Crypto DCA Backtest Tool (Manual Data)

Dollar-cost averaging is the most common crypto investing strategy, but its real performance depends entirely on the price path. This tool lets you backtest it on your own data: paste a price series, set a fixed per-period investment, and it computes exactly how many coins you would have accumulated, your average cost basis, your current value, and how that compares with investing the whole sum at the start.

How it works

Each period buys a fixed dollar amount of coin at that period’s price, and the results are summed:

coins this period = amount / price
total coins       = Σ (amount / price)
total invested    = amount × number of periods
avg cost basis    = total invested / total coins
current value     = total coins × final price
profit/loss       = current value − total invested
ROI %             = profit/loss / total invested × 100

lump-sum coins    = total invested / first price
lump-sum value    = lump-sum coins × final price

Because you buy more coins when the price is low, the average cost basis is the harmonic-style weighted average of the prices, not the simple mean — which is why DCA tends to beat a naive average in volatile markets.

Worked example: DCA vs lump-sum in a volatile market

For illustration, imagine buying over three periods with prices of 100, 50, and 200:

DCA average cost basis: 300 ÷ 3.5 = $85.71 per coin. At the final price of $200, the position is worth 3.5 × 200 = $700, a profit of $400 (133% ROI).

A lump-sum of $300 invested at the first price of $100 buys 3 coins worth 3 × 200 = $600, a profit of $300 (100% ROI).

In this example DCA wins because the price dipped to $50 midway, letting the regular investment buy more coins at the bottom. In a straight uptrend — prices rising without dips — lump-sum wins because more capital is deployed at the lowest price.

When DCA wins and when it loses

DCA advantages:

• Reduces timing risk in volatile or bear markets
• Automatically buys more at lower prices (harmonic averaging effect)
• Psychologically easier to maintain than timing the market

When lump-sum beats DCA:

• In a persistent uptrend, waiting to invest later costs you cheaper coins at the start
• The longer the price rises without a meaningful correction, the more lump-sum outperforms

How to enter price data

Paste one price per line, oldest first. Optionally include a date before each price separated by a comma or space — the tool reads the last number on each line as the price. You can copy closing prices directly from a spreadsheet export or exchange history. Weekly or monthly closes work well for long-term analysis; daily prices suit shorter backtests but produce noisier comparisons.