Crypto ROI & CAGR Calculator: Total and Yearly Return
Work out crypto ROI after fees, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over your holding period, and the gain you would need to recover from a loss.
How to use this calculator
Enter the amount you invested, the current or final value of the position and the total fees you paid along the way, with trading, network and withdrawal fees combined. Then set the start and end dates of the holding period.
The tiles show profit in dollars, ROI, the holding period in days and the CAGR. When the result is a loss, an extra tile shows the gain needed to get back to your cost. A warning appears when the period is shorter than a year, because annualizing a short period exaggerates the result.
If you added or withdrew money during the period, a single ROI figure can mislead. The guide to time-weighted vs money-weighted returns explains the alternatives.
Tip: If the position also earned staking rewards or airdrops that you still hold, include their current value in the final value. Money you added later is different: it is new capital, not return, so it should not be counted as a gain.
How it’s calculated
Cost = Invested + Fees ROI = (Final − Cost) ÷ Cost Days = End date − Start date CAGR = (Final ÷ Cost)^(365 ÷ Days) − 1 Gain to recover = L ÷ (1 − L), where L = −ROI (losses only)
Invested is the money you put in, Fees are all costs in dollars, Final is the current or sale value, Days is the number of calendar days held, and L is the loss as a decimal. The 365 in the exponent converts days into years, so CAGR is the yearly rate that, compounded over the period, turns Cost into Final. The crypto ROI formula and CAGR for crypto guides walk through each line.
Worked example
Suppose you invested $1,000 on September 1, 2024, paid $10 in fees and held until September 1, 2026, when the position was worth a hypothetical $1,650.
- Cost = $1,000 + $10 = $1,010
- Profit = $1,650 − $1,010 = $640
- ROI = $640 ÷ $1,010 = 63.37%
- Days = 730 (two 365-day years)
- CAGR = (1,650 ÷ 1,010)^(365 ÷ 730) − 1 = 1.63366^0.5 − 1 = 27.81%
Without the $10 in fees, the same numbers give an ROI of 65.00% and a CAGR of 28.45%, so even a 1% fee load trims the yearly figure by about 0.6 percentage points.
Now suppose the same position were worth $500 instead. ROI becomes ($500 − $1,010) ÷ $1,010 = −50.50%, and the CAGR is −29.64% a year. To recover, the value must rise 0.5050 ÷ (1 − 0.5050) = 102.00%, since $500 × 2.02 = $1,010. Our guide to drawdown recovery math shows why that gap widens so quickly:
| Loss | Gain needed to recover |
|---|---|
| 10% | 11.11% |
| 25% | 33.33% |
| 50% | 100.00% |
| 75% | 300.00% |
| 90% | 900.00% |
Short periods need care too. A 10% gain over 120 days annualizes to a CAGR of 33.63%, which is why the calculator flags anything under 365 days. The same asymmetry between gains and losses is covered in percentage gains vs percentage losses.
Limitations
- ROI and CAGR assume a single deposit at the start. Extra buys, sales or withdrawals during the period call for time-weighted or money-weighted returns instead.
- CAGR smooths the path. Two positions with the same CAGR can have gone through very different drawdowns along the way.
- ROI ignores risk. A 63% gain from a thinly traded token and the same gain from a steadier holding look identical here.
- The day count uses 365-day years, so a period that includes a leap day shifts CAGR very slightly.
- Periods under a year are annualized only for illustration. The GIPS standards say such returns must not be annualized.
- Taxes are not included. Rules vary by country; check with a qualified professional.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between ROI and CAGR?
ROI is the total gain or loss as a percentage of what you put in, over the whole holding period. CAGR converts it into a steady yearly rate that would produce the same result when compounded. A 63.37% ROI over exactly two years, as in the example on this page, equals a CAGR of 27.81% a year, because 1.2781 squared is about 1.6337.
Why does the calculator warn me about periods under a year?
Annualizing a short result assumes the same pace continues for a full year, which rarely happens in volatile markets. A 10% gain over 120 days becomes a CAGR of 33.63%. The GIPS standards, the investment industry's performance-reporting rules, say returns for periods of less than one year must not be annualized, so treat a short-period CAGR as illustrative only.
How much do I need to gain to recover from a loss?
Divide the loss by what is left. After a loss of L, written as a decimal, the recovery gain is L ÷ (1 − L). A 50% loss needs a 100% gain, and the example on this page, a 50.50% loss, needs +102.00% to get back to the original cost. The deeper the loss, the faster the required gain grows.
Should fees be included in crypto ROI?
Including them gives a truer picture of what you earned. The calculator adds your total fees to the amount invested to form the cost, so trading, network and withdrawal fees all reduce ROI and CAGR. In the example on this page, $10 of fees on a $1,000 investment lowers the ROI from 65.00% to 63.37%.
Related guides
Sources
- Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS) for Firms 2020 — CFA Institute
- Annual Return — U.S. SEC — Investor.gov
This content is for education only and is not financial, investment, tax or legal advice. Crypto assets are volatile and you can lose money. Examples use hypothetical numbers. See our disclaimer and editorial policy.