DCA Calculator
Project the future value of your crypto portfolio using the Dollar Cost Averaging strategy.
Projected Portfolio Value
Dollar cost averaging means investing a fixed amount on a fixed schedule, regardless of price. It is unglamorous, it will never make you look clever at a party, and it has quietly outperformed most people who try to time the market. This calculator projects what a DCA habit compounds into.
Why DCA works
When you buy the same dollar amount every week, you automatically buy more coins when the price is low and fewer when it is high. Your average cost ends up below the average price over the period — mechanically, without you predicting anything. The deeper benefit is behavioural. The hardest part of investing is not analysis, it is not panic-selling at the bottom and not FOMO-buying at the top. DCA removes the decision entirely. You are not asking 'is now a good time?' every week — you just buy. The cost is that in a market that only goes up, lump-sum investing beats DCA. You gave up time in the market for the discipline. Most people accept that trade willingly, because the alternative requires timing they do not have.
The formula
Future Value = PMT × [((1 + r)^n − 1) ÷ r] × (1 + r)
Where:
PMT = amount per period
r = expected return per period
n = total number of periods
Example: $100/month, 12% annual, 10 years
n = 120, r = 0.01
FV ≈ $23,234 (you invested $12,000)This is the future value of an annuity due — it assumes you invest at the start of each period. The trailing (1 + r) accounts for that extra period of growth on every contribution.
Running a DCA strategy well
- 1Automate it. Almost every major exchange supports recurring buys. Manual DCA becomes 'I will skip this week, the market looks bad' — which is exactly the market timing DCA is meant to eliminate.
- 2The frequency barely matters. Weekly and monthly produce nearly identical results over years. Pick whichever matches your income schedule and forget about it.
- 3Only DCA into assets you would hold for years. DCA does not rescue a bad asset — it just buys more of it on the way down. The strategy assumes long-term appreciation.
- 4Keep fees under control. If you DCA $20 weekly and pay $1 per trade, that is 5% gone before you start. Use an exchange with low or free recurring buys, or reduce the frequency.
- 5Be realistic about the expected return. Crypto's historical returns are extraordinary and unlikely to repeat at the same scale. Modelling 100% annual growth produces a beautiful chart and a useless plan.
Frequently asked questions
Is DCA better than investing a lump sum?
Statistically, lump sum wins about two thirds of the time, because markets rise more often than they fall and lump sum buys more time in the market. But DCA wins on behaviour — it is what people actually stick to. The best strategy is the one you execute for ten years, not the one that wins on a spreadsheet.
How often should I buy?
Weekly or monthly. The difference in outcome over a decade is negligible. What matters far more is that you do it consistently. Match it to your payday and it becomes effortless.
Should I stop DCA in a bear market?
That is precisely when DCA does its most useful work — you are accumulating more units per dollar. Stopping during downturns and resuming during rallies inverts the entire point of the strategy and leaves you buying only the expensive months.
What return should I enter?
Be conservative. Bitcoin's historical CAGR is extraordinary but past performance guarantees nothing. Many people model 10–20% for crypto and 7–8% for broad equities. Modelling 200% will produce a projection that is fun to look at and worthless for planning.
Does this account for taxes and fees?
No. It is a clean projection of contributions plus compound growth. Real returns will be lower after trading fees and capital gains tax when you eventually sell. Treat the output as a ceiling, not a forecast.