Crypto DCA Calculator

Buying a fixed amount of money rather than a fixed quantity of an asset produces an average cost below the simple average of the prices paid. That is not a marketing claim - it is arithmetic, and it happens because a fixed amount buys more units when the price is low.

This calculator shows the effect on a real schedule. Enter the amount per purchase and the prices you bought at, and it produces the average cost, the simple average for comparison, the units accumulated and the current result.

Result

Average cost per unit

55,102.18

Simple average of prices: 55,816.67
Difference: 714.49
Units accumulated: 0.11
Total invested: $6,000
Total fees: $24
Purchases: 12
Current value: $7,241
Unrealised result: $1,241
Return: 20.68%
Break-even price: 55,102.18

This tool is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not financial or investment advice, and past performance does not guarantee future results.

Buying a fixed amount rather than a fixed quantity buys more units when the price is low, so the average cost per unit comes out below the simple average of the prices. That gap is the whole mechanism.

Averaging spreads timing risk. It does not remove market risk, guarantee a profit or protect against an asset that keeps falling.

Fees are applied as a percentage of each purchase before units are bought, which is how most exchanges charge.

Purchases

Purchase	Price	Units bought	Total units
1	62,000	0.01	0.01
2	58,400	0.01	0.02
3	51,200	0.01	0.03
4	47,800	0.01	0.04
5	43,900	0.01	0.05
6	46,200	0.01	0.06
7	52,300	0.01	0.07
8	57,100	0.01	0.08
9	61,400	0.01	0.09
10	59,200	0.01	0.09
11	63,800	0.01	0.1
12	66,500	0.01	0.11

How to use the crypto dca calculator

Enter the amount invested at each purchase.
Enter the prices you bought at, separated by commas or new lines.
Add the exchange fee as a percentage so units are net of it.
Enter the current price to see the result on the accumulated position.

What people use this for

Finding the true average cost of an accumulated position.
Comparing what averaging achieved against the simple average price.
Working out the break-even price on a position built over time.
Seeing what exchange fees cost across a long accumulation schedule.

Worked examples

Every figure below is produced by running this calculator against the example inputs, so the numbers always match the tool.

Twelve monthly purchases through a volatile period

$500 per purchase at a 0.4% fee.

Average cost per unit: 55,102.18
Simple average of prices: 55,816.67
Return: 20.68%

Purchases into a falling market

The averaging effect is largest when prices spread widely.

Average cost per unit: 2,226.93
Difference: 148.07
Units accumulated: 1.8

Why the average comes out below the mean

Five hundred dollars buys ten units at fifty and twenty units at twenty-five. The simple average of the two prices is thirty-seven fifty; the average cost of the thirty units acquired is thirty-three thirty-three.

The gap widens with volatility. Averaging into a stable price achieves almost nothing; averaging through a wide range achieves a great deal - which is why the technique is discussed most in the most volatile assets.

What averaging does and does not do

It spreads timing risk, removes the need to pick an entry, and imposes a schedule that is easier to follow than a discretionary one. Those are real benefits and they are behavioural as much as mathematical.

It does not guarantee a profit, does not protect against an asset that keeps falling, and does not make a bad asset a good one. A lower average cost on something heading to zero is still a loss.

Fees compound across a long schedule

A fee of half a percent per purchase, paid weekly for two years, is a meaningful cost by the end. It is deducted before units are bought, which is how most exchanges charge and why it reduces the units rather than showing up as a separate line.

On small regular purchases, flat fees are worse still - they can be several percent of a modest weekly buy.

Methodology and assumptions

What this calculator does, and what it deliberately does not do.

Results are arithmetic on the numbers you enter. Nothing here predicts prices or connects to an exchange, broker or market data feed.
Nothing you type is transmitted or stored - the calculation runs entirely inside your browser.

This tool is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

Nothing on this website is a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security, currency, derivative or digital asset. No price is predicted and no return is promised or implied.

Trading and investing carry the risk of substantial loss, including the loss of your entire capital. Leveraged products can produce losses that exceed your deposit. Tax treatment depends on your jurisdiction and your circumstances.

Frequently asked questions

Is DCA better than investing a lump sum?

It depends entirely on what prices did afterwards, which is unknowable in advance. Averaging trades expected return for reduced timing risk, and this site takes no view on whether that trade suits you.

Does the schedule interval matter?

Not to this calculation, which uses the prices you enter regardless of spacing. Weekly and monthly schedules produce broadly similar results over long periods.

Should I keep averaging into a falling asset?

That is a judgement about the asset, not about averaging, and it is not one a calculator can make. The averaging down tool sets out the honest test for adding to a losing position.

Is this investment advice?

No. It calculates the effect of a schedule you describe, for informational and educational purposes only.

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