Although the crypto crowd stayed in “greed” mode through Oct. 11, the mood was hardly euphoric. Readings on the Fear and Greed Index landed at 61, 62, 64, and even 70-plus on earlier dates. Then came Oct. 10, when one readout showed 56. Neutral. Greed, it seems, was losing its nerve.
Blame the usual suspects. Reports tied the softer sentiment to weak ETF flows and liquidations, with large outflows and more forced selling. Risk appetite didn’t vanish, but momentum did look tired. Price action was jumpy, not a clean trend, and nobody should have mistaken it for one. Higher trading volume typically reflects current investor interest and helps confirm whether a market trend is genuine.
Weak ETF flows and forced selling sapped momentum. Risk appetite survived, but the price action was jumpy, never a clean trend.
Bitcoin showed the whiplash. One report had it around $82,646.65 after a 0.19% daily gain. Another session saw it slip 1.7% to about $84,071, after briefly dipping near $83,800. Yet an update also noted a third straight weekly gain, with Bitcoin poking above $86,000 on institutional ETF demand. Confusing? Sure. Seven-day losses showed up too, including a 2.34% decline in one snapshot. In that sell-off, roughly $555.6 million in forced selling hit crypto markets, with long positions making up $487.2 million of it.
Zoom out, though, and the picture brightens: Bitcoin gained roughly 40% over the three months through September.
Ethereum had its own mood swings. It traded near $2,493.67 in one update, down a tiny 0.07%. In another, Ether sat at $2,612 after a 3.3% drop in a broader selloff. Year to Oct. 4, it had fallen about 40%, worse than Bitcoin. But over 90 days into Oct. 1, Ether jumped 53%, outpacing Bitcoin, XRP, and Dogecoin. Big rebound potential. Big sensitivity when things go south.
XRP hovered near $1.40, up 0.70% in one snapshot. In a separate daily move, it rose 0.6% alongside Bitcoin and Ethereum. Over the 90 days into Oct. 1, it gained 31%, trailing Ether but beating Dogecoin. The catch? Year to Oct. 4, XRP was down about 50%. A nice bounce, sure. Still a deep hole.
Dogecoin remained one of the weakest major coins over the past year. One report showed a roughly 63% decline, while another put it at 62%. Such is life at the bottom. Dogecoin is primarily driven by retail investors, which helps explain why it tends to suffer sharper declines than Bitcoin.
In the 90 days leading up to Oct. 1, Dogecoin did gain 22%, a modest bounce next to Ether’s 53%.
