Crypto Fear and Greed Index fell to 24 on January 21, 2026. It shows that the market quickly returned to extreme fear after recently being in greed last week.
Market sentiments have become much worse as cryptocurrencies are plummeting while geopolitical tensions rise.
The sentiment in the crypto market is falling to extreme fear.
BeInCrypto reported earlier this week that President Trump threatened the EU with tariffs. This triggered a major sell-off in the market and affected risky assets. The pressure increased even more on Tuesday.
At the Davos meeting, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the Trump administration is ready to use tariffs as a key tool. This made global markets even more uneasy.
BeInCrypto Markets shows that Bitcoin (BTC) fell below 90,000 USD and even briefly below 88,000 USD. Ethereum (ETH) also dropped below 3,000 USD.
The major sell-off wiped out more than 120 billion USD from the total crypto market's value in the last 24 hours.
The derivatives markets also showed how serious the movement was, with many forced liquidations. More than 182,000 traders were liquidated in the last day. Total liquidations amounted to 1.08 billion USD. Long positions accounted for 989.9 million USD of the losses.
The heavy selling has also caused investors to feel great concern. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index fell to 24 today. Last week, the index was at 61 on January 15, indicating that the market was then dominated by greed.
"Risk-off is back. Capital seeks safety," wrote a market watcher on X.
The index provides a broad picture of psychology in the crypto market. It gathers data from many factors, such as volatility, market volume and movement, social media activity, Bitcoin dominance, and Google Trends.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), analyst Rex stated that investors' interest in the industry is now so low that many are indifferent. The sentiment seems more worrying now as it depends on both prices and the declining faith in long-term crypto narratives.
The analyst pointed out that even those who have been in crypto for a long time are increasingly turning to stocks and commodities. This shows a lack of confidence, not just a temporary interruption.
"No one wants to make angel investments here, no one believes in the bad narratives anymore... No one cares anymore. It really can't get worse for sentiment than now. At the bottom of the COVID crash, people still believed in the industry, now it's worse," the post stated.
Despite this, there are investors who believe in a recovery. Analyst Doc suggested that sentiment when Bitcoin hits its bottom will likely be even worse than after the FTX collapse, even though today's decline is smaller.
This conviction is based on the fact that cryptocurrencies are still an investment with asymmetric potential. Long-term gains may outweigh the risks, despite many being pessimistic now.
"I rarely make bold predictions, but if I have to choose one thing – the sentiment at the actual BTC bottom will be worse than after FTX, even though the Bitcoin decline isn't even close to 2022. Crypto is once again the best chance in the capital market. That's why I stay," he said.
Moving forward, the market direction is likely to depend on how macroeconomic and geopolitical events unfold in the coming weeks. Until it becomes clearer, volatility may remain high and sentiment weak.