Does DCA beat lump-sum investing?

Lump-sum wins more often in uptrending markets because all your money works sooner. DCA reduces the risk of buying before a crash. This tool shows both side-by-side over your chosen period.

Where does the price data come from?

CoinGecko free public API, fetched directly in your browser with no key or login. Prices may be delayed a minute or two on recent data, negligible for a long-term simulation.

Crypto

S complexity

Bitcoin & Crypto DCA Profit Simulator.

Backtest periodic crypto accumulation against lump-sum purchases across market cycles. See real drawdown resilience and annualized portfolio performance on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.

Free Runs in your browser Data: CoinGecko (historical prices)

Trading & Calculation Currency:

Currency:

Runs entirely in your browser. Historical prices via CoinGecko (free, no key).

Step 1 of 3DCA Simulator

Your strategy

Asset

Frequency

Amount per buy ($)

Start date

We'll simulate buying $100 of BTC monthly from 2024-09-03 to today, then compare it to investing the same total amount all at once on day one.

Specification & Methodology

Understanding your results.

A rigorous breakdown of the mathematical equations, market assumptions, and step-by-step calculations powering this tool.

The simulator runs two strategies over the same period and compares them:

DCA strategy — buys a fixed dollar amount at each interval, accumulating units at varying prices.
Lump sum — invests the entire total on day one at the first available price.

The chart overlays both portfolio-value curves so you can see exactly when each strategy pulled ahead. The "profitable buys" percentage tells you how many of your DCA purchases are in profit at today's price.

Operational Guide

How to use this tool.

Step-by-step workflow instructions to get the most accurate calculations for your trading strategy.

Choose your asset (BTC, ETH, or SOL) and frequency (weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly).
Enter the amount per buy and your start date.
Click calculate and the tool fetches real historical prices from CoinGecko.
Compare your DCA result against a lump-sum buy of the same total amount.

Bybit Auto-Invest

Exchange

Set up recurring auto-invest orders on dozens of tokens. Bybit executes your DCA plan automatically on a schedule you choose.

Start on Bybit

Binance Recurring Buy

Exchange

Schedule automatic purchases with a card or bank transfer. One of the simplest ways to put DCA into practice after seeing the simulation.

Start on Binance

How we choose partners. We may earn a commission at no cost to you.

Privacy & safety.

No data leaves your browser. The fetch goes directly from your browser to CoinGecko's public API. Your investment amount is never sent to us.

The simulation uses daily closing prices without fees or spreads, so real results will differ slightly. Past performance does not guarantee future returns; this is an educational tool, not investment advice.

Frequently asked questions.

What is dollar-cost averaging (DCA)?

How does DCA compare to a lump-sum investment?

Where does the historical price data come from?

Why does the simulator sometimes show DCA winning and sometimes losing?

Does the simulation include trading fees?

Is past performance a guarantee of future returns?

Related guides

Read the guide.

All guides

BEGINNER GUIDES

10 Best Crypto Tools for Beginners in 2026

10 min read

More tools

Bitcoin & Crypto DCA Profit Simulator.

Understanding your results.

How to use this tool.

Bybit Auto-Invest

Binance Recurring Buy

Privacy & safety.

Frequently asked questions.

Read the guide.

10 Best Crypto Tools for Beginners in 2026

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