Despite the cryptocurrency market stabilizing somewhat following the brutal crash that started in late January, digital assets investors appear to be the most bearish they have ever been at press time on February 12.
Specifically, the ‘Fear & Greed Index’ – an index that tracks trader sentiment from ‘extreme fear’ to ‘extreme greed’ – stands at 8 out of 100, per the data Finbold retrieved from CoinMarketCap on Thursday morning.
Although such a reading is not the record low – the milestone was hit approximately one week before press time on February 6, when the index was reading 5 – it is nonetheless indicative that investors are extremely reluctant to buy digital assets and very likely to sell at the first opportunity.
The ‘Fear & Greed Index’, as of February 12, also shows how fast the situation in the market has been changing in early 2026, considering that only one month earlier, it was at ‘Neutral’ with 41/100.
Crypto market wipes $1 trillion in a month
The press time levels of the sentiment index near historic lows are consistent with the performance of the digital assets market in early 2026. After adding nearly $300 billion between January 1 and January 14, cryptocurrencies began a downturn that, by early February, turned into a veritable bloodbath, erasing approximately $1 trillion by press time.
Specifically, digital assets started the year valued at $2.97 trillion, then rose to $3.25 trillion, and finally crashed to their February 12 market capitalization of $2.29 trillion.
Perhaps the most concerning aspect of the sentiment index is that it undermines the likelihood of the more bullish case for cryptocurrencies – such as Bernstein’s estimate that Bitcoin (BTC) can rebound to a new all-time high (ATH) of $150,000 in 2026 – actually proving correct.
Indeed, while major digital assets such as BTC are, at press time, above their recent lows – Bitcoin fell to about $60,000 previously but is changing hands close to $67,725 on Thursday morning – the market appears to have stabilized in a slower downward rhythm.
Apart from corrections initiated upon hitting some of the stronger support zones, cryptocurrencies have mostly been managing to trade upward during low-volume periods such as weekends.
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