Crypto Compound Interest Calculator
Project the future value of a crypto position under a constant compound return, given a principal, annual rate and a compounding frequency. Use it to model staking, lending, or hypothetical buy-and-hold returns.
Last updated: May 2026
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About this calculator
The calculator applies the standard compound-interest formula: FV = P × (1 + r/n)^(n × t), where P is the initial investment, r is the annual rate expressed as a decimal (e.g. 0.10 for 10%), n is the compounding frequency (1 = annually, 12 = monthly, 365 = daily), and t is the holding period in years. Higher compounding frequency at the same nominal rate yields a slightly higher future value because reinvested gains immediately start earning their own return; the difference between yearly and daily compounding at 10% over 10 years is only about 5% of principal, but it grows quickly with higher rates. Edge cases: the formula assumes a constant rate, no withdrawals or fees, and no tax — none of which holds in real crypto: staking APYs change weekly, lending platforms can go insolvent (Celsius, BlockFi, FTX), and most jurisdictions tax compound rewards as income at receipt and again as capital gains at sale. The model also says nothing about the underlying token's spot-price movement — if you compound 8% ETH staking rewards but ETH halves in dollar terms, your fiat-denominated balance still falls. Use this calculator for nominal token-denominated projections (how many ETH or SOL you end up with) rather than fiat outcomes, which depend on price paths you cannot know in advance.
How to use
Example 1 — 5% lending rate, annual compounding, 10 years. Principal $10,000, annualRate 5, compoundFreq 1, years 10. Step 1: r/n = 0.05/1 = 0.05. Step 2: n × t = 1 × 10 = 10. Step 3: (1 + 0.05)^10 ≈ 1.6289. Step 4: FV = $10,000 × 1.6289 ≈ $16,289. Verify: classic rule-of-72 says doubling time at 5% ≈ 14.4 years, so reaching ~1.63× in 10 years is consistent. ✓ Example 2 — 8% staking yield, daily compounding, 5 years. Principal $5,000, annualRate 8, compoundFreq 365, years 5. Step 1: r/n = 0.08/365 ≈ 0.0002192. Step 2: n × t = 365 × 5 = 1,825. Step 3: (1 + 0.0002192)^1,825 ≈ e^(0.08 × 5) = e^0.4 ≈ 1.4918. Step 4: FV = $5,000 × 1.4918 ≈ $7,459. Verify: daily compounding at 8% approximates continuous compounding (e^(rt)), which gives the same 1.4918× factor. Compare to annual compounding at 8% over 5 years: 1.08^5 ≈ 1.4693, so daily versus annual compounding adds only about $113 over $5,000 over 5 years — frequency matters less than the rate itself. ✓
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between APR and APY, and which should I plug in here?
APR (Annual Percentage Rate) is the simple annual rate before compounding — for example, a 10% APR paid monthly gives you 10%/12 each month with no automatic reinvestment. APY (Annual Percentage Yield) is the effective annual rate after compounding, so a 10% APR compounded monthly works out to APY ≈ 10.47%. For this calculator you should enter the APR if you are also setting a compounding frequency, and let the formula compound it for you — entering APY plus a compounding frequency double-counts the compounding effect and overstates the result. Crypto platforms are inconsistent about which they quote, and many staking 'APYs' assume daily compounding that the platform may not actually do automatically. Read the fine print: if the platform quotes APY, set compoundFreq = 1 and use that APY as the rate; if it quotes APR with periodic payouts, use the APR with the matching compounding frequency.
How much does compounding frequency actually matter for crypto returns?
Less than most people think, especially at typical staking rates of 4–10%. At 5% over 10 years, annual compounding gives 1.629× principal, monthly gives 1.647×, and daily gives 1.648× — the gap between annual and daily is about 1.2% of principal. At 50% over 10 years (an aggressive but plausible crypto rate during bull markets) the gap is much larger: annual gives ~57.7× principal, daily gives ~146×. The general rule is that compounding frequency matters more when both the rate and the time horizon are high, and is essentially irrelevant for short horizons or low rates. In practice, gas fees and tax friction on each compounding event usually outweigh the marginal benefit of more frequent compounding, so 'daily auto-compounding' protocols may underperform monthly manual compounding once costs are subtracted.
Why do my real crypto returns differ so much from this projection?
Several reasons. First, rates in crypto are not constant: staking APYs decline as more validators join, lending rates change with market demand, and DeFi farms typically pay highest APR early and decay as the pool fills. Second, the formula ignores fees: every compounding event on-chain costs gas, every withdrawal can incur a network fee, and centralised platforms take a cut of yield. Third, taxes: in many jurisdictions staking rewards are taxed as income at the moment of receipt at your marginal rate (sometimes 30–50%), and then the underlying token is subject to capital-gains tax on any subsequent appreciation. Fourth, platform risk: Celsius, BlockFi, FTX and Anchor Protocol all advertised attractive 'compound' yields and then went to zero. Fifth, token-price risk: the formula projects token-denominated growth, but if the token's spot price falls 70% in dollar terms, your compounded position still loses money in fiat. Use the calculator as a rough nominal-yield model, not as a fiat-return forecast.
What are the common mistakes when projecting crypto compounding?
The biggest is plugging in a current peak-of-cycle APY (e.g. 20%+ on a new liquidity-mining program) and assuming it compounds for years — these rates almost always decay within months as TVL grows. The second is conflating token-denominated returns with fiat returns; compounding 10% per year in a token that loses 50% over the same year still leaves you down 45% in dollars. The third is forgetting tax friction: in jurisdictions that tax staking rewards as income at receipt, your effective compound rate after tax can be 30–50% lower than the headline number. People also double-count compounding by entering APY into a calculator that then re-compounds it. Finally, ignoring platform risk is the most dangerous mistake — a 10% yield is great until the platform freezes withdrawals and you lose 100% of principal; risk-adjusted yield (yield × probability of solvency over the horizon) is the relevant metric, not the headline APR.
When should I not use this calculator?
Do not use it for projecting fiat-denominated returns on volatile assets like BTC, ETH or altcoins — the formula assumes a fixed return rate and cannot model spot-price movements, which dominate most crypto outcomes. It is not appropriate for variable-rate yields like Aave or Compound lending, where rates fluctuate with utilisation and a single 'annualRate' input will be wrong before you finish entering it; use these only as rough scenario tools. Do not use it for liquidity-mining or DeFi farming positions, which combine multiple income streams (fee yield, token emissions, IL) that interact non-linearly. Avoid it for portfolios with regular contributions or withdrawals — that needs a DCA calculator or an amortisation model, not pure compound interest. And do not use the projected future value as a planning target if the assumed yield depends on a centralised counterparty (CeFi lending, custodial staking) without explicitly adjusting for platform-failure probability — the history of crypto has many examples of headline yields evaporating overnight.