Method version 1
Historical DCA explained
Dollar-cost averaging (DCA) means buying a fixed amount at regular intervals. The simulator replays that pattern on past daily prices for one asset. It shows what the same purchases would have been worth on the end date.
The purchase prices are daily closes. How they are sourced, and which assets are covered, is explained in Price data.
The simulator currently runs on Dataset 2026-11-03.120e407e with method version 1. The dataset label changes each time the daily prices are refreshed; the method version changes only when a formula changes.
Cadence
Dates are inclusive, and the start date is always the first purchase.
- Weekly: a purchase on the start date and every 7 days after it, while the date is on or before the end date.
- Monthly: a purchase on the start date's day of the month in each following calendar month.
The monthly anchor rule
If a month is too short for the start day, the purchase moves to that month's last day. The next month goes back to the original day. The schedule keeps its first day as an anchor.
- Start 31 Jan 2025: purchases on 31 Jan, 28 Feb and 31 Mar.
- Start 31 Jan 2024: purchases on 31 Jan, 29 Feb and 31 Mar.
The fee comes out of the contribution
Each purchase has a contribution C and a fee rate f, written as a fraction. For a purchase at the daily close P:
- Fee:
C × f - Units bought:
(C − C × f) / P
So the full contribution leaves your pocket, and the fee is part of it. Totals over n purchases:
- Total contributions:
n × C - Purchase fees:
n × C × f - Final value: total units × the closing price on the end date
- Gain: final value − total contributions
- Gain percentage: gain / total contributions
If an average cost is shown, it is total contributions divided by total units, so it includes the modelled purchase fees. Nothing is annualized.
On each day, the day's purchase is added first and then the units are valued at that same close.
Worked example
Weekly purchases on 1 Jan and 8 Jan. The closing prices on those two days are 100 and 50. The end close is 75. C = 100 and f = 1%. These are made-up numbers, not market data.
| Purchase | Contribution | Fee | Price | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Jan | 100 | 1 | 100 | 0.99 |
| 8 Jan | 100 | 1 | 50 | 1.98 |
- Total contributions: 200
- Purchase fees: 2
- Units: 0.99 + 1.98 = 2.97
- Final value: 2.97 × 75 = 222.75
- Gain: 222.75 − 200 = 22.75
- Gain percentage: 22.75 / 200 = 11.375%, shown as 11.38%
A hypothetical, not an order
The simulation uses each day's closing price as the purchase price. Real orders may fill at other prices and may not fill at all. It is a look back at a reference price, not a prediction and not a strategy that knew the next day's price.
If any day needed for the calculation has no price, the simulation does not run. Purchases are not skipped and values are not carried forward from earlier days.
What is left out
- Fees or spread when selling, and slippage
- Withdrawals and transfer costs
- Taxes
- Staking rewards and airdrops
- Any limit on how small a unit can be
The value line rises partly because cash is added over time. Its own high point is therefore not a measure of investment risk, and the result should not be set against a lump sum that was not available on the same dates. Historical figures are for information only and are not financial, investment or legal advice. Past performance does not predict future results.