When Fear Reaches Its Peak: The Logic Behind Bitcoin Rising Amid Doubt

February 20, 2026, a market news report drew attention: despite investor sentiment being extremely fearful, Bitcoin's price remains stubbornly rising, and Bitwise analysts even straightforwardly state that the current Bitcoin price is "seriously undervalued."

This news precisely captures the core contradiction in the current cryptocurrency market—the intense clash between rational price correction and irrational emotional fluctuations.

1. Rising in Fear: A Rare Divergence

Typically, market sentiment and price trends are positively correlated: greed drives prices up, fear causes prices to fall. However, today Bitcoin recorded a 1.15% increase amid "extreme fear," which itself is a strong signal.

This divergence indicates that the current buying strength is not from blindly following retail investors, but may be quietly orchestrated by long-term capital. When most retail investors are selling or waiting in fear, smart funds often perform "contrarian operations" off the market. Market sentiment indicators are often inverse indicators; when everyone feels fear, selling pressure has actually waned, and a small amount of buying can leverage the price upward.

2. Why Fear? And Why Is It Underestimated?

To understand the current market, we must dissect these two seemingly contradictory viewpoints:

a. The Source of Fear: Market fear is not unfounded. Since 2026, the macro environment's complexity—such as expectations of global liquidity tightening and geopolitical risks—has put pressure on risk assets. After experiencing a surge over the past two years, the cryptocurrency market is now in a relatively sensitive chip exchange zone. Investors worry about regulatory "black swans" and also fear that insufficient upward momentum could lead to a secondary bottom.

b. The Logic of Underestimation: Bitwise analysts' valuation models are typically based on on-chain address counts, mining costs, accumulation of coin-holders, and macro monetary supply. They believe that although prices have rebounded somewhat from lows, Bitcoin's adoption rate, network hash rate (reaching new highs), and long-term holder (LTH) holdings all indicate that its fundamentals are far better than the level reflected by the current price of $67,210. From this perspective, the price has been "mispriced" due to market sentiment dragging it down.

3. Calmly Viewing the "Undervaluation" Theory

As investors, when facing the view of "serious undervaluation," we need to remain rational and dialectical.

"Undervaluation" does not mean a sudden surge is imminent. In financial markets, deviations from value are normal, and such deviations can persist for a long time. For Bitcoin, $67,000 is a key psychological and technical threshold. If it can hold steady at this level amid fear, the upside space will open; conversely, if macro factors continue to suppress the market, the "undervaluation" state may last longer, testing every holder's patience.

4. Conclusion

This market news report, rather than predicting the future, records the essence of the market: opportunities are born in despair, and grow amid doubt.

On February 20, 2026, the market walks a tightrope between fear and hope. For long-term investors, today’s news may just be a footnote in future historical retrospectives—that classic moment of "others are fearful, I am greedy." But no matter what, always remember: in this highly volatile market, risk management is always a survival skill more important than predicting rises or falls. $BTC

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Disclaimer: This article is solely an analysis and personal opinion based on publicly available market information and does not constitute any investment advice. Cryptocurrency investments carry extremely high risks; please make decisions cautiously. #Gate廣場發帖領五萬美金紅包 #我在Gate廣場過新年