How to calculate crypto profit
Crypto profit is what you get when you sell, minus everything you spent to buy, minus fees. The catch is that exchange fees are charged as a percentage on both sides, and on a volatile coin you often buy in several times at different prices. Both change your real result more than people expect.
Coins = Amount spent ÷ Buy price Profit = (Sell price − Buy price) × Coins − Buy fee − Sell fee
The amount spent is before fees: the exchange adds the buy fee on top. Your return divides the profit by everything you put in, the amount plus that buy fee. If you entered coins instead of an amount, the amount is coins × buy price.
Return = Profit ÷ (Amount spent + Buy fee)
Tip: on small trades, network and withdrawal fees can cost more than the exchange fee. Add them under More options → Other costs so your break-even is real.
Worked example
You spend $1,000 on Bitcoin at $50,000. The exchange charges 0.1% each way. You sell at $60,000.
- Coins: 1,000 ÷ 50,000 = 0.02 BTC.
- The price move: (60,000 − 50,000) × 0.02 = $200.
- Fees are $1.00 to buy (0.1% of $1,000) and $1.20 to sell (0.1% of $1,200): $2.20. Profit = 200 − 2.20 = $197.80.
- You put in 1,000 + 1 = $1,001, so the return is 197.80 ÷ 1,001 = 19.76%.
- Break-even: the sale, after its fee, has to bring back $1,001: 1,001 ÷ (0.02 × 0.999) = $50,100.10. The coin has to rise 0.2% just to cover fees.
Buying in several times (dollar-cost averaging)
If you buy $500 at $100 and $500 at $50, you own 5 + 10 = 15 coins for $1,000. Your average entry is 1,000 ÷ 15 = $66.67, not the $75 midpoint, because the cheaper buy got you more coins. Add each extra buy under More options → More buys and the calculator does this for you, fees included.
Shorting crypto
A short reverses the order: you sell coins you have borrowed, then buy them back later. You profit when the price falls: (sell price − buy-back price) × coins, minus the fee on each side. Pick Short, enter the amount or number of coins sold and the price you sold at, then the buy-back price. Unlike a spot purchase, a short has no ceiling on the loss, because the price can keep rising. Borrow interest, funding rates and liquidation aren't included; check those with your exchange.
Exchange fees: maker and taker
Most exchanges charge a lower maker fee on limit orders that wait on the order book and a higher taker fee on orders that fill straight away. Use the rate you actually pay on each side. On small trades, also add network or withdrawal fees under “Other costs”; a flat $5 withdrawal fee on a $200 trade is 2.5% before the price even moves.
Common mistakes
- Averaging prices instead of costs. The average of $100 and $50 is not your entry price if you spent the same amount at each. Average the money, not the prices.
- Counting fees once. You pay the exchange to buy and again to sell.
- Forgetting the stablecoin. If you trade against USDT, your profit is in USDT. Pick USDT as the currency so the results say so.
- Calling unrealised gains profit. Until you sell, the number moves every second. The profit or loss chart shows the range.
Assumptions
How this calculator works. Fees are a % of each order’s value, as on spot exchanges, or a $ total for buy and sell. An amount spent is before fees: the buy fee is added on top, as it is for coins bought. Several buys are combined into one position and sold in one go. Other costs are a flat amount. Tax is a single rate on a profit; a loss is not taxed. On a short, the amount is the position value sold and the opening fee is added on top; return is measured against the position value plus fees. Leverage, borrow interest, funding rates and liquidation are not modelled.
