Crypto DCA Calculator
Model buying a fixed amount on a schedule, see what fees quietly cost, what a plausible outcome range looks like, and what the UK tax bill could be if it works.
Your details
Pure assumption. Bitcoin has had years of +150% and years of -65%. Try 0% and a negative figure too.
Recurring-buy fees on UK exchanges range from about 0.1% to over 2% once spread is included.
Advanced options▾
Widens the plausible range. Bitcoin has historically sat around 50% to 80%; smaller coins much higher.
Updates as you change the figures. No submit button needed.
Result
£8,647
projected after 5 years at +15% a year. A one-sigma range would be roughly £2,260 to £33,077.
If you sold it all at the end
These are rate scenarios, not a personal tax bill. Gains that exceed your unused basic-rate band are taxed at 24%. Assumes the full annual exemption is unused and no other gains or losses.
Where people get this wrong
The growth number is doing all the work in this calculator, and nobody knows it. Set it to 0% and the only certain outputs remain: you paid £60 in fees, and if it does go up, HMRC takes 18% or 24% of anything over £3,000 a year in gains, including when you swap one coin for another, not just when you cash out to pounds. Pound-cost averaging does not reduce risk; it reduces the risk of one badly timed purchase. In a market that only goes down, it buys more of something worth less.
How we calculate this
Each purchase has the fee removed, then the balance compounds at the assumed annual growth converted to a per-purchase rate. The plausible range is a one-standard-deviation band around the compounded path, widening with the square root of time using your volatility figure. It is illustrative, not a forecast, and real crypto returns are not normally distributed; the true range is wider and uglier than the shaded area.
The lump-sum line shows what the same total would be worth invested all at once on day one at the same growth rate. In a rising market lump sum always wins on paper because the money is exposed for longer. The tax estimate uses the £3,000 annual exempt amount and the 18% and 24% capital gains rates, applied as if you sold everything in one tax year with no other gains. Spreading disposals across tax years, or holding inside a pension (not possible for most direct crypto), changes that. Crypto cannot be held in an ISA.
This tool is for general guidance only and is not financial or tax advice. Always check your own circumstances, ideally with a qualified adviser or accountant, before making decisions.
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