Key Points
- The crypto fear and greed index has dropped to its lowest level since September 2024, indicating extreme fear in the market.
- Bitcoin’s value has slipped below $93,000, and withdrawals from Bitcoin ETFs have surpassed $1 billion in the past fortnight.
The crypto market is currently experiencing a heightened level of fear, as indicated by the fear and greed index dipping to 25. This is the lowest it has been since September 2024.
The index, created by software development company Alternative, uses a scale ranging from 0 (Extreme Fear) to 100 (Extreme Greed) to assess market sentiment.
Market Shifts towards Extreme Fear
On February 25th, the index dropped 24 points in a single day, moving from a “Neutral” status to “Extreme Fear.” This is the lowest it’s been since 2024 when it was at 22.
This significant drop coincides with a wider market sell-off. Over the past day, cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) have seen decreases of 10% and 14% respectively. Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC) has slipped below the $93,000 mark. Concurrently, withdrawals from Bitcoin ETFs have exceeded $1 billion in the past two weeks.
Market Pullback and Uncertainty
The downturn in the crypto market has resulted in nearly $958 million in liquidations, with $886.47 million coming from long positions, according to Coinglass data. Open interest has also decreased by 5% to $108 billion, signalling a reduction in risk tolerance. The rise in liquidations suggests a previously overly optimistic stance, which exacerbated the sell-off by eliminating leveraged positions.
This market pullback could largely be due to increased pressure on the crypto markets from macroeconomic uncertainty. Markets have been rattled by the announcement from U.S. President Donald Trump on February 24th that his administration will implement 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico. Additionally, worries about the Federal Reserve delaying rate cuts due to higher-than-expected inflation data have kept borrowing rates high.
The market sentiment has also been negatively affected by the $1.4 billion Bybit hack, one of the largest exchange exploits ever. Despite Bybit successfully covering the loss from the hack, the market is still recovering from the security concerns surrounding the incident.
Despite the weak sentiment, analysts have observed that the market’s reaction is still more measured than during the FTX collapse in 2022. This suggests a maturing cryptocurrency market.