The Crypto Fear and Greed Index has fallen back into “extreme fear” territory, registering a score of 18 as of Friday. This decline follows a brief mid-week recovery and reflects ongoing geopolitical tensions and macroeconomic uncertainty weighing on investor sentiment. The broader crypto market remains under pressure, with data showing a severe downturn in altcoin prices and social media discussions hitting multi-year lows.
Cryptocurrency investor sentiment has deteriorated back to “extreme fear” levels according to the widely watched Crypto Fear and Greed Index. The index fell to 18, down from a score of 20 which signaled a more cautious “fear” sentiment.
Sentiment briefly improved to 25 on Wednesday before contracting again. This reversal coincides with geopolitical tensions that continue to erode risk appetite among market participants.
The index previously hit a yearly low of 5 in February amid a broader crypto market downturn. That period faced several headwinds including renewed geopolitical concerns and macroeconomic uncertainty over interest rate policy.
Crypto assets have been in a bear market since the October 2025 crash. That event slashed the price of Bitcoin by over 50% from its all-time high and erased hundreds of billions of dollars in value from the altcoin market.
Altcoins are suffering acutely as overall sentiment craters. CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost stated that “Altcoins remain the last sector of the crypto market where liquidity typically flows, so this situation is not surprising.”
Data shows 38% of altcoins are hovering near all-time low prices, a situation more severe than the aftermath of the FTX collapse. The price collapse was accompanied by about a 50% reduction in crypto trading volume.
Mentions of altcoins on social media platforms have sunk to their lowest level in two years. This is according to the crypto market sentiment analysis platform Santiment.
Worldwide Google search volume for “Bitcoin going to zero” also hit its highest level since 2022 in February 2026. This data from Google Trends corroborates the low investor confidence measured by other indicators.
