What pound cost averaging does
Pound cost averaging (called dollar cost averaging or DCA almost everywhere in crypto) means investing a fixed amount at regular intervals instead of one lump sum. Because the amount is fixed, you automatically buy more coins when the price is low and fewer when it is high. Your position ends up with one number that matters more than any single purchase: the average cost.
Note what that is not: it is not the average of your buy prices. The fixed spend skews you towards the cheap buys, so the average cost always sits at or below the simple average of the prices you paid. That is the quiet advantage of the method, and this calculator makes it visible.
Worked examples
What DCA smooths, and what it cannot
Cost averaging removes the pressure of timing. Nobody buys the exact bottom, and with regular buys nobody needs to: a bad week only owns a slice of your position instead of all of it. It also builds a habit, which in a market this volatile is worth more than any indicator.
What it does not do is protect the position itself. If the market falls and keeps falling, buying on the way down lowers your average cost while your total loss still grows. DCA reshapes when you take the market's risk, not whether you take it. It also says nothing about fees: if your platform charges a minimum fee per order, very small frequent buys can quietly cost several percent each, and fewer, larger buys may average out cheaper.
Using your exchange history
Most exchanges let you export order history as a spreadsheet. Copy the cost and price columns for one coin, paste the pairs in here one per line, and any line the parser cannot read is flagged by number rather than silently dropped. The optional current price field then marks the whole position to whatever price you type; nothing is fetched, so the valuation is exactly as fresh as the number you enter.
Never enter your seed phrase or private keys into any website, including this one. An average cost calculator needs amounts and prices, nothing else.
Crypto is highly volatile and largely unregulated in the UK, with no FSCS cover if a platform fails: only invest what you can afford to lose. This page is guidance, not financial advice.
Frequently asked questions
What format do the rows need?
One buy per line: the amount you spent, then the price you paid, separated by a comma, for example 100, 25000. Use plain numbers without pound signs or thousands separators. Any line that cannot be read is flagged with its line number so you can fix it, and the readable lines still calculate.
Why is my average cost below the average of my buy prices?
Because a fixed amount of money buys more coins when the price is low and fewer when it is high. Your average cost is total money divided by total coins, which naturally leans towards the cheaper purchases. Averaging the prices themselves ignores how many coins each buy actually got you.
Does pound cost averaging guarantee a profit?
No. It smooths out your entry price so no single badly timed buy dominates, but if the market falls and stays down, a drip-fed position loses money just like a lump sum. It manages timing risk, not market risk.
Can I use this for shares or funds too?
Yes. The maths is identical for anything bought repeatedly at varying prices: units acquired equals money divided by price, and average cost equals total money divided by total units. Only the crypto framing is specific.
Is my trading history uploaded anywhere?
No. Parsing and calculation all happen in your browser and nothing is stored or sent. As always, never enter a seed phrase or private key into any website, including this one. This tool only ever needs amounts and prices.