Traders Window
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index: what it measures and how to use it
The Fear & Greed Index squeezes the market's mood into one number from 0 to 100. It's useful context, as long as you know what's inside it.
What it is
The most widely quoted version is published once a day by alternative.me. A reading near 0 means extreme fear, near 100 extreme greed, with fear, neutral and greed in between. It's built mainly around Bitcoin.
What goes into it
| Component | Weight | What it looks at |
|---|---|---|
| Volatility | 25% | Current volatility and drawdowns compared with the last 30 and 90 days |
| Momentum and volume | 25% | Current volume and momentum compared with recent averages |
| Social media | 15% | How much and how fast people post about Bitcoin |
| Surveys | 15% | Polls of market participants; paused at the time of writing |
| Dominance | 10% | Bitcoin's share of the total crypto market |
| Trends | 10% | Google search interest in Bitcoin-related terms |
Source: alternative.me. The weights are theirs and can change.
How traders read it
- Contrarian: extreme fear often shows up near local lows, when sellers are exhausted, and extreme greed near local highs. “Be fearful when others are greedy.”
- As a regime: the index can stay in greed for weeks during a strong trend. Selling just because it says greed has been an expensive habit in bull markets.
- As a change: a quick swing from greed to fear tells you the mood has turned, which is often more useful than the level itself.
Limits
- It updates once a day, so it lags fast moves.
- It describes Bitcoin sentiment; a single altcoin can behave very differently.
- It partly measures price action itself, so it tends to confirm what the chart already shows.
Use it as background, together with positioning data like funding and open interest, not as a trade signal on its own.
The market row at the bottom of the widget shows F&G with today's value and label, next to Bitcoin dominance and the last hour's liquidations.
For information only, not financial advice.