Crypto market sentiment sank to its weakest point in more than three and a half years as Bitcoin tumbled into the low $60,000s. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index slid to 9 out of 100 on Friday, signaling “extreme fear” and marking its lowest level since June 2022 after the Terra collapse.
The index has been depressed for roughly two weeks while Bitcoin plunged — down about 38% from a 2026 peak near $97,000 in just three weeks, erasing roughly a year and a half of gains. In early trading on Coinbase, BTC briefly traded just above $60,000, according to TradingView, and later was a little above $64,000 after a 13% one-day drop that removed more than $10,000 from its price — the largest daily decline since mid-2022.
Bitcoin slipped below the 200-week exponential moving average, a key long-term trend line that typically only gives way during deep bear markets. The coin now sits about 50% beneath its all-time high of $126,000 reached in early October. Data from CoinGlass shows more than 588,000 traders were liquidated over the past day for roughly $2.7 billion in total losses, with about 85% of those liquidations hitting leveraged long positions, most in Bitcoin.
Market participants point to broader equity weakness and mounting macro uncertainty. Jeff Ko, chief analyst at CoinEx Research, noted the more-than-20% weekly drawdown coincided with a selloff in U.S. tech stocks, where stretched valuations and worries about an AI-driven bubble have weighed on prices. He also highlighted a double-digit drop in Amazon after mixed earnings, and said investors are rethinking Bitcoin’s role as a safe haven compared with traditional assets like gold.
Nick Ruck, director at LVRG Research, said the crypto decline and the wider market pullback reflect heightened risk aversion amid softer U.S. labor signals, including rising unemployment claims. Those signs cast doubt on economic resilience and could make the Federal Reserve more cautious about aggressive rate cuts.
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