Canada Bitcoin DCA calculator

How the DCA simulation works

The simulator buys a fixed US-dollar amount of bitcoin every month from your chosen start year to today — 12 purchases per year priced from documented yearly historical data (a geometric average of each year's start and end prices), with the current year handled at finer granularity. The accumulated bitcoin is then valued at the live price.

What DCA actually does

Dollar-cost averaging doesn't improve average returns — in steadily rising markets a lump sum invested earlier wins. What DCA changes is risk and behaviour: it spreads your cost basis across hundreds of price points, guarantees you buy through the crashes (when each dollar buys the most bitcoin), and converts an impossible decision ("is now the right time?") into an automatic habit. For an asset that routinely halves, that behavioural armour is worth more than optimisation.

Worked example of the mechanics

Suppose you buy $100/month and bitcoin falls from $60,000 to $30,000 over a year. Early buys get ~0.0017 BTC per purchase; late buys get ~0.0033 BTC — almost double. Your average cost lands well below the starting price, which is why DCA portfolios recover faster than lump sums bought at the top.

What the simulation leaves out

• Fees and spreads — recurring-buy fees range from ~0.1% to several percent per purchase depending on the venue; over years this compounds materially.
• Intra-month timing — yearly-averaged prices smooth real volatility; precise monthly executions would differ.
• Taxes — every future sale measures gains against each lot's cost basis. Keep records from the first buy; see the crypto tax calculator.
• Custody — accumulating meaningful value on an exchange carries counterparty risk; periodic withdrawal to self-custody is standard practice.

For the general theory (and when lump-sum beats DCA), read Dollar-Cost Averaging Explained. For a single past purchase instead of a schedule, try the what-if calculator.