What if you dollar-cost-averaged monthly into Bitcoin for 7 years?
See what dollar-cost averaging into Bitcoin every month for 7 years starting in 2019 would have looked like, calculated from real price data. These 7 years contain both powerful rallies and very deep drawdowns from prior highs.
Investment conditions
Asset · Bitcoin (BTC-USD)
Method · Recurring monthly investment
Period · 2019-01-01 ~ 2026-07-01
Amount · $222 / month
As of · 2026-07-01
Key metrics
These results do not reflect taxes. Based on historical data.
Risk & recovery
As important as returns. This service does not hide maximum drawdown or loss periods.
Maximum drawdown (MDD)
-73.9%
Largest drop from peak
Longest loss period
1months
Months in loss: 1
Recovery period
14months
Growth over time
Invested principal (dashed) and portfolio value (solid). Values below match the calculation.
Total invested $20,222 → Final value $64,258 (+217.8%), Maximum drawdown (MDD) -73.9%
Why this period and asset
Since it first appeared in 2009, Bitcoin has repeated extremely dramatic price cycles. In 2017 it ran up sharply and peaked amid bubble concerns, then in 2018 it fell roughly 80% from that high in a brutal bear market. In 2020-2021 it set new all-time highs again amid low interest rates and inflows of institutional money, only to fall very sharply from its highs again in 2022 as major events piled up, including the collapse of Terra/Luna and the bankruptcy of the FTX exchange. Later years brought the approval of spot ETFs and the periodic 'halving,' in which the amount of new supply is cut roughly in half about every four years. This 7-year window starting in early 2019 captures several full rounds of rally, collapse, and recovery.
Interpreting the result
The point of this scenario is not the final return figure but the volatility you endure along the way. Over this period Bitcoin repeatedly suffered very deep drawdowns from its highs (including declines on the order of 70-80%), and the loss period during which the balance sat well below its principal or prior peak sometimes stretched from months into years. Recovery periods were not short either, with stretches where reclaiming a previous high took a long time. Be sure to check the maximum drawdown, loss period, and recovery period shown in the results. Dollar-cost averaging (DCA) splits your buying across time so your average purchase price is smoother, but it does not eliminate losses. During crashes, simply continuing to invest is psychologically very hard, and the numbers on this page assume you kept buying without flinching.
Caveats & limits
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are far more volatile than the other assets on this site and can lose a large share of their value in a short time. In extreme cases, specific coins, exchanges, or projects have resulted in something close to a total loss. Regulation keeps changing by country and region, and there are also risks of exchange bankruptcy, hacking, and self-custody (wallet) loss. Because this is a foreign asset, the USD exchange rate affects results in your home currency, and taxes such as those on capital gains also eat into actual performance. Past patterns do not guarantee the future, and this page does not recommend buying any specific asset.
Data sources & limits
- Price data source: Yahoo Finance / FinanceDataReader
- Collected on: 2026-07-23
- Effective trading date: 2026-07-01
- Price basis: Adjusted close (reflects dividends and stock splits)
- Trading fees and taxes are not reflected — figures are pre-tax.
- Based on historical data; does not guarantee future returns.
Frequently asked questions
What exactly is dollar-cost averaging (DCA)?
Instead of putting in a lump sum all at once, DCA means investing a fixed amount on a fixed schedule (for example, $200 every month) and steadily accumulating. You buy more units when prices are low and fewer when prices are high, which smooths out your average purchase price. However, this only spreads out your entry timing; it does not remove the losses of a falling asset.
How volatile is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is far more volatile than the stocks, gold, and bonds on this site. Even within this 7-year window there were several crash phases where it fell roughly 70-80% from its highs, and it often swung sharply within a single day. That is why you must look at the maximum drawdown and loss period in the results to feel the real risk.
What about cryptocurrency regulation?
Regulation of cryptocurrencies varies greatly by country and over time and keeps changing. Rules on trading, taxation, and product approvals can shift with policy, and regulatory news can move prices sharply. Before investing, it is essential to check the regulations and tax rules that apply where you live yourself.
Related scenarios
📋 Results are based on historical data; past returns do not guarantee future returns.
📋 This service is provided for educational purposes to help you understand investing, not as investment advice.