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Extreme Fear Returns to Crypto: What Investors Should Know

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Extreme Fear in Crypto Markets

The Crypto Fear & Greed Index fell to 5 on Thursday, signaling a sharp deterioration in market sentiment as digital asset prices continue to slide.

The decline reflects intensifying panic among investors, with risk appetite eroding amid broader global market uncertainty.

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Crypto Sentiment Sinks Deeper Into “Extreme Fear” 

The Crypto Fear & Greed Index measures the overall emotional state of the cryptocurrency market on a scale from 0 to 100. Readings between 0 and 24 indicate Extreme Fear, 25 to 49 signal Fear, 50 represents Neutral conditions, 51 to 74 reflect Greed, and 75 to 100 denote Extreme Greed.

At 5, the index places the market firmly in Extreme Fear territory. The latest drop comes amid a steady decline in sentiment over recent weeks. 

Extreme Fear in Crypto Markets
Extreme Fear in Crypto Markets. Source: Alternative.me

A month ago, the index stood at 26, already within the Fear range. It slid to 12 a week earlier and registered 11 just a day before reaching its current low. The rapid deterioration highlights how quickly confidence has unraveled as prices weakened.

The collapse in crypto sentiment coincides with a broader surge in global economic anxiety, as evidenced by the World Uncertainty Index. The index tracks how frequently the term “uncertainty” appears in Economist Intelligence Unit country reports. 

It covers more than 140 countries and provides a quarterly, cross-country indicator widely used in macroeconomic research and global risk analysis.

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In the third quarter of 2025, the World Uncertainty Index surged to an all-time high above 100,000. In the fourth quarter, it was recorded at 94,947. 

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Those levels are roughly double the peaks observed during previous major crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, Brexit, and the Eurozone debt crisis.

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“Rising geopolitical tensions, volatile markets, and policy uncertainty are driving the spike, as investors struggle to price in what comes next,” Coin Bureau wrote.

World Uncertainty Index
World Uncertainty Index. Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

The elevated reading signals heightened anxiety across global markets as investors grapple with unpredictable economic and political conditions. Against this backdrop, the crypto market’s plunge into Extreme Fear reflects not only falling prices but also a broader retreat from risk assets worldwide.

Crypto Market Cap Falls 22% in 2026 as Bitcoin and Ethereum Extend Losses 

The collapse in sentiment comes as the broader crypto market continues to move downwards. In 2026, total market capitalization has fallen by more than 22%, reversing the optimism that defined the start of the year.

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Bitcoin, which began January on a stronger footing, ended the month down by more than 10%. It has dropped another 14.6% so far in February.

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Ethereum has also fallen 33.8% year to date. The sustained drawdown has weighed on market activity.

Analysts Weigh Crypto Market’s Next Move 

Amid these bear market conditions, the community remains uncertain about what comes next. Analyst Kyle Chassé pointed to historical precedents, noting that similarly depressed readings in the Crypto Fear & Greed Index were seen in 2018, March 2020, and in the aftermath of the FTX collapse in 2022.

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“Every time, it marked a massive opportunity window. No, it doesn’t guarantee the bottom. But historically, peak fear is where asymmetry lives,” he said.

Other analysts argue the current downturn could represent a shakeout phase before a potential breakout. Still, it remains unclear when, or if, a broader crypto market recovery will follow

Ray Youssef, CEO of NoOnes, has forecasted that Bitcoin could trade sideways until summer 2026. He noted that the exact location of the Bitcoin bottom remains unclear and that current dynamics increasingly suggest the market has entered a protracted reassessment of risk.

Youssef pointed to several structural factors, including US political and monetary cycles, persistent inflation constraints, weakened retail capital flows, and cautious institutional demand following heavy losses.

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“As a result, we are unlikely to see a V-shaped reversal before the summer of 2026. More likely, we will see regular rebounds, triggered by short-covering and short squeezes,” he told BeInCrypto.

According to Youssef, such rebounds could be strong, ranging between 20% and 30%, and potentially prolonged. However, he warned they may ultimately prove to be bull traps. 

He stated that crypto traditionally remains in a long accumulation phase within a single range before the start of a true bull market.

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Crypto World

Naoris Launches Post-Quantum Blockchain as Quantum Risks Grow

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Naoris Launches Post-Quantum Blockchain as Quantum Risks Grow

Naoris Protocol has launched its mainnet, introducing a layer-1 blockchain designed to use post-quantum cryptography for transaction validation and network security. The network is live with limited, invite-only participation, allowing early users to run validator nodes and process transactions.

According to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph, it integrates cryptographic standards finalized by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to address risks in existing blockchains, where current encryption methods could become vulnerable over time.

Before mainnet, the protocol’s test network processed more than 100 million transactions and identified hundreds of millions of potential threats, according to the project, with activity spanning millions of wallets and nodes.

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The system uses a consensus model called distributed proof of security (dPoSec) to verify transactions across nodes, while the NAORIS token is intended to support network operations as the economic model develops.

The rollout begins with a restricted group of validators and partners, with broader access expected to expand in phases.

The project lists advisers with backgrounds in cybersecurity, government and enterprise technology, and is backed by investors including Draper Associates.

Related: Is $450B in Bitcoin vulnerable to the quantum threat? Analysts weigh in

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New research suggests quantum computing may arrive sooner than expected

The launch comes as revised estimates for quantum computing, which uses qubits and quantum states to process information differently from classical computers, are driving efforts to move away from current cryptographic standards.

New research from Google released on Monday suggests quantum computers may need far fewer resources than previously thought to break blockchain encryption. The study found fewer than 500,000 physical qubits could crack systems securing Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), a roughly 20-fold reduction from earlier estimates.

The findings point to a shorter timeline for quantum risk, with Justin Drake, a researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, estimating at least a 10% chance that a quantum computer could recover a private key by 2032.

Breakdown of Bitcoin supply by address type and quantum exposure risk. Source: Google Quantum AI

Researchers at California Institute of Technology working with Oratomic reached similar conclusions, recently finding that improvements in error correction (which reduce the number of qubits needed to stabilize computations) could lower the requirements for practical systems to 10,000 to 20,000 qubits, down from earlier assumptions of millions.

Based on these reductions, the researchers said a viable quantum computer could emerge by around 2030.

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Blockchain developers are beginning to respond. In January, developers in the Solana ecosystem introduced a quantum-resistant vault that uses hash-based signatures to generate new keys for each transaction, reducing the exposure of public keys.

On March 24, developers from the Ethereum Foundation launched a “Post-Quantum Ethereum” resource hub outlining plans to upgrade the network’s cryptography, targeting protocol-level changes by 2029 while also noting the multi-year complexity of such a transition.

Magazine: A newbie’s guide to surviving crypto winter