What is the Fear & Greed Index?
The Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index summarizes market and attention inputs on a scale from 0 to 100. Lower scores describe fear; higher scores describe greed.
Read the score alongside the provider’s inputs, publication date, and historical range. This guide explains those checks and how sources can add context to the reading.
What the score ranges describe
These illustrative bands explain the low-to-high scale. Check the thresholds used by the specific provider you follow.
Extreme Fear
The low end of the provider’s composite score. Inspect the inputs behind the label.
Fear
A score below the neutral range in this illustrative banding.
Neutral
A score near the middle of the scale.
Greed
A score above the neutral range in this illustrative banding.
Extreme Greed
The high end of the provider’s composite score. Inspect the inputs behind the label.
Check the published inputs
Alternative.me publishes volatility, momentum and volume, social activity, dominance, and search trends as inputs. Its methodology also lists a survey component as currently paused.
These inputs describe different aspects of market activity and attention. Read the provider’s definitions and any paused components before interpreting the combined score.
Read Alternative.me’s methodology for the current published weights and calculation notes.
Understand the limits of a score
Inputs overlap
A range summarizes several inputs
An extreme reading needs context
Methods differ
Add the mentions behind the number
Mentions analysis asks what a selected set of publications and public sources is saying about Bitcoin. It can help explain the themes, events, and questions being discussed during a period.
The Perception Index summarizes classified mentions. Open the dated reading, inspect the source material, and review the methodology for the calculation and its limits.
Read a consistent history
- Record the provider, calculation, and update timestamp.
- Compare the same series across a defined period.
- Read sources around material changes.
- Keep an observed relationship separate from a prediction.
For worked examples, the Fear & Greed historical events page lists ten market events, from the March 2020 crash to Bitcoin crossing $100,000, with Alternative.me’s reading on each day. The track record shows how much of each index trailing price explains: about 68% of the Fear & Greed Index and about 21% of the Perception Index.