What is Dollar-cost averaging?
Investing a fixed amount on a schedule regardless of price — smooths out volatility and removes timing stress.
Dollar-cost averaging means investing a fixed amount on a fixed schedule — $50 every Monday, say — regardless of price. When prices are high your $50 buys less; when they crash it buys more; over time your entry price averages out and, crucially, the strategy removes the decision when to buy from your emotional custody.
That last part is the real product. Crypto's volatility makes lump-sum timing a psychological trap — the urge to buy peaks at market tops and evaporates at bottoms, which is precisely backwards. A schedule executes without mood. Our year-long backtest measured how the approach actually performed with real AUD price data, and the DCA calculator lets you run any coin, amount and cadence against genuine history.
One Australian wrinkle: every scheduled buy creates its own CGT parcel with its own 12-month discount clock — good records matter more for DCA-ers than anyone.
See it in practice
Related terms: Capital gains tax (CGT) · HODL · Market cap · full glossary
FAQ
Is DCA better than buying in one lump sum?
Mathematically, lump-sum wins in steadily rising markets and DCA wins in falling or choppy ones — you can't know in advance. What DCA reliably beats is the realistic alternative: waiting for the perfect moment and buying at the worst one.
Does DCA guarantee a profit?
No. It averages your entry price; it cannot rescue an asset that keeps falling. It manages timing risk and emotion — asset risk stays entirely yours.
General information only, not financial advice. Definitions are maintained in our fact database and reviewed with the daily rebuild.