Investor sentiment has taken a sharp turn as the crypto market’s Fear & Greed Index plunged to 28, signaling widespread fear and uncertainty. The sudden shift came after a massive sell-off that erased more than $230 billion from the market in a single day.
According to CoinMarketCap, total crypto market capitalization fell to around $3.54 trillion on Friday — a steep 6% drop from $3.78 trillion the day before. The decline pushed the market into its most fearful state since April, with the index now hovering dangerously close to “extreme fear.”
Traditional markets also reflected growing anxiety. The Fear & Greed Index for stocks dropped to 22 after U.S. equities closed lower on Thursday. Concerns over regional bank loan exposure, credit market stress, and renewed U.S.-China trade tensions have shaken investor confidence across sectors.
Data shows that major crypto assets extended their declines in the last 24 hours as the broader market correction deepened.
fell nearly 6% to about $105,000, while Ether
dropped almost 8% to about $3,700. Among large-cap
led losses with a nearly 12% decline, followed by Chainlink
also tumbled by over 7%, extending a week-long decline that erased double-digit gains accumulated earlier this month.
On average, the largest non-stablecoin crypto assets declined by about 8%–9% over the last 24 hours.
While last week’s market crash led to nearly $20 billion in liquidations, this week’s downturn saw significantly lower activity.
On Friday, data from CoinGlass showed that about $556 million worth of leveraged positions were wiped out across exchanges, a tiny fraction of last week’s figure.
From this amount, about $451 million came from long positions, while $105 million came from short liquidations.
Liquidations remained lower than last week’s record levels but still showed heavy pressure. Data from CoinGlass revealed that roughly $556 million in leveraged positions were wiped out, mostly from long traders betting on a rebound.
The sell-off didn’t spare other parts of the crypto ecosystem either. Memecoins, which had seen modest recoveries earlier in the week, plunged by 33% in 24 hours. NFT valuations also dropped below $5 billion, marking their lowest level since July, as most blue-chip collections saw double-digit declines.
Exchange-traded funds mirrored the market’s weakness. Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded outflows exceeding $536 million on Thursday, while Ether ETFs saw over $56 million in withdrawals.
With global markets on edge and traders turning risk-averse, the current wave of fear has reminded investors just how quickly sentiment can shift in crypto.