Crypto Volatility Index
Bitcoin's volatility gauge, in cross-asset context.
CVXI measures the volatility and stress regime in crypto markets, combining Bitcoin realized-volatility proxies, altcoin price breadth, funding-rate positioning, listed miner-equity signals, and macro stress inputs into a normalized cross-crypto regime indicator.
The Crypto Volatility Index (CVXI) measures realized volatility and stress conditions across crypto markets — anchored to Bitcoin price action and daily realized-volatility proxies, then extended with ETH returns, funding-rate positioning, listed miner-equity proxies, and macro stress inputs. CVXI classifies the current crypto volatility regime: suppressed, normal, elevated, or extreme.
Crypto markets have increasingly traded as a high-beta expression of global risk appetite, and CVXI measures crypto's current volatility regime. In several episodes — the March 2020 shock, the October 2022 risk-off, and 2023–2024 banking-stress periods — crypto volatility was elevated around the same time as, or ahead of, broader measures. The relationship is not fixed: crypto has idiosyncratic drivers, so CVXI is best read alongside CRSI and RSKP rather than treated as a forecast.
Extreme CVXI readings (above 80) have typically coincided with: (1) major exchange failures or regulatory enforcement actions (the FTX collapse, the Binance DOJ settlement); (2) sharp deleveraging events where leveraged crypto positions unwind together; (3) spillover from traditional-market stress that triggers cross-asset margin calls; and (4) protocol-level failures (the Terra/LUNA implosion). Each driver has different implications for how long dislocated conditions persist.
Because crypto trades 24/7 with global participation and high leverage, its volatility can reprice around news outside traditional market hours — a CVXI move during a weekend or Asian session is one place cross-asset volatility can show up before US markets open. CVXI measures crypto's volatility regime; it is objective context to read alongside broader measures, not a standalone signal, since crypto can have idiosyncratic crises unrelated to macro conditions.