into the final 0–100 value, updated daily.
How should I use the Fear & Greed Index?
It is a contrarian sentiment gauge, not a timing signal. The common interpretation, echoing Warren Buffett, is "be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful." Extreme fear can flag oversold conditions where the market may be near a bottom; extreme greed can flag froth near a top. Use it as one input alongside price action and your own research, never in isolation.
What do the colour zones mean?
The gauge is split into five zones: 0–24 Extreme Fear (red), 25–44 Fear (orange), 45–54 Neutral (yellow), 55–74 Greed (light green), and 75–100 Extreme Greed (green). The needle points to the current value and the colour tells you which emotional zone the market is in today.
Is this the same as the stock market Fear & Greed Index?
No. CNN publishes a well-known Fear & Greed Index for US stocks. This tool shows the crypto-specific index from Alternative.me, which uses crypto-relevant inputs like Bitcoin dominance and crypto volatility. The two can diverge — crypto can be greedy while stocks are fearful, and vice versa.
Where does the data come from and is it live?
The readings come from the free Alternative.me Fear & Greed API, which updates once per day. The gauge, the today/yesterday/week/month comparison, and the 30-day history all reflect the latest published values, fetched in your browser when the page loads. Nothing you do is stored or sent anywhere.