Crypto Loss Recovery Calculator
A 50% loss needs a 100% gain to get back. Work out exactly what any drawdown requires — and, using this site's history, how long that has taken before.
The asymmetry that ruins accounts
Losses and gains are not symmetric, because each is measured against a different base. Lose 20% and you need 25% to return. Lose 50% and you need 100%. Lose 80% and you need 400%. The required gain accelerates far faster than the loss that caused it, which is the entire mathematical argument for cutting losses early rather than waiting for a recovery.
This is also why maximum drawdown matters more than average return. Two strategies with the same annual return but different drawdowns are not equivalent investments: the one that fell further spent longer climbing out of a hole, and its holder had more opportunities to give up at the bottom.
What recovery has actually taken
The result also shows, for the coin you select, its worst historical drawdown and how many days the recovery took — or that it has not recovered at all. That turns an abstract percentage into a concrete expectation. A required gain of 300% is arithmetic; knowing the same coin previously needed two and a half years to deliver one is the part that should inform the decision.
Averaging down
Buying more at a lower price reduces the required gain, which is why it is tempting. It also increases the position in an asset that has already gone against you, so the loss in dollars grows even as the recovery percentage falls. The percentage looks better while the risk gets worse. If you would not open the position fresh at this price and this size, adding to it is not a decision about the asset — it is a decision about the previous decision.
Frequently asked questions
Why does a 50% loss need a 100% gain?
Because the gain is measured from the reduced amount. $100 falling 50% leaves $50; getting from $50 back to $100 is a 100% increase. The larger the loss, the smaller the base and the larger the required percentage.
Does averaging down help?
It lowers your average cost and therefore the percentage gain needed to break even, but it raises the dollars at stake in a position that is already losing. It helps the ratio and hurts the exposure.
How long do crypto recoveries take?
It varies enormously. The calculator shows the actual recovery time for the coin you pick, measured from its own history. Several coins from the 2021 cycle have not recovered at all.
Is it better to sell and re-enter?
Mathematically the two are identical if you re-enter at the same price — the difference is behavioural and tax-related. What is not identical is holding a losing position instead of deploying the same capital where the trend is favourable.
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.