Crypto Profit Calculator, Explained
After reading this you can compute the exact profit, return and break-even sell price of a crypto trade once buy and sell fees are counted, and you can see how those fees quietly raise the price you need just to break even.
What this calculator does
You buy some amount of a coin at one price and sell it later at another. The gross profit is the price change, but two fees eat into it: one when you buy, one when you sell. This tool computes the net profit or loss, the percentage return on the cash you put in, and the sell price at which you would exactly break even after both fees.
Here is the hook. Suppose you invest 1000 at a buy price of 30000 per coin. If the price never moves and you sell right back at 30000, you do not get your 1000 back. With a 0.5% fee on each side you lose about 10. The market did nothing, yet you are down. That gap is what break-even measures.
When to use it, and when not
Use this for a single round trip: one buy, one sell, in the same coin, priced in one currency. It answers "what did this trade actually net me after the exchange took its cut" and "how far must the price rise before I stop losing money."
Do not use it for these cases. If you bought in several lots at different prices, average your cost first with the Stock Average Price Calculator. If you want a return figure that accounts for how long you held, use the ROI Calculator for annualized return or the CAGR Calculator for the compound annual growth rate. This tool ignores time entirely: a 50% return over one week and over ten years look identical here.
This calculator does not model the bid-ask spread, network transfer fees, funding rates on leverage, or taxes. Real exchanges add more friction than the two percentage fees shown. Treat the output as a floor on your costs, not a complete accounting.
The formula and the intuition
Start with how many coins your cash buys. The buy fee is charged on the amount invested, so only part of your cash reaches the market.
Here I is the amount invested, f_b is the buy fee as a decimal (0.5% is 0.005), and P_b is the buy price per coin. Q is the quantity of coin you end up holding.
When you sell, you receive the quantity times the sell price, then the sell fee f_s is taken off the proceeds.
P_s is the sell price per coin and V is the cash you walk away with. Profit is simply what you got back minus what you put in.
Return is that profit as a fraction of your investment.
The intuition: fees appear as two multiplications by a number slightly below 1. Each one shaves a sliver off. Because they multiply rather than add, they compound, so trading often is worse than the sum of single fees suggests.
Deriving the break-even price
Break-even is the sell price where profit is zero, meaning V = I. Set the proceeds equal to the investment and solve for P_s. Substituting Q gives you this.
Notice the invested amount cancels out. Break-even as a price does not depend on how much you put in. It depends only on the buy price and the two fees. With equal fees f on both sides the buy price is divided by (1-f)^2.
For a 0.5% fee each way, the divisor is (0.995)^2 = 0.990025. So break-even sits about 1.007% above the buy price. On a buy price of 30000 that is roughly 30302. The price must climb about 302 before you are even.
Reproducing the demo numbers
Use the defaults: invest 1000, buy at 30000, sell at 45000, with 0.5% fees on both sides.
- Cash reaching the market:
1000 × (1 - 0.005) = 995. - Quantity bought:
995 / 30000 = 0.0331667coins. - Gross sale proceeds:
0.0331667 × 45000 = 1492.50. - After the sell fee:
1492.50 × (1 - 0.005) = 1485.04. - Profit:
1485.04 - 1000 = 485.04. - Return:
485.04 / 1000 = 0.4850, or48.50%. - Break-even price:
30000 / 0.990025 = 30302.3.
Without any fees the same trade would net 500 exactly (a clean 50% as the price rose from 30000 to 45000). The two fees cost you 14.96, dropping the return from 50% to 48.50%.
Reading and interpreting the results
The profit figure is your bottom line in cash. The return figure lets you compare trades of different sizes on the same footing: a 485 profit on 1000 is a 48.50% return, the same rate as a 4850 profit on 10000.
The break-even price tells you the danger zone. Any sell price between your buy price and the break-even price is a loss even though the coin technically "went up." In the demo that band runs from 30000 to 30302.3. Selling anywhere in there means the fees beat your gain.
| Sell price | Proceeds | Profit | Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30000 | 990.0 | -9.98 | -1.00% |
| 30302 | 1000 | 0.01 | 0.00% |
| 33000 | 1089 | 89.05 | 8.91% |
| 45000 | 1485 | 485.0 | 48.50% |
| 60000 | 1980 | 980.1 | 98.01% |
Common mistakes
The most frequent error is entering the fee as a whole number where the field wants a percent, or the reverse. A fee of 0.5 means half a percent. Typing 0.005 when the field expects percent would model a fee of five thousandths of a percent, which is nearly nothing.
The second is forgetting that the buy fee shrinks your position. You do not own 1000 / 30000 = 0.03333 coins. You own 0.03317, because 5 went to the fee before any coin was bought. Over many trades that difference compounds.
If you trade frequently, model one round trip here, then multiply the fee drag by your number of trades. Ten round trips at a 1.007% break-even gap means the price must rise roughly 10% across the year just to cover fees, before you make a cent.
The third mistake is reading the return as if it were annual. It is not. A 48.50% return means nothing about performance until you know the holding period. Move that figure into the CAGR Calculator to get a per-year rate you can compare with other investments.
Related tools
For a broader picture of costs and growth, several tools pair naturally with this one. The Investment Fee Impact Calculator shows what ongoing fund fees cost over decades, a different kind of drag than per-trade fees. The Investment Growth Calculator projects a portfolio with regular contributions. Before you place a trade, the Position Size Calculator tells you how much to buy for a fixed risk. For cash-flow analysis across many dates, see the NPV Calculator and the IRR Calculator. If your holdings pay income, the Dividend Yield Calculator, the Dividend Reinvestment (DRIP) Calculator, and the Inflation-Adjusted Return Calculator cover yield, reinvestment and real purchasing power.
Frequently asked questions
Why do I lose money if I buy and sell at the same price?
Because the fee is charged twice. Buying at 30000 and selling at 30000 with 0.5% fees each way returns about 990 on a 1000 investment, a loss of roughly 10. The price must rise past the break-even level to cover both fees.
Does the break-even price depend on how much I invest?
No. Break-even as a price is P_b / ((1-f_b)(1-f_s)), and the invested amount cancels out. Whether you put in 100 or 100000, break-even at a 30000 buy price with 0.5% fees is about 30302.
How do I enter a maker or taker fee?
Put the fee you actually pay on the buy in the buy fee field and the fee on the sell in the sell fee field. They can differ. Many exchanges charge a lower maker fee and a higher taker fee, so use the one that matches your order type.
Is the return figure annualized?
No. It is the total return over the whole holding period, with no adjustment for time. A 48.50% return over one month and over five years produce the same number here. Use a CAGR or ROI tool to get a per-year rate.
What is not included in this estimate?
Spread, withdrawal and network fees, leverage funding costs, and taxes are all excluded. The tool counts only the two percentage fees you enter, so your real net will usually be somewhat lower.
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