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
$19,215.52
$7,590.52 · +65.29%- Invested
- $11,625.00
- Annualised (XIRR)
- +11.04%
- Avg cost / unit
- $0.1500
- Units held
- 78,527.5
- Max drawdown
- -94.06%
Lump sum on day one
$88,747.21
$77,122.21 · +663.42%- Invested
- $11,625.00
- Annualised (XIRR)
- +25.64%
- Avg cost / unit
- $0.0300
- Units held
- 362,681
- Max drawdown
- -97.85%
Perfect timing
HindsightYour whole $11,625.00 put in on the single cheapest day of the period.
$118,718.51
+$99,502.99 vs your DCA- Bought everything on
- 2020-03-12
- At a price of
- $0.0200
- Return
- +921.23%
Nobody can pick the exact bottom — this is the best case, not a plan you could follow.
Value over time · 363 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 |
| 2026-10-03 | $11,625.00 | 78,527.5 | $19,215.52 | $7,590.52 |
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.