[Bitcoin Now] Investor Sentiment Revives as Price Recovers to $21,000 Range... From 'Fear' to 'Neutral'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] As the price of Bitcoin reached the $21,000 range, cryptocurrency prices have risen, reviving investor sentiment.

On the 17th, Dunamu, which operates the domestic cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, reported a digital asset fear and greed index of 45.67 (neutral). This is a decrease of 0.15 from 45.82 (neutral) the previous day, but an increase of 11.62 from 34.05 (fear) on the 10th of this month, a week ago. It also rose by 31.30 from 14.37 (extreme fear) on the 17th of last month. Dunamu's digital asset fear and greed index is classified into five levels: 'Extreme Fear (0?20)', 'Fear (20?40)', 'Neutral (40?60)', 'Greed (60?80)', and 'Extreme Greed (80?100)'. Moving toward extreme fear indicates a decrease in investor sentiment, while the opposite indicates a revival of investor sentiment.

Cryptocurrency investor sentiment has improved recently as Bitcoin prices have risen. According to the global cryptocurrency market data site CoinMarketCap, as of 2:34 PM on the day, Bitcoin was priced at $21,311 (approximately 28.24 million KRW), up 2.86% from the previous day.

On the 13th (local time), despite the U.S. June Consumer Price Index (CPI) soaring 9.1% year-on-year, uncertainty eased and the U.S. stock market showed an upward trend, leading to the price increase. Additionally, bargain buying and the fact that the June CPI recorded the largest increase since 1981, reducing concerns about a 'jumbo step' of a 1.0 percentage point rate hike at once, also influenced the rise. Christopher Waller, a Federal Reserve (Fed) governor classified as a hawk, stated support for a 0.75 percentage point 'giant step' hike. Furthermore, U.S. June retail sales, seasonally adjusted, increased by 1.0% from the previous month to $680.6 billion, marking a return to growth after one month, which also had an impact.

According to cryptocurrency data provider Alternative on the same day, the fear and greed index indicating investor sentiment also showed an upward trend. It rose 3 points from the previous day to 24 points (extreme fear). This is the same figure as last week's 24 points. However, compared to 9 points on the 17th of last month, it increased by 15 points. Alternative's fear and greed index means that the closer the score is to 0, the more pessimistic investors feel, indicating extreme fear, while the closer it is to 100, the more optimistic they are.