Our indicators, and what they measure

Intokened runs a handful of tools that go beyond reporting the news. Two indices are ours: we design the formula, pull the data, and publish the number. One well-known index isn't ours: we source it and explain it. Two more are datasets we maintain by hand, no formula involved. Here's what each one measures, and where to find it.

Market Pulse is the first of our own indices: a single 0-100 score of crypto market activity, not direction. Fifty means normal conditions for the trailing year. Zero means the market has gone quiet. A hundred means peak activity. The score blends Bitcoin's own trading volume (40% weight), its 24-hour price change (20%), volatility (20%), the Fear & Greed Index (10%), and how far altcoins are outrunning Bitcoin (10%). One number worth knowing: the yearly median usually lands closer to 44 than 50, because Fear & Greed itself tends to run pessimistic and pulls the blend down. The full formula and a running FAQ live on the Pulse page.

The Altcoin Season Index is our second index. It tracks the share of the top 100 CoinGecko coins, stablecoins and wrapped tokens excluded, whose 30-day return beat Bitcoin's. Above 75%, altcoins are winning. Below 25%, Bitcoin is. Anywhere between counts as neutral. We use a 30-day window instead of the 90-day window CoinMarketCap's version uses, a choice that lets the number update roughly three times a day instead of once, since it only needs a single CoinGecko call rather than one per coin.

The Fear & Greed Index isn't ours. It belongs to alternative.me, built from volatility, trading volume, social activity, surveys, Bitcoin dominance, and Google Trends data. We display it, credit it, and explain its factor weights, and Pulse borrows it at a 10% weight. The distinction matters: Pulse measures activity, Fear & Greed measures sentiment, and the two often move in different directions at once.

Two more tools carry no formula at all. The regulation map is a country-by-country dataset our editorial team checks and updates by hand, marking each jurisdiction legal, restricted, or banned, with a timestamp showing when it was last verified. The crypto calendar works the same way: real events, gathered and dated by people, each one carrying an editorial importance rating rather than a calculated score. The site itself calls that rating a rough estimate, and it is one.

• Market Pulse: our own 0-100 crypto activity score, not direction
• Altcoin Season Index: our own measure of altcoins beating Bitcoin over 30 days
• Fear & Greed Index: alternative.me's sentiment index, sourced and explained by us
• Regulation Map: our own hand-checked legal status by country
• Crypto Calendar: our own hand-maintained events with editorial importance ratings
• Glossary: our own reference dictionary of crypto terms
• Calculators hub: Pulse, Altcoin Season, and Fear & Greed together, plus a converter and wealth calculator

If a term anywhere on the site is unfamiliar, the glossary defines it. And if you'd rather see everything at once, the calculators hub puts Pulse, the Altcoin Season Index, and Fear & Greed side by side, next to a currency converter and a wealth calculator. None of these tools predict where prices go next. They describe conditions as they stand today, and what you do with that is up to you.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.