Cryptocurrency market sentiment reaching its lowest level in a year could be one of the few signs of a potential recovery, according to cryptocurrency analytics platform Santiment.

“This sentiment data is currently one of the few strong bullish signals available,” Santiment said in a report on Friday. “The silver lining is the extreme negativity on social media. The ratio of bearish comments to bullish comments is heavily skewed toward fear,” Santiment said.

The Cryptocurrency Fear and Greed Index, which measures overall cryptocurrency market sentiment, recorded a “severe fear” score of 20 on Saturday, indicating that investors are cautious about the cryptocurrency market. On Friday, the index recorded an “extreme fear” score of 16, the lowest in 2026 and the first time it has reached this level since December 19.

It fell back to the “extreme fear” state on Thursday after being in the “fear” zone since January 20.

Cryptocurrency Sentiment Level May Be a ‘Recovery Phase’

Santiment said continued fear in the market may indicate a reversal is likely.

“Historically, cryptocurrency markets move in the opposite direction to public expectations. When the majority is convinced that prices will fall, that often sets the stage for a recovery,” Santiment said.

The comments come as Bitcoin (BTC) is down nearly 7% over the past seven days, while Ethereum (ETH) is down more than 9%, trading at $83,950 and $2,690, respectively, according to CoinMarketCap.com.

Bitcoin has not traded above the psychological level of $100,000 since November 13, with prolonged consolidation below the level leading analysts to question whether the cryptocurrency market has entered a bearish phase.

Cryptocurrency market sentiment is in a ‘temporary state’, says executive

Cryptocurrency analyst Benjamin Cowen said in a video on Thursday that strong expectations of a “massive shift” from metals like gold and silver to cryptocurrencies may be misplaced. He stressed that the shift to Bitcoin “will likely not happen” in the short term.