As shown by the Crypto Fear and Greed index, Bitcoin rebounds past $48,000 following marginally improving market sentiment. Dogecoin also ticked slightly higher in the last 24 hours as the altcoin market recouped its losses. The majority of tokens are trading in the green as of press time.
Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index is 27 ~ Fear
— Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index (@BitcoinFear) December 21, 2021
Current price: $47,069 pic.twitter.com/XNPK7JmmdO
The price of Bitcoin rose more than 7% to mark intraday highs at $49,010, according to CoinMarketCap data. Alternative cryptocurrencies or ''altcoins'' also rose, with Ethereum jumping nearly 7% to above $4,000 and XRP up about 4% at $0.886.
Dogecoin, the meme-inspired cryptocurrency, is up 4.7% in the last 24 hours at the present price of $0.17. The top 20 performers include Avalanche (AVAX) and Polygon (MATIC), which are up 15.73% and 11.22% in the last 24 hours.
As on-chain analytics firm Santiment notes, ''As traders look for clarity on whether to put in leveraged longs or shorts to end the year, we've seen that the trend has mostly been people betting AGAINST #crypto markets of late. If funding rates show extended short levels, prices typically rise."
This might imply that a ''short squeeze'' could fuel a price increase in the near- to medium-term.
Traders ''less fearful'' as market mood improves
As BTC price action dipped lower, sentiment played catch-up as the spot price complemented bearish signals from markets. The overall sentiment measured by the Crypto Fear & Greed Index changed to ''extreme fear'' in the previous week.
At press time, the index measured just 27/100—characterizing "fear"—a slight rebound from yesterday's ''extreme fear.'' The sharp fall contrasts with behavior in the previous month, during which the index lingered in "neutral" territory.
Bitcoin has declined nearly 30% since peaking near $69,000 on Nov. 10.
Alex Dovbnya
Godfrey Benjamin
Denys Serhiichuk