What if I had invested $100 a month in Ethereum
Investing a fixed amount every month, whatever the price: that is dollar-cost averaging. Here is what this strategy would have done in Ethereum, depending on the year you started.
Over 9 years since November 2017, Ethereum, a cryptocurrency, multiplied its value by 5.2 in dollar terms: an annualized return of +20.1%. For a monthly investor, 67% of the 108 monthly purchases made since November 2017 were below today's price.
Data: Yahoo Finance monthly closing prices, up to date as of (latest update November 4, 2026) MethodAuthor: Yann Avondo
If I had invested $100 every month in Ethereum since January 2018, today I would have $44,580
Over the same period
Worst moment: −90.4% between January 2018 and January 2019. To get this result, you had to hold on without selling.
Ethereum at a glance
Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency and the main smart-contract platform: decentralized finance, stablecoins and NFTs largely run on it. Its volatility often exceeds that of Bitcoin.
Its worst fall, 90.4% in dollar terms between January 2018 and January 2019, was only erased in January 2021, 3 years after the peak. Against the MSCI World, this calculator's yardstick (+10.1% a year in dollar terms over the same period), Ethereum left it far behind. Year-to-year swings are extreme: +469.2% in 2020, −82.4% in 2018. Of 8 full calendar years, 4 ended higher.
$100 a month in Ethereum, by start year
One contribution at the start of each month since January of the given year, valued at the latest price. Click a year for the full story.
| Start | Invested | Worth today | Multiple | Annual IRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $2,300 | $2,174 | ×0.95 | −5.5% | |
| $3,500 | $3,126 | ×0.89 | −7.4% | |
| $4,700 | $4,754 | ×1.01 | +0.6% | |
| $5,900 | $6,266 | ×1.06 | +2.4% | |
| $7,100 | $7,656 | ×1.08 | +2.5% | |
| $8,300 | $19,519 | ×2.35 | +24.3% | |
| $9,500 | $36,362 | ×3.83 | +32.9% | |
| $10,700 | $44,580 | ×4.17 | +30.6% |
Lump sum or DCA in Ethereum?
Since January 2018, investing in Ethereum all at once (lump sum) multiplied the stake by ×3.07, +13.4% a year. Investing every month (DCA) multiplied the total contributions by ×4.17, an annual return (IRR) of +30.6%.
Here DCA did better: spreading the purchases avoided putting all the money in at the wrong time.
Frequently asked questions
What if I had started investing $100 a month in Ethereum in 2020?
Since January 2020, $8,300 invested in total would be worth about $19,519 today (IRR of +24.3% a year).
Is investing monthly better than investing all at once?
Historically, investing a lump sum right away returns more in most cases, because markets rise more often than they fall. But monthly investing smooths the purchase price, protects against the worst timing and matches how people actually save: from their paycheck, month after month.
How is the annual return calculated?
With spread-out contributions, the multiple of the amount invested does not tell the whole story: the last dollars had only a few months to grow. The IRR (internal rate of return) is the average annual return that, applied to each contribution from its date, produces the final value.
Compare with
Before you have regrets
What this calculation does not tell you.
Hindsight bias
Picking Nvidia or Bitcoin today means picking known winners. Back then, nothing set them apart from hundreds of assets that went nowhere or vanished.
Holding on was the real test
The result assumes you never sold, including through the drawdowns shown above. Very few investors actually do.
The broad market, no bet required
The MSCI World never makes headlines, but it does not require guessing the winner. It is the fairest yardstick for any pick.
Method: past performance, computed from split-adjusted monthly closing prices (intra-month lows are smoothed out). Converted at each month’s exchange rate; no fees, no taxes. The MSCI World benchmark is the price index, excluding dividends. Sources: Yahoo Finance (prices, exchange rates, US Treasury bills), Eurostat (inflation), published regulated rates (Livret A). Not investment advice. NokxiHub.