Crypto Profit Calculator

The number this calculator shows is gross profit: (sell price − buy price) × quantity. Real trading outcomes are measured net of costs, and the honest formula charges a fee on both legs of the trade: net profit = (sell price × qty − sell fee) − (buy price × qty + buy fee) return % = net profit ÷ total cost, where total cost = buy price × qty + buy fee. Walk through a concrete case. You buy 0.5 BTC at $60,000 on an exchange charging a 0.1% taker fee. The notional is $30,000 and the fee is $30, so your total cost is $30,030. You later sell the 0.5 BTC at $66,000. Gross proceeds are $33,000, the 0.1% sell fee is $33, and net proceeds are $32,967. Net profit is $32,967 − $30,030 = $2,937, and the return is $2,937 ÷ $30,030 ≈ 9.78% — not the naive 10% you get by comparing prices alone. A 0.22 percentage-point gap sounds small, but it compounds with trade frequency: at 50 round trips a year, 0.2% per round trip costs roughly 10% of capital annually before any market risk. On high-fee venues — retail apps commonly charge 0.5% to 1.5% once the spread is included — the gap between gross and net widens dramatically, and short-term strategies that look profitable gross can be reliably unprofitable net.

const qty = 0.5;
const buyPrice = 60000, sellPrice = 66000;
const feeRate = 0.001; // 0.1% per side

const cost = buyPrice * qty * (1 + feeRate);      // 30000 + 30 = 30030
const proceeds = sellPrice * qty * (1 - feeRate); // 33000 - 33 = 32967
const profit = proceeds - cost;                   // 2937
const returnPct = (profit / cost) * 100;          // 9.78% (not the naive 10%)

Because fees are charged on both legs, selling at your entry price loses money. The exit price at which you walk away flat is: breakeven sell price = buy price × (1 + buy fee rate) ÷ (1 − sell fee rate) With 0.1% on each side, the multiplier is 1.001 ÷ 0.999 ≈ 1.002002, so you must sell about 0.20% above entry just to break even. With 1% per side — typical of convenience-focused retail apps — the multiplier is 1.01 ÷ 0.99 ≈ 1.0202: the asset has to rise roughly 2.02% before you earn your first cent. A $60,000 entry then needs an exit near $61,212, and anything below that is a loss even though the price went up. Two hidden components push the true break-even higher. First, the bid-ask spread: you buy at the ask and sell at the bid, so a 0.3% spread acts like an extra 0.3% round-trip fee that never appears on any fee schedule. Second, fixed withdrawal and network fees: moving coins off an exchange might cost 0.0002 BTC, or a flat $15–25 during congested hours on some networks. On a $500 position, a $15 withdrawal fee alone is 3% of the stake — small positions on high-fee venues can need a move of 5% or more just to get back to zero.

// breakeven = buyPrice * (1 + fBuy) / (1 - fSell)
60000 * (1 + 0.001) / (1 - 0.001); // = 60120.12 -> +0.20% above entry
60000 * (1 + 0.01) / (1 - 0.01);   // = 61212.12 -> +2.02% above entry

Unrealized P&L marks your open position to the current market price: it answers the question of what you would have if you sold everything right now at this print. It changes with every tick and can evaporate as fast as it appeared. Realized P&L is different in kind, not just in size: it is locked in the moment you dispose of the asset, and no later price movement can change it. Portfolio apps blur this line. A dashboard showing +$8,400 profit on an open altcoin position is quoting a hypothetical: filling a large sell order in a thin market moves the price against you (slippage), fees are subtracted on exit, and the quote itself may lag. Treating unrealized gains as spendable money is one of the most common ways traders end up over-leveraged. Partial sells split one position into both categories. Suppose you hold 2 ETH bought at $2,000 each and sell 1 ETH at $3,000. You realize $1,000 of profit (ignoring fees) — that number is now permanent. The remaining 1 ETH still carries a $2,000 cost basis, and its P&L stays unrealized: if ETH falls back to $2,000, your realized profit is still $1,000 while the open lot shows $0. Tracking the two separately is the only way to know how much of your profit actually survived your trading.

When you buy the same asset at different prices, the phrase "my buy price" becomes ambiguous, and the accounting method you use decides your reported gain. Consider three trades: buy 1 BTC at $30,000, later buy 1 BTC at $50,000, then sell 1 BTC at $60,000. FIFO (first in, first out) deems the $30,000 coin sold: reported gain $30,000. LIFO (last in, first out) sells the $50,000 coin: gain $10,000. Average cost blends the lots into a $40,000 basis: gain $20,000. HIFO (highest in, first out) always disposes of the most expensive lot first — here the same as LIFO at $10,000 — and by construction minimizes the reported gain of any sale. Identical trades, four different profits ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 — a 3x spread. None of them is more true than the others for measuring performance, but for taxes the difference is real money, and which method you are permitted to use depends on your jurisdiction and sometimes on the asset class; some tax authorities mandate one method, others allow a choice but require consistency. The practical takeaways: keep complete, timestamped records of every buy, sell, and fee from day one (reconstructing them years later is painful), and consult a qualified tax professional in your jurisdiction before relying on any specific method.

Lots: buy 1 BTC @ 30000, then 1 BTC @ 50000. Sell 1 BTC @ 60000.

FIFO: 60000 - 30000           = 30000 gain
LIFO: 60000 - 50000           = 10000 gain
AVG : 60000 - (30000+50000)/2 = 20000 gain
HIFO: 60000 - 50000           = 10000 gain (highest-cost lot first)

Gains and losses are not symmetric, because recovery is computed on a smaller base. The recovery required after a loss L is 1 ÷ (1 − L) − 1. A −10% loss needs +11.1% to get back to even; −25% needs +33.3%; −33.3% needs +50%; −50% needs +100%; −90% needs +900%. This is why risk management dominates entry timing: deep drawdowns require improbable rallies to repair, and pairing a −60% trade with a +60% trade leaves you down 36%, not flat (0.4 × 1.6 = 0.64). Beyond the asymmetry, a few recurring mistakes distort P&L calculations. Ignoring fees and spread, as covered above. Comparing entries and exits quoted in different currencies — buying in USD while mentally selling in EUR, or mixing USDT and USD prices — without converting at the relevant exchange rates. Unit bias: profit equals percentage change times capital deployed, so 10,000 coins at $0.01 gaining one cent doubles your money, while 0.1 BTC rising by $100 per coin earns just $10. And leverage rewrites everything: with 10x leverage, price moves are amplified tenfold against your margin, periodic funding fees accrue while the position is open, and an adverse move of roughly 10% — before fees, and less after them — wipes out the entire margin through liquidation. Finally, keep the context: this guide and the calculator above are educational content only, not financial or tax advice. Cryptocurrency prices are extremely volatile, past results never guarantee future ones, and you can lose your entire stake. Verify any calculation independently before making decisions with real money.