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, making it one of the more pronounced boom-to-quiet cycles among large-cap crypto assets.
Dollar cost averaging
$16,983.09
$5,283.09 · +45.15%- Invested
- $11,700.00
- Annualised (XIRR)
- +8.17%
- Avg cost / unit
- $0.1484
- Units held
- 78,862
- Max drawdown
- -94.06%
Lump sum on day one
$78,607.88
$66,907.88 · +571.86%- Invested
- $11,700.00
- Annualised (XIRR)
- +23.69%
- Avg cost / unit
- $0.0321
- Units held
- 365,020
- Max drawdown
- -97.85%
Perfect timing
HindsightYour whole $11,700.00 put in on the single cheapest day of the period.
$105,154.98
+$88,171.89 vs your DCA- Bought everything on
- 2020-03-12
- At a price of
- $0.0240
- Return
- +798.76%
Nobody can pick the exact bottom. This is the best case, not a plan you could follow.
Want to start? Set up $25.00 weekly Cardano buys on Kraken.
Referral link: we may earn a commission, at no cost to you. Not financial advice. Compare exchanges
Does your start date matter? Best and worst time to start DCA or DCA vs lump sum, tested on every start month.
Value over time · 365 daily points
| Date | Invested | Units | Value | P/L |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-11-09 | $25.00 | 779.958 | $25.00 | $0.00 |
| 2018-04-02 | $525.00 | 4,283.21 | $669.83 | $144.83 |
| 2018-08-24 | $1,050.00 | 7,440.4 | $699.97 | -$350.03 |
| 2019-01-15 | $1,550.00 | 16,619.2 | $711.47 | -$838.53 |
| 2019-06-08 | $2,075.00 | 26,008.6 | $2,190.26 | $115.26 |
| 2019-10-30 | $2,575.00 | 35,706.4 | $1,498.49 | -$1,076.51 |
| 2020-03-22 | $3,100.00 | 48,717.3 | $1,319.70 | -$1,780.30 |
| 2020-08-13 | $3,625.00 | 57,332.2 | $8,097.88 | $4,472.88 |
| 2021-01-04 | $4,125.00 | 61,772.4 | $13,884.08 | $9,759.08 |
| 2021-05-28 | $4,650.00 | 62,467.1 | $94,449.65 | $89,799.65 |
| 2021-10-19 | $5,150.00 | 62,756.5 | $132,601.88 | $127,451.88 |
| 2022-03-12 | $5,675.00 | 63,165.4 | $49,943.21 | $44,268.21 |
| 2022-08-03 | $6,175.00 | 63,978.2 | $32,052.30 | $25,877.30 |
| 2022-12-25 | $6,700.00 | 65,340.5 | $16,923.20 | $10,223.20 |
| 2023-05-18 | $7,225.00 | 66,823.7 | $24,925.23 | $17,700.23 |
| 2023-10-09 | $7,725.00 | 68,586.2 | $17,283.72 | $9,558.72 |
| 2024-03-01 | $8,250.00 | 69,803.4 | $49,769.85 | $41,519.85 |
| 2024-07-23 | $8,750.00 | 70,848.2 | $29,118.61 | $20,368.61 |
| 2024-12-14 | $9,275.00 | 72,109.6 | $76,436.21 | $67,161.21 |
| 2025-05-07 | $9,775.00 | 72,752.9 | $48,817.18 | $39,042.18 |
| 2025-09-28 | $10,300.00 | 73,457.4 | $59,427.03 | $49,127.03 |
| 2026-02-19 | $10,825.00 | 74,734.2 | $20,402.44 | $9,577.44 |
| 2026-07-13 | $11,325.00 | 77,011.3 | $12,090.77 | $765.77 |
| 2026-10-23 | $11,700.00 | 78,862 | $16,983.09 | $5,283.09 |
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 or 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.