Crypto Drawdown Calculator
The worst peak-to-trough fall each coin has suffered, how long it took to recover, and how far below its all-time high it sits today.
Drawdown is the risk number that matters
Annual return tells you where an asset ended up. Maximum drawdown tells you what you had to survive to get there. For crypto the gap between the two is enormous: several coins in the top 100 have delivered strong multi-year returns while falling more than 90% along the way. A position sized for the return is not the same as a position sized for the drawdown.
The figures here are computed from every daily close since 2021. The maximum drawdown is the largest percentage fall from any peak to any subsequent trough. Recovery time is the number of days between that peak and the first close that exceeded it — where the price has never reclaimed the peak, the recovery is still open and that is stated plainly.
How to use it before you buy, not after
If a coin's historical worst fall is 85%, the honest question is not whether it will happen again but whether you would hold through it. Multiply your intended position by that percentage and look at the dollar figure. If that number would make you sell at the bottom, the position is too large — the drawdown has told you your correct size.
Recovery time matters as much as depth. A 70% fall that recovered in eight months and a 70% fall still unrecovered after three years are entirely different risks, even though the drawdown number is identical.
Frequently asked questions
What is a maximum drawdown?
The largest peak-to-trough decline over the measured period, expressed as a percentage. It is measured on closing prices, so intraday spikes below the close are not counted.
Why does recovery sometimes show as not yet recovered?
Because the coin has never closed back above the peak that started its worst drawdown. Many assets from the 2021 cycle are still in that state years later.
Does a big drawdown mean the coin is bad?
No. Bitcoin has fallen more than 70% several times and recovered each time. Drawdown measures volatility and the pain of holding, not quality. It is a position-sizing input, not a verdict.
Is this the same as distance from all-time high?
No. Distance from the all-time high is where the price sits right now relative to its record. Maximum drawdown is the worst completed fall in history, which may have happened years ago and already recovered.
Calculations run in your browser. Prices come from the same daily Binance closes that generate the signals on this site, refreshed every day after the 00:00 UTC close. Nothing here is financial advice.