DCA calculator
Cardano DCA calculator
Backtest a recurring Cardano buy against real historical prices.
Cardano is a proof-of-stake smart-contract platform founded by an Ethereum co-founder, built around a slower, peer-reviewed-research approach to shipping its roadmap rather than moving fast and iterating live.
Its price history includes a large speculative run-up followed by a long, multi-year drawdown — one of the more pronounced boom-to-quiet cycles among large-cap crypto assets.
Dollar cost averaging
$16,218.53
$4,668.53 · +40.42%- Invested
- $11,550.00
- Annualised (XIRR)
- +7.55%
- Avg cost / unit
- $0.1500
- Units held
- 78,201.5
- Max drawdown
- -94.06%
Lump sum on day one
$74,732.50
$63,182.50 · +547.03%- Invested
- $11,550.00
- Annualised (XIRR)
- +23.49%
- Avg cost / unit
- $0.0300
- Units held
- 360,341
- Max drawdown
- -97.85%
Perfect timing
HindsightYour whole $11,550.00 put in on the single cheapest day of the period.
$99,970.82
+$83,752.29 vs your DCA- Bought everything on
- 2020-03-12
- At a price of
- $0.0200
- Return
- +765.55%
Nobody can pick the exact bottom — this is the best case, not a plan you could follow.
Value over time · 360 daily points
| Date | Invested | Units | Value | P/L |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-11-09 | $25.00 | 779.958 | $25.00 | $0.00 |
| 2018-03-24 | $500.00 | 4,113.01 | $778.19 | $278.19 |
| 2018-08-06 | $975.00 | 6,705.33 | $875.40 | -$99.60 |
| 2018-12-19 | $1,450.00 | 14,160.9 | $489.19 | -$960.81 |
| 2019-05-03 | $1,950.00 | 24,414.7 | $1,705.56 | -$244.44 |
| 2019-09-15 | $2,425.00 | 32,028.6 | $1,498.91 | -$926.09 |
| 2020-01-28 | $2,900.00 | 44,202.3 | $2,336.40 | -$563.60 |
| 2020-06-11 | $3,400.00 | 55,326.8 | $4,169.43 | $769.43 |
| 2020-10-24 | $3,875.00 | 59,813.8 | $6,464.38 | $2,589.38 |
| 2021-03-08 | $4,350.00 | 62,245.6 | $69,593.73 | $65,243.73 |
| 2021-07-21 | $4,825.00 | 62,590.3 | $73,111.70 | $68,286.70 |
| 2021-12-03 | $5,325.00 | 62,849 | $97,828.25 | $92,503.25 |
| 2022-04-17 | $5,800.00 | 63,289 | $58,065.47 | $52,265.47 |
| 2022-08-30 | $6,275.00 | 64,177.8 | $29,019.21 | $22,744.21 |
| 2023-01-12 | $6,775.00 | 65,611.7 | $21,651.85 | $14,876.85 |
| 2023-05-27 | $7,250.00 | 66,893.5 | $24,549.92 | $17,299.92 |
| 2023-10-09 | $7,725.00 | 68,586.2 | $17,283.72 | $9,558.72 |
| 2024-02-21 | $8,200.00 | 69,722.8 | $41,694.21 | $33,494.21 |
| 2024-07-05 | $8,700.00 | 70,726.1 | $24,754.13 | $16,054.13 |
| 2024-11-17 | $9,175.00 | 72,010.9 | $50,551.64 | $41,376.64 |
| 2025-04-01 | $9,650.00 | 72,562.7 | $49,270.10 | $39,620.10 |
| 2025-08-14 | $10,150.00 | 73,280.2 | $67,710.90 | $57,560.90 |
| 2025-12-27 | $10,625.00 | 74,105.5 | $27,122.60 | $16,497.60 |
| 2026-05-11 | $11,100.00 | 75,796.9 | $21,298.92 | $10,198.92 |
| 2026-09-13 | $11,550.00 | 78,201.5 | $16,218.53 | $4,668.53 |
Why DCA into Cardano?
That long quiet stretch after Cardano's peak is a useful test case: a lump sum bought at the top would have taken years to recover, if it has fully recovered at all, while a recurring buy kept adding units at progressively lower prices through the decline.
Frequently asked questions
- What is dollar-cost averaging into Cardano?
- Dollar-cost averaging (DCA) means investing a fixed amount into Cardano on a regular schedule — weekly, biweekly, monthly — regardless of the price that day, rather than trying to time a single entry point. Some buys land at a local high, some at a local low, and the average cost per unit smooths out over the whole period.
- How far back does the Cardano price history go?
- Back to 2017-11-09 — pick "Max" to include its full history in the backtest.
- Does this include exchange fees?
- By default no — it's a 0% baseline so you can see the raw price effect first. Use the Exchange fee dropdown to add a percentage (a few common presets, or your own) and/or a flat fee per buy under Advanced options, and the DCA total updates to include them.