Plot No. 72 · Money & Finance
Crypto DCA Calculator
See how a regular dollar-cost averaging investment could grow over time. Enter a monthly contribution, how many months you invest and an assumed average annual return to see total invested, projected value and profit, useful for planning a recurring crypto or stock buy.
Assumes the annual return compounds monthly and applies equally to every contribution. Real crypto and stock returns are volatile and never move in a straight line, so treat this as a planning estimate only.
The link saves your inputs so you can bookmark or share this exact result.
The formula behind a DCA projection
Dollar-cost averaging is a series of equal contributions, so the projection is the future value of an ordinary annuity: the monthly amount multiplied by ((1 + r) to the power of n, minus 1) divided by r, where r is the annual return divided by 12 and n is the number of months. The point of the formula is that each contribution compounds only for the time left after it is made. The first pound of a ten year plan grows for 119 months and the last one for none, so the money you put in this year does far more work than the money you put in next year.
That single fact explains every table below. It is why a longer term beats a bigger contribution, why a lump sum beats the same total drip fed in, and why the gap between buying weekly and buying monthly is almost nothing while the gap between monthly and yearly is real.
What a monthly contribution grows to in 10 years
Each row is a recurring buy held for 10 years, so 120 contributions in total. The columns are the assumed average annual return, compounded monthly. The negative column is not decoration: a plan that only looks sensible in the right hand columns is a bet on a return, not a savings plan.
| Monthly | Total invested | At -20% | At 0% | At 5% | At 10% | At 20% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £25 | £3,000 | £1,300 | £3,000 | £3,882 | £5,121 | £9,402 |
| £50 | £6,000 | £2,601 | £6,000 | £7,764 | £10,242 | £18,805 |
| £100 | £12,000 | £5,202 | £12,000 | £15,528 | £20,484 | £37,610 |
| £200 | £24,000 | £10,403 | £24,000 | £31,056 | £40,969 | £75,219 |
| £250 | £30,000 | £13,004 | £30,000 | £38,821 | £51,211 | £94,024 |
| £500 | £60,000 | £26,008 | £60,000 | £77,641 | £102,422 | £188,048 |
| £1,000 | £120,000 | £52,016 | £120,000 | £155,282 | £204,845 | £376,095 |
The columns scale exactly with the contribution, so doubling the monthly amount doubles every figure in the row. What does not scale is time, which is the subject of the next table.
How long before the growth outruns the deposits
This holds the contribution at £100 a month and the assumed return at 8 percent, and varies only the term. Early on almost the entire balance is your own money: growth is a rounding error in year one and still a minority share at year ten. The last column is the share of the balance that is growth rather than deposits, and watching it cross 50 percent is the clearest picture of why the term matters more than the amount.
| Term | Contributions | Total invested | Projected value | Growth | Growth share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 12 | £1,200 | £1,245 | £45 | 3.6% |
| 2 years | 24 | £2,400 | £2,593 | £193 | 7.5% |
| 3 years | 36 | £3,600 | £4,054 | £454 | 11.2% |
| 5 years | 60 | £6,000 | £7,348 | £1,348 | 18.3% |
| 7 years | 84 | £8,400 | £11,211 | £2,811 | 25.1% |
| 10 years | 120 | £12,000 | £18,295 | £6,295 | 34.4% |
| 15 years | 180 | £18,000 | £34,604 | £16,604 | 48.0% |
| 20 years | 240 | £24,000 | £58,902 | £34,902 | 59.3% |
| 25 years | 300 | £30,000 | £95,103 | £65,103 | 68.5% |
| 30 years | 360 | £36,000 | £149,036 | £113,036 | 75.8% |
DCA versus a lump sum, same money either way
Both columns spend £12,000 over 10 years. The DCA column drips it in at £100 a month; the lump sum column invests the whole amount on day one. Whenever the return is positive the lump sum wins, because its average pound is invested about five years longer, and at 8 percent that is £26,636 against £18,295. The ranking flips when the price falls: at a 20 percent annual loss the lump sum drops to £1,597 while the monthly plan still holds £5,202, because most of its money had not gone in yet.
| Annual return | DCA £100/month | Lump sum £12,000 | Better |
|---|---|---|---|
| -30% | £3,808 | £575 | DCA, by £3,233 |
| -20% | £5,202 | £1,597 | DCA, by £3,605 |
| -10% | £7,604 | £4,396 | DCA, by £3,208 |
| 0% | £12,000 | £12,000 | Level |
| 5% | £15,528 | £19,764 | Lump sum, by £4,236 |
| 8% | £18,295 | £26,636 | Lump sum, by £8,341 |
| 12% | £23,004 | £39,605 | Lump sum, by £16,601 |
| 20% | £37,610 | £87,219 | Lump sum, by £49,610 |
| 30% | £73,433 | £232,298 | Lump sum, by £158,865 |
Neither column is advice. The table assumes a smooth return every month, which no crypto asset has ever delivered, and it ignores the practical reason most people use DCA: they are investing out of income they have not been paid yet, so the lump sum column is not an option available to them.
Daily, weekly or monthly buys: how much does frequency change?
Every row invests the same £1,200 a year for 10 years at the same 8 percent effective annual return, and differs only in how often the money goes in. Frequency is worth far less than people assume: weekly beats monthly by £45 over a decade, about +0.25%. Annual buying is the only row that really costs you, because each year's money waits in cash for an average of six months before it is invested.
| Frequency | Per buy | Buys in 10 years | Projected value | Versus monthly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daily | £3.29 | 3,650 | £18,068 | +0.31% |
| Weekly | £23.08 | 520 | £18,057 | +0.25% |
| Fortnightly | £46.15 | 260 | £18,044 | +0.17% |
| Monthly | £100.00 | 120 | £18,012 | 0.00% |
| Quarterly | £300.00 | 40 | £17,897 | -0.64% |
| Annually | £1,200.00 | 10 | £17,384 | -3.49% |
These rows hold the effective annual return fixed rather than dividing a nominal rate by the number of periods, so the comparison measures contribution timing alone. Trading fees are not modelled, and a flat fee per buy will usually wipe out the tiny advantage of buying more often. The calculator above uses the standard monthly convention.
Why your average cost sits below the average price
This is the one mechanical advantage DCA genuinely has, and it does not depend on the price going up. A fixed budget buys more units when the price is low and fewer when it is high, so your average cost is the harmonic mean of the prices you bought at, which is always at or below their plain average. The table spends £100 at each of 6 illustrative prices. The average price is £113.33 but the average cost is £105.04, which is 7.3% lower.
| Buy | Price per unit | Units bought | Units held | Spent so far |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | £100.00 | 1.0000 | 1.0000 | £100 |
| Month 2 | £140.00 | 0.7143 | 1.7143 | £200 |
| Month 3 | £70.00 | 1.4286 | 3.1429 | £300 |
| Month 4 | £90.00 | 1.1111 | 4.2540 | £400 |
| Month 5 | £160.00 | 0.6250 | 4.8790 | £500 |
| Month 6 | £120.00 | 0.8333 | 5.7123 | £600 |
| Total | £113.33 average price | 5.7123 | 5.7123 | £600 |
| Average cost | £105.04 per unit, which is 7.3% below the £113.33 average price | |||
Those prices are an illustration of the arithmetic, not a record of any real asset. At the closing price of £120.00 the 5.7123 units are worth £685.48 against £600 spent, even though the price finished only 20 percent above where it started. The wider the swings, the wider the gap between average cost and average price, which is why the effect is discussed most in crypto. It cuts the other way too: the same volatility means a plan can sit underwater for years.
Related tools
The same annuity maths, without the crypto framing, is in the compound interest calculator. To work backwards from a target instead of forwards from a contribution, use the savings goal calculator. And if you want to turn a start and end value you already have into the annual return figure this page asks you to assume, that is the CAGR calculator.
How the DCA projection is worked out
Dollar-cost averaging is a series of equal contributions, so the projection is the future value of an ordinary annuity. The monthly amount is multiplied by ((1 + r) to the power of n, minus 1) divided by r, where r is the assumed annual return divided by 12 and n is the number of months. Each contribution therefore compounds only for the months left after it is made, so the first payment of a ten year plan grows for 119 months and the last one for none at all.
That is why the projected value is so much lower than the same total invested on day one, and why the assumed return does more work than the contribution. At 8 percent a year, £100 a month for 10 years reaches about £18,295 from £12,000 paid in. At 0 percent you simply get your £12,000 back, and at a 20 percent annual loss the same plan holds about £5,202. The tool never looks at which asset you are buying, so the same arithmetic covers Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, a stock or an index fund.
How to use the crypto DCA calculator
- Enter the amount you plan to buy each month.
- Enter how many months the recurring buy will run for.
- Enter an assumed average annual return, then run it again at a lower and a negative figure to see the range.
- Read the total invested, the projected value and the profit or loss that assumption implies.
Worked examples
A ten year monthly buy
Inputs: £100 a month, 120 months, 8 percent assumed annual return
Result: £12,000 invested and a projected value of about £18,295, so roughly £6,295 of the balance is growth and the rest is your own deposits.
The same plan through a bad decade
Inputs: £100 a month, 120 months, minus 20 percent assumed annual return
Result: £12,000 invested and a projected value of about £5,202. A £12,000 lump sum on day one at the same rate would have fallen to about £1,597, which is the one scenario where drip feeding clearly wins.
Limitations and common mistakes
Edge cases and limitations
- It applies one smooth return every month, which no crypto asset has ever delivered, so it shows the arithmetic of a plan rather than a forecast of a price.
- Contributions are treated as arriving at the end of each month and compounding from there, the standard ordinary annuity convention.
- Trading fees, spreads, exchange withdrawal charges and any tax on disposals are not modelled, and a flat fee per buy matters most on small contributions.
- The projection is in nominal terms, so it is not adjusted for inflation.
Common mistakes
- Planning around a single optimistic return instead of running the same contribution at a flat and a negative assumption and treating the spread as the answer.
- Reading the projected value as a target the plan will reach, when it is only what that one assumed return would produce.
- Assuming more frequent buying is worth chasing: holding the annual amount and effective return fixed, weekly buying beats monthly by roughly 0.25 percent over a decade, which trading fees usually erase.
Frequently asked questions
What is dollar-cost averaging?
Dollar-cost averaging (DCA) means investing a fixed amount at regular intervals, such as monthly, instead of one lump sum. This smooths out the average price paid over time, which can reduce the impact of buying right before a price drop.
How is the projected value calculated?
It treats your contributions as a regular series and applies the assumed annual return, compounded monthly, to each contribution for the time it remains invested. Earlier contributions have longer to grow than the most recent ones.
Is the assumed return a guarantee?
No. Crypto assets are highly volatile and past performance never guarantees future results. The assumed annual return is just a planning assumption you choose, so try a range of figures, including low or negative ones, to see how the outcome changes.
Is DCA better than investing a lump sum?
Not on the arithmetic. If the return is steadily positive, a lump sum wins because every pound is invested for the full term rather than trickling in. Putting 12,000 in at once at 8 percent for 10 years gives about 26,636, while 100 a month over the same decade gives about 18,295. DCA wins in the other direction: at a 20 percent annual loss the lump sum falls to about 1,597 while the monthly plan holds about 5,202. What DCA really buys is a smaller worst case and a plan you can stick to out of monthly income.
How much would 100 a month be worth in 10 years?
At an assumed 8 percent a year compounded monthly, 100 a month for 120 months grows to about 18,295 from 12,000 invested, so roughly 6,295 of it is growth. At 0 percent you simply have your 12,000 back, at 15 percent it is about 27,522, and at a 20 percent annual loss it is about 5,202. The spread between those figures is far wider than most people expect, which is why the assumed return matters more than the contribution.
Should I buy weekly or monthly?
It barely matters. Holding the effective annual return fixed at 8 percent, buying weekly for 10 years beats buying monthly by about 0.25 percent, which is roughly 45 on a 12,000 plan. Buying daily adds about 0.31 percent. The one gap worth caring about is annual buying, which trails monthly by about 3.5 percent because each year's money sits in cash for months before it is invested. Pick the frequency that matches your pay cycle and minimises trading fees.
Why is my average cost lower than the average price?
Because a fixed budget buys more units when the price is low and fewer when it is high, so your average cost is the harmonic mean of the prices rather than their plain average, and the harmonic mean is always at or below the arithmetic mean. In the worked example on this page, six monthly buys across prices of 100, 140, 70, 90, 160 and 120 give an average price of 113.33 but an average cost of 105.04, which is 7.3 percent lower. The more volatile the price, the wider that gap.
Does DCA work for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana or Cardano?
The arithmetic is identical for any asset, including stocks and index funds, because the formula never looks at what you are buying. Only the assumed return changes, and that is the number nobody can know in advance. Higher-volatility coins widen the gap between average cost and average price, which is the mechanical benefit of DCA, but they also widen the range of outcomes in both directions.
What return should I assume for a crypto DCA?
There is no defensible single figure, so do not plan around one. Run the calculator at several assumptions, including a flat 0 percent and a clearly negative year, and treat the spread as the answer rather than the middle of it. If the plan only works at a high assumed return, it is a bet on that return rather than a savings plan.
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