$20K Bitcoin Drop in 2 Weeks Pushes Investors into Extreme Fear

This is the lowest level in over a month for the index.

It’s almost hard to imagine that just a few weeks ago, Bitcoin soared above $95,000, and for the first time in 2026, the community speculated about a possible run to a six-figure price range.

Not only did that rally fail to materialize, but the bears woke up in the middle of winter and initiated several consecutive leg-downs that ultimately took BTC to multi-month lows. This also caused general sentiment to plummet.

Fear and greed are heading south

The popular Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index aggregates data from various sources, such as overall volatility, market momentum, BTC dominance, and social media comments, to determine current investor and community sentiment toward the largest digital asset. Price fluctuations and market momentum are responsible for 50% of the bottom line, which ranges from 0 (extreme fear) to 100 (extreme greed). This makes it quite logical that the statistic has fallen recently.

As the chart below clearly shows, extreme fear is dominating the current market phase. It has been below 30 since January 22, when BTC’s correction began. After Saturday’s market-wide crash, which wiped out more than $2.5 billion in leveraged positions, the index has fallen to 14 – the lowest level since mid-December.

If you missed Saturday’s events, here’s a quick recap. BTC had recovered some ground after Thursday’s crash to $84,000, but then suddenly fell to $75,500, becoming the lowest price tag since last April. This meant that BTC had fallen by $20,000 since January 18, when it was at $95,500. The altcoins followed suit yesterday with massive drops, including many clear lows not seen in over a year.

Blessing in disguise?

Before we conclude that BTC is dead again, according to the Fear and Greed Index, let’s return to the immortal investing words of one of the greats, Warren Buffett, who has said in the past that people should be greedy when others are fearful, and vice versa.

If we are to believe him, and history is on his side at this point, then this is the time to be greedy and enter the ecosystem, right? Previous occasions where BTC (or other assets) have experienced wild swings in investor sentiment have led to near-instant reversals.

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Robert Kiyosaki also addressed this topic and outlined the differences between rich and poor. He believes the first group goes shopping when the financial markets are in a “sell-off” (i.e., a crash), while the second tends to sell and run.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN Rich People and Poor People:

When Walmart has a SALE, poor people run in and buy, buy, buy.

But when the financial asset market has a sell-off….aka…..CRASH…
the poor sell and run… while the rich rush in… and buy, buy, buy.

The gold, silver and Bitcoin…

— Robert Kiyosaki (@theRealKiyosaki) February 1, 2026