The Crypto Fear and Greed Index is a daily score from 0 to 100 that sums up Bitcoin market sentiment. 0 means "Extreme Fear" and 100 means "Extreme Greed". Its publisher, Alternative.me, builds it from volatility, momentum and volume, social media, Bitcoin dominance and Google Trends data. On Oct. 24, 2026 it read 51, labelled Neutral. The score describes the current mood. It does not forecast prices.
The latest reading
The publisher's API gave these values in the week to Oct. 24, 2026 (read Oct. 25, 2026):
| Date (2026) | Value | Label |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 24 | 51 | Neutral |
| Oct. 23 | 50 | Neutral |
| Oct. 22 | 68 | Greed |
| Oct. 21 | 63 | Greed |
| Oct. 20 | 55 | Greed |
| Oct. 19 | 59 | Greed |
| Oct. 18 | 53 | Neutral |
For context, the index's index page showed 71 (Greed) as the value from a month earlier. In February 2026 the index was in Extreme Fear on every day of the month. It fell to 5 on Feb. 12 and again on Feb. 23. That was the lowest value in the 300 days of history checked.
Who publishes it and what it covers
Alternative.me publishes the index. It says: "Each day, we analyze emotions and sentiments from different sources and crunch them into one simple number." The index covers Bitcoin only. The publisher says it plans to "offer separate indices for large alt coins soon"; no date is given.
The idea behind it, in the publisher's words: "People tend to get greedy when the market is rising which results in FOMO (Fear of missing out)." The site presents extreme fear as a possible buying opportunity and excessive greed as a sign that a correction may be due. That is the publisher's own premise. It is not a tested trading rule.
Chart tools also carry the series. TrendSpider's help center says its data is "sourced from the vendor- alternative.me." If you see the index on another site, it is very likely the same number, but the label shown next to it can differ (see below).
What goes into the score
The publisher lists six inputs:
| Input | Weight | What is measured |
|---|---|---|
| Volatility | 25% | Bitcoin's current volatility and maximum drawdowns, compared with average values over the last 30 and 90 days. An unusual rise in volatility is read as fear. |
| Market momentum/volume | 25% | Current volume and momentum against 30- and 90-day averages. High buying volume in a rising market is read as greed. |
| Social media | 15% | Counts of posts on coin hashtags and how fast they gain interactions. The publisher says Reddit analysis is not yet part of the live index. |
| Surveys | 15% | Weekly crypto polls, which drew 2,000 to 3,000 votes each. Currently paused. |
| Dominance | 10% | Bitcoin's share of total crypto market capitalisation. Rising dominance is read as caution (fear), falling dominance as appetite for riskier coins (greed). |
| Trends | 10% | Google Trends data for Bitcoin-related search queries and related popular searches. |
The listed weights add up to 100%. With surveys paused, the live score rests on inputs that make up 85% of those weights. The methodology page does not say how the remaining inputs are re-weighted.
What label does your Fear and Greed reading get?
Say where you saw the score and what number it shows to find the label the publisher's own data gives it.
Where does the label you are looking at come from?
- The publisher's API value_classification field → next question
- Another site's own band table → Check the label at the source
- I only have the number → next question
What value does the index show (0-100)?
- 0-25 → Extreme Fear
- 26-46 → Fear
- 47-54 → Neutral
- 55-75 → Greed
- 76-100 → Extreme Greed
Third-party tables can draw the band edges differently: a reading of 51 is Neutral in the publisher's data but Greed on at least one chart tool's table. Read value_classification from the publisher's API before relying on the label.
In the publisher's API history, values from 0 to 25 carried this label. The index fell to 5 on Feb. 12 and Feb. 23, 2026, the lowest value in the 300 days checked. The label describes the current mood; it does not forecast prices.
Values from 26 to 46 carried this label in the publisher's data. Compare the reading with the previous days: the change says more about a shift in mood than the level alone.
Values from 47 to 54 carried this label. The Oct. 24, 2026 reading of 51 sits here, after 68 (Greed) on Oct. 22 and 50 on Oct. 23.
Values from 55 to 75 carried this label in the publisher's data. The score compares Bitcoin's activity with its own 30- and 90-day averages, not with history as a whole.
Values from 76 to 100 carried this label. The highest value seen in the history checked was 94, so the end point of 100 is inferred. The publisher presents excessive greed as a sign a correction may be due; that is its premise, not a tested trading rule.
Band edges are derived from labels in the publisher's API data, not published by it; this covers Bitcoin sentiment only and does not show what the market will do next.
The band edges: published tables and actual labels differ
The publisher's methodology page does not include a band table. Every API record has a label, though. In the publisher's own history (two separate reads, Oct. 25, 2026), each value always carried the same label:
| Label | Values |
|---|---|
| Extreme Fear | 0-25 |
| Fear | 26-46 |
| Neutral | 47-54 |
| Greed | 55-75 |
| Extreme Greed | 76-100 |
These edges come from the labels in the API data. The publisher has not stated them. The lowest and highest values seen were 5 and 94, so the end points 0 and 100 are inferred.
Third-party tables differ. TrendSpider's help center lists 24 or less as Extreme Fear, 25-49 as Fear, only 50 as Neutral, 51-74 as Greed and 75 or more as Extreme Greed. Take the Oct. 24 reading of 51: the publisher labels it Neutral, while TrendSpider's table puts it in Greed. A 25 is Extreme Fear in the publisher's data but Fear on TrendSpider's table. When the label matters, check the value_classification field from the source rather than a site's own table.
How to read the number
- As a summary of the current mood, not a forecast. Each input compares Bitcoin's activity now with its own recent past (30- and 90-day averages for volatility and momentum). A high score says activity looks greedy compared with the recent past, not compared with history as a whole.
- Watch the change, not just the level. The move from 68 to 50 over two days (Oct. 22-23, 2026) says more about a change in mood than either number does alone.
- Know what it does not see. It covers Bitcoin only, its survey input is paused and its social input does not include Reddit. It says nothing about any single altcoin.
- Check the label at the source. As shown above, the same value can get different labels on different sites.
Getting the data
The publisher offers a free endpoint: GET https://api.alternative.me/fng/. It returns value, value_classification, timestamp and, on the latest record, time_until_update. Optional parameters include limit (limit=0 returns the full history), format (json or csv) and date_format. The terms say: "You must properly acknowledge the source of the data and prominently reference it accordingly". Commercial use is allowed "as long as the attribution is given right next to the display of the data."
Related reading
- How FUD, or fear, uncertainty and doubt, works in crypto
- Crypto funding rates: who pays and what positive or negative means
Limitations: the method and data come mainly from one source, the publisher. Band edges are inferred from its API labels, and the weighting used while surveys are paused is not disclosed.
