Key facts
- The Crypto Fear and Greed Index fell to 56 on Monday, a neutral reading.
- The index peaked at 82 on Aug. 26, its highest reading of the year.
- Bitcoin dropped about 6% from $86,978 to $81,749.83.
- Bitcoin is trading just above $82,000, down close to 5% for the week.
- Spot Bitcoin ETFs lost a net $386.3 million in October.
- Ethereum funds have seen $635 million in outflows this month.
The cryptocurrency market's sentiment has shifted, with the Fear and Greed Index falling to a neutral 56 on Monday, its lowest point since August. This decline follows a period of "extreme greed" in late August when the index peaked at 82, the highest of the year. Bitcoin's price has also seen a significant drop, falling about 6% from its recent high of $86,978 to a low of $81,749.83 on Oct. 8. The largest cryptocurrency is now trading around $82,000, down nearly 5% for the week and approximately 34% below its all-time high of over $126,000 set on Oct. 6, 2025.
This cooling of investor appetite comes after a strong summer rally that some industry participants believed signaled the end of a brutal bear market. However, macroeconomic headwinds appear to be weighing on risk assets. Brent crude oil prices surpassed $101 a barrel last week amid tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, and the 30-year Treasury yield reached a high of 5.70% since 2002. These factors, coupled with expectations of potential interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, have led to a sell-off across stocks, gold, and Bitcoin, suggesting a broader macro-driven trade rather than a crypto-specific issue.
Trading on prediction markets reflects this caution. Traders now assign a 45% chance of Bitcoin reaching $87,500 in October, down from 55% on Oct. 7, and a 56% chance of it dropping to $80,000. The outflows from crypto investment products have also intensified, with spot Bitcoin ETFs experiencing their worst day since June last Wednesday and a net outflow of $386.3 million for October. Ethereum funds have also seen consistent outflows for nine days, totaling $635 million this month.