Crypto Crash Pushes Fear & Greed Index to Lowest Since Bitcoin Traded at $17K in Early 2023

Crypto
investor
sentiment
cratered
to
the
most
negative
levels
since
the
tail-end
of
the
2022
crypto
winter
as
bitcoin’s

(BTC)
plunge
below
$54,000
pulled
down
digital
asset
markets.

The
widely-followed
Crypto
Fear
&
Greed
Index,
created
by
data
source

Alternative.me,
shows
market
enthusiasm
towards
bitcoin
and
other
large
cryptocurrencies,
with
0
being
extreme
fear
and
100
translating
to
extreme
greed.

The
gauge
dropped
to
29
on
Friday,
its
deepest
dive
into
the
fear
zone
since
early
January
2023
when
bitcoin
was
trading
around
$17,000
after
2022’s
crushing
bear
market.

Read
more:



Bitcoin
Slumps
Below
$54K
as
Mt.
Gox
Moves
$2.6B
in
BTC

The
metric
notably
sent
out
a
contrarian
sell
signal
this
past
March
when
it
reached
the
90
level
at
near
what
turned
out
to
be
(so
far)
the
2024
top
of
the
broader
crypto
market
and
bitcoin’s
all-time
high
of
about
$73,500.
Since
then,
BTC
and
ether

(ETH)
are
25%-30%
lower,
while
altcoin
majors
plunged
around
50%
and
smaller
tokens
lost
even
more.

Extreme
levels
of
fear
may
present
buying
opportunities,
but
the
reality
is
more
nuanced
with
several
factors
to
be
considered.

The
key
catalysts
behind
the
downturn
was
the
unloading
of
seized
bitcoin
by

German
and

U.S.
governments,
along
with
“preemptively
selling”
as
the
estate
of
defunct
Japanese
exchange

Mt.
Gox
started
to
refund
investors
this
month,
Rachel
Lin,
CEO
and
co-founder
of
derivatives
trading
venue
SynFutures,
said
in
a
market
update.

The
selling
pressure
is
unlikely
to
abate
in
the
short-term,
she
said.
The
German
government
still
holds
some
$2.2
billion
worth
of
BTC,
the
U.S.
government
has
over
$12
billion
and
the
Mt.
Gox
estate
has
more
than
$8
billion
of
assets,
data
by
blockchain
tracing
platform

Arkham
Intelligence
shows.

Read
more:



Mt.
Gox
Begins
Repayments
in
Bitcoin
and
Bitcoin
Cash

“The
direction
of
bitcoin
in
the
coming
days
will
be
determined
by
the
selling
pressure
from
Mt.
Gox
users,”
Lin
added.

“The
market
expects
most
Mt.
Gox
users
dump
their
tokens,
but
we
might
see
a
bounce
back
if
the
selling
is
lower
than
anticipated,
she
said.
“On
the
other
hand,
if
there
is
enough
selling
to
push
the
price
lower,
we
might
be
looking
at
the
$50,000
level
soon.”

Markus
Thielen,
founder
of
10x
Research
trimmed
his
$55,000
price
target
to
$50,000.
“This
situation
may
compel
ETF
holders
and
miners
to
liquidate
more
positions,”
he
said
in
an
emailed
note,
adding
that
August
and
September
are
historically
“challenging
months”
for
bitcoin.
However,
he
added,
“if
the
Federal
Reserve
cuts
interest
rates
in
September,
bitcoin
could
see
another
rally
attempt.”