Journal du Coin19 hours agoBusiness2 min read

The DCA strategy in Bitcoin: the trading turtle: less spectacular but effective in the long term

Quick Look

The article explains that the DCA (Dollar Cost Averaging) investment strategy, although not spectacular, is effective for Bitcoin investors, especially when applied during a bear market, by smoothing the purchase price and eliminating emotional decisions, unlike a one-time purchase at the top of the market.

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Why It Matters

DCA (Dollar Cost Averaging) is an investment strategy consisting of investing a fixed amount at regular intervals, regardless of market conditions, allowing the purchase price to be smoothed and the impact of volatility to be reduced.

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The trading turtle. DCA, for Dollar Cost Averaging (fixed sum programmed purchase), is probably the least spectacular strategy in all of finance. No adrenaline, no brilliant timing, no exploits to talk about in the evening. And yet, when we look at what Bitcoin investors experienced over the last complete cycle, the turtle displays a record that many trading hares envy. Demonstration.

The DCA, definition of a strategy without qualms

The principle comes down to two parameters. A fixed amount, a fixed interval. You buy 50 euros worth of bitcoin every week, or 200 euros every month, whether the market soars or collapses. When the price is high, your sum buys little. When it collapses, she buys a lot. Your cost price smoothes out on its own, somewhere between the extremes, without you having to guess anything.

The real strength of DCA is not mathematical, it is psychological. The strategy eliminates the decision, therefore the emotion, therefore the two poisons of the individual which are euphoric buying at the peak and panic selling at the trough. No need to be right about the timing. You just have to keep up the pace, which, in the middle of crypto winter, already requires a certain stomach.

DCA case study: buy at the worst time of 2021 and still win

Let’s take the disaster scenario. You start a weekly bitcoin DCA on November 10, 2021, the exact day of the ATH at $68,982, the worst entry point of the cycle. CNBC recalled in November 2022 that the market had lost more than $2,000 billion since this peak, with bitcoin then bottoming out around $15,500 after the bankruptcy of FTX. Less 77% off the price. Enough to disgust anyone.

Except that your DCA continued to buy every week. At 40,000, at 20,000, at 16,000 dollars. The entire descent has become your stock at a bargain price, and your cost price has sunk far below the November high. With bitcoin around $78,000 at the end of August 2026, the single purchase on November 10, 2021 has painfully gained 13% in almost five years. The DCA started the same day, fed throughout the bear market, did significantly better, while having slept peacefully. The difference does not come from talent. It comes from the method.

The limits of the DCA for the individual investor

A DCA does not turn a bad asset into a good investment. If the project dies, you will have smoothed your entry price towards zero, with application and regularity. The choice of the asset therefore remains the real bet, the strategy only organizes the execution. Also monitor fixed costs, which weigh heavily in proportion on small recurring amounts. Some platforms are having a field day.