TLDR
- The Crypto Fear & Greed Index hit 81 on CoinMarketCap, entering “extreme greed” for the first time since late 2024
- Bitcoin climbed about 24% in seven days, briefly topping $80,000 for the first time since May
- Around $2.7 billion in bearish crypto positions were liquidated in 24 hours as Bitcoin broke through $70,000
- U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in over $1.9 billion across five trading days ending Aug. 21
- The last time sentiment was this high was just before a $19 billion leveraged wipeout in October 2025
Crypto sentiment has flipped from fear to extreme greed in less than two weeks, driven by a sharp Bitcoin rally, mass short liquidations, and renewed demand from U.S. exchange-traded funds.
📊 CoinMarketCap | Fear & Greed 📊
Sentiment just flipped to Extreme Greed at 81!
Here's the why:
🔹 Market cap up 23.8% in 7 days to $2.67T
🔹 $1.92B spot BTC ETF inflows
🔹 Open interest up 17.7% to $441BSee the full Fear & Greed dashboard here 👇https://t.co/4wPczsw9gw pic.twitter.com/HuxKEXRAPc
— CoinMarketCap (@CoinMarketCap) August 24, 2026
CoinMarketCap’s Fear and Greed Index reached 81 on Aug. 24 and held that level the following day. One week earlier it stood at 41. A month ago it was 36. A reading above 80 falls into the “extreme greed” category under CoinMarketCap’s scale.
Alternative.me’s separate index sat at 74 on Tuesday, also in greed territory but below its own extreme threshold. The two services use different inputs, which explains the gap.
Bitcoin Breaks Out and Shorts Get Squeezed
Bitcoin broke out of a trading range near $62,000 to $65,000 on Aug. 19. As the price pushed past $70,000, traders holding leveraged bearish positions were forced to buy back Bitcoin to close out their trades.
CoinGlass data shows approximately $2.7 billion in bearish crypto positions were liquidated over 24 hours. Short trades made up about 92% of nearly $3 billion in total liquidations across more than 172,000 traders.
Bitcoin briefly hit an intraday high around $81,255 before easing to near $79,000 on Aug. 25. That put it up about 24% for the week.
The total cryptocurrency market value reached roughly $2.67 trillion on Aug. 24, up about 23.8% in seven days. Bitcoin held close to 60% of that total.
ETF Inflows Add Fuel to the Rally
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded about $517 million in net inflows on Aug. 19 and roughly $606 million on Aug. 20, according to SoSoValue data. That brought more than $1.1 billion into the funds in two sessions.
Across the five trading days ending Aug. 21, the products attracted approximately $1.9 billion. Spot Ether ETFs added about $221 million on Aug. 20.
Analysts said continued spot buying would be needed once the forced short covering runs out. Nansen senior research analyst Nicolai Søndergaard said the price action showed an improvement in market structure but did not yet confirm a full market cycle turn.
Bitget Wallet research analyst Lacie Zhang said fresh spot demand would need to keep coming for Bitcoin to hold above $80,000.
Smaller tokens have also moved sharply. Dogecoin gained about 24% over the past week. Memecoin Thinking Cat rose 131% in seven days, Cash Cat climbed 113%, and Dog (Bitcoin) nearly doubled.
The last time the Alternative.me index sat near current levels was Oct. 5, 2025, five days before a crash that wiped out roughly $19 billion in leveraged positions in a single session.
Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh is scheduled to speak at Jackson Hole on Friday, with markets watching for signals on rates and inflation.
