Gera Tools

Crypto ROI & CAGR Calculator

Calculate return on investment and compound annual growth rate for crypto

Enter purchase price, quantity, current price, and holding period to compute absolute ROI percentage, total profit or loss in USD, and compound annual growth rate. Compares the same capital against S&P 500 and gold benchmarks over the period. Runs entirely client-side. It runs free in your browser on Gera Tools, with nothing uploaded.

Last updated Source: Gera Tools

What is the difference between ROI and CAGR?

ROI is the total percentage return on your cost basis, ignoring time. CAGR is the constant yearly rate that would compound your starting value into your ending value over the holding period. A 100 percent ROI over four years is a far lower CAGR than the same 100 percent over one year.

A green portfolio number does not tell you whether you actually beat keeping the money in an index fund. This calculator turns a crypto position into the two figures that matter — the raw ROI and the time-adjusted CAGR — then sets them against stock and gold benchmarks so you can judge the return in context.

How it works

Your cost basis is the purchase price multiplied by the quantity, and your current value is the current price times the same quantity. Profit is the difference, and ROI is that profit as a percentage of cost. ROI alone hides the role of time, so the tool also computes CAGR: the value-to-cost ratio raised to the power of one over the number of years, minus one. That single annual rate makes a two-year hold and a five-year hold directly comparable.

cost basis    = purchase price × quantity
current value = current price  × quantity
profit / loss = current value − cost basis
ROI %         = profit / cost basis × 100
CAGR          = (current value / cost basis)^(1 / years) − 1

For context the tool applies illustrative long-run annual returns to the same starting capital — about 10 percent for the S&P 500 and 7 percent for gold — compounded over your holding period. Comparing those benchmark gains to your crypto profit reveals the opportunity cost and whether the extra volatility was rewarded.

Worked example

Buy 10 coins at $100 and they are now priced at $250, after a two-year hold:

  • Cost basis: 10 × $100 = $1,000
  • Current value: 10 × $250 = $2,500
  • Profit: $1,500
  • ROI: 150%
  • CAGR: (2,500 / 1,000)^(1/2) − 1 = 2.5^0.5 − 1 ≈ 58% per year

That 58% annual rate is the equivalent yearly compound growth. Compare it to the illustrative S&P 500 return of about 10% per year compounded — which would have grown the same $1,000 to roughly $1,210 over two years, a gain of $210. The crypto position returned $1,500 on the same capital, but carried far greater volatility risk.

Why CAGR matters more than raw ROI

A 200% ROI sounds better than a 50% ROI. But if the 200% gain took eight years and the 50% gain took one year, the annualised CAGR tells a different story: the 200% eight-year gain is about 14.5% per year, while the 50% one-year gain is a straight 50%. CAGR normalises holding period so you can compare a short volatile run with a longer measured hold on equal terms.

Losses are modelled the same way

If the current price is below the purchase price, the profit figure goes negative, ROI is negative, and CAGR is also negative — the rate at which the investment declined annually. This lets you benchmark a losing position against the S&P 500 to quantify the true opportunity cost of holding through a drawdown.

The figures are gross of trading fees and capital gains tax; treat the profit as the pre-tax gain to which your local tax rate applies.