See what a recurring investment would actually be worth today — backtested against real historical prices, and compared against investing it all at once.
Same amount, same schedule, same period — which coin would have actually performed best?
How bumpy was the ride, and how much of a difference did timing individual purchases make?
The same strategy, started at a few different points within this period.
| # | Date | Price | Coins bought | Cumulative coins | Cumulative invested |
|---|
A quick look at $100/week into Bitcoin and Ethereum over different periods, as of today.
| Coin | Period | Invested | Value Today | Return |
|---|
Dollar-cost averaging (DCA) means investing a fixed amount on a regular schedule — daily, weekly, or monthly — instead of trying to time the market with a single lump-sum purchase. Because the same dollar amount buys more of an asset when the price is low and less when it's high, DCA naturally smooths out your average entry price over time.
This calculator runs an actual backtest: it pulls real historical prices for your chosen coin, simulates a purchase at each interval in your selected period, and totals up exactly what you'd hold today.
The result panel also shows what would have happened if you'd invested the entire total amount on day one instead of spreading it out. Historically, in assets that trend upward over long periods, lump-sum investing tends to out-earn DCA on average — because more capital is exposed to growth for longer. DCA's real value isn't usually higher average returns; it's removing the stress and guesswork of deciding when to buy, and avoiding the risk of committing everything right before a downturn.
Daily, weekly, and monthly DCA schedules tend to produce very similar long-run outcomes for the same total amount invested over the same period — the schedule mostly affects how smooth the ride feels, not the destination. Pick whatever cadence matches your actual paycheck or habits.