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Fear & Greed Index, explained

One-minute answer: Fear & Greed is a daily crypto-market mood score from 0 to 100. Low numbers mean the crowd is fearful; high numbers mean the crowd is excited. It describes mood today, not where price must go next.

What it actually means

The index combines market volatility, trading volume, social-media activity, search interest and Bitcoin's share of the crypto market. The publisher turns those inputs into one number.

The bands are descriptive labels. A score below 25 is called extreme fear; above 75 is called extreme greed. They tell you how unusual the current mood is compared with the index's own history.

What to look for

0–24 · extreme fear — Panic and caution dominate. It can happen near a low, but fear can remain extreme while price keeps falling.
25–44 · fear — The crowd is defensive, but not at the index's most fearful level.
45–55 · neutral — The score sees no strong emotional extreme.
56–100 · greed — Optimism is elevated. High greed can accompany a strong trend for days or weeks.

Worked example

A reading of 15 today means the inputs produce an extreme-fear score for this UTC day. It does not mean Bitcoin is 15% cheap, and it does not promise a rebound tomorrow.

What this cannot tell you

The formula belongs to alternative.me; SafuTrading displays the published result rather than recreating it.
One number compresses several inputs and cannot explain which input caused the move.
Mood can remain extreme much longer than a trader can remain solvent. Never treat the band as an automatic buy or sell instruction.

Data source

alternative.me Fear & Greed API, one published score per day with full available history.

Open Fear & Greed history — Daily crypto-market mood score with the publisher's fear and greed bands.