The Fear and Greed Index and How Understanding it Can Change Your Crypto Trading Outcomes

The crypto market is known for its volatility and price shifts, as well as for the planning and research investors need to do in order to ensure that their portfolios are safe and continue to remain profitable.

Becoming accustomed to all the different metrics is not a simple task, and those unfamiliar with the latest tech developments and the intricacies of financial markets can find the learning curve to be quite steep.

One of the best-known is the fear and greed index, a fundamental metric for determining whether investing, buying, or selling is a good idea.

The importance of this index stems from its ability to make emotional decisions more rational, allowing your choices to be based on the realities of technical analysis rather than vague ideas, hints, and gut feelings.

Having data on your side means you can take a more proactive approach to achieving success and substantially increase your chances of accumulating wealth over the long term.

What is the fear and greed index?

The fear and greed index measures the market sentiment at any given time by analyzing several data sources.

Doing so means that you can have a much more comprehensive view of the overall market sentiment that drives the investors’ decisions.

The inspiration for the crypto index came from the one made by CNN Business for traditional assets, operating based on the same ideas.

The index generates a score that ranges from 0 to 100, with lower values indicating that fear is widespread, while higher values suggest that greed is prevailing.

The crypto fear and greed index appeared in the market as a response to the volatility that impacted BTC’s price during the 2017 bull run.

Investors realized that they require more complex data analysis to ensure they’re making the right decisions, and the index fixed that need.

Volatility, social media trends, market momentum, and trading volumes are among the factors that the index takes into consideration, helping investors identify potential upswings and downswings before they occur.

Doing so gives you a chance to prepare for these shifts so that they don’t catch you unprepared and you don’t end up losing a significant portion of your capital.

Experienced traders say that the first rule of successful trading is to buy when fear is at its peak and start selling when greed becomes dominant, as doing so will yield the most returns.

While greed contributes to the fear of missing out on acquiring assets during rallies, fear leads to panic selling during downturns.

How is market sentiment measured?

It might seem impossible to measure something as elusive as the general sentiment that investors, on average, have about the crypto market.

The index succeeds in doing so by focusing on six key metrics: market momentum, social media sentiment, Bitcoin’s dominance, Google Trends data, volatility, and trading volume levels.

Every single one is given a very specific weight in the final calculations.

For instance, even during times of considerable value decrease, when the prices drop sharply and suddenly, the activity levels on social media continue to grow.

Spikes in volatility are widespread as well.

During times like these, the fear and greed index will move decidedly towards “fear.”

On the other hand, when the prices rise, the social sentiment becomes much more positive, and the index shifts towards “greed.”

Since the crypto marketplace is in a continuous state of changing and evolving, the numbers are upgraded on a daily basis, meaning that the results you’re seeing are based on real-time data.

Generally speaking, fear is considered dominant within the marketplace when values range between 0 and 25, signaling oversold conditions as well as a higher potential for purchasing.

Moderate fear occurs between 25 and 49, while moderate greed is found between 51 and 74.

Both these situations represent the most common market conditions during which emotions are important but not overpowering when it comes to decision-making.

50 is the neutral area, while 75 to 100 is the region of extreme greed, a time during which you need to remain cautious and attentive.

When extreme fear takes place, market crashes are more common, as are panic selling and more negative news cycles.

However, long-term investors tend to view these events as opportunities to buy.

Extreme greed, on the other hand, makes FOMO the norm as a result of the speedy rallies, which lead to overbought conditions but also drive new money into the ecosystem.

What are the components of the index?

While all components are essential when coming up with the fear and greed index, they weren’t all created equal.

The volatility and market volume are the most important, each representing 25% of the final calculations.

Both compare the current market conditions with the 30-day and 90-day averages, with unusual volatility typically indicating fear and high buying volumes being synonymous with greed.

Social media and surveys both have a 15% response rate, with the aim of gaining a direct insight into the attitudes, beliefs, ideas, and plans people have regarding cryptocurrency.

High engagement is one of the most important things that the index seeks to spot, as it signals rife speculative behavior.

Lastly, Bitcoin’s dominance and the trends account for 10% each.

When BTC’s dominance starts to rise, it means that fear is more prevalent as traders seek digital assets with fewer risks.

Falling dominance is correlated with an increased number of altcoin investments, as users are less afraid of losing capital and are willing to take on riskier ventures.

Google Trends tracks Bitcoin’s volume changes and all other important figures, with increases potentially indicating both fear and greed, depending on their particulars.

The current conditions

The crypto fear and greed index is currently in greed territory, with most believing the numbers are the result of the tense political conditions impacting the world.

At the same time, Bitcoin is performing reasonably well, having appreciated quite significantly despite its riskier nature compared to traditional assets.

If you’re an investor yourself, make sure to learn how to interpret the fear and greed index before you start investing, as it can save you a lot of trouble.