How the Crypto Fear and Greed Index Works

4 min read · updated 14 November 2026

The Crypto Fear and Greed Index turns market mood into a score from 0 to 100. Here is what goes into it, how to read it and where it falls short.

The Crypto Fear and Greed Index is a single number from 0 to 100 that tries to describe the mood of the crypto market. It is published once a day by Alternative.me, and this site shows the current value and a year of history on the Fear and Greed Index page.

The five bands

• 0 to 24: extreme fear
• 25 to 44: fear
• 45 to 55: neutral
• 56 to 75: greed
• 76 to 100: extreme greed

What goes into the score

According to Alternative.me, the index combines several inputs, mainly for Bitcoin: price volatility compared with recent averages, trading momentum and volume, social media activity, Bitcoin's share of the total market and search trends. Each input is scored and the results are combined into one number.

How people use it

The idea comes from a simple observation: people tend to sell in panic and buy in excitement. Some investors see extreme fear as a sign that selling may be overdone, and extreme greed as a sign that prices may have run ahead of themselves.

Where it falls short

• It describes the past and present. It does not predict where prices go next.
• The market can stay in extreme fear or extreme greed for weeks.
• It focuses on Bitcoin, so it may not reflect what is happening with smaller coins.

The index is one input among many. On this site it is one of five factors in the Market Pulse score, which is explained on the methodology page.

This guide is general information, not financial advice.