Bitcoin Fear Index Sinks to Record Lows on 20 February 2026 as Institutions Keep Accumulating

On 20 February 2026, a Bloomberg Research report highlighted that the Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index plunged to 5, a reading below past major shock episodes, even as the price held mostly between 65,000 and 70,000 dollars. While the Federal Reserve's hawkish stance and reduced expectations for 2026 rate cuts are pressuring risk assets, institutional investors continue to accumulate BTC through spot ETFs and DeFi exposure despite several weeks of fund outflows. Revenue-generating DeFi protocols such as Hyperliquid, PancakeSwap, and Uniswap have outpaced broader crypto benchmarks, pointing to a shift toward infrastructure- and income-focused projects.