Data only valid through January 2024. I'm looking for an alternate data provider now. Watch this space.
Below you'll find an Ethereum return calculator. Enter dates in a range between August 7, 2015 and yesterday, and the tool estimates the annual and total return on money invested in Ethereum. Enter your starting investment value, and the Ethereum tool will guess the investment value on the final date.
Optionally, adjust the Ethereum price return and the final price for inflation using the CPI-U index. The CPI's index level will be interpolated (or extrapolated) depending on the dates you choose.
Ethereum Price Return Calculator with Inflation Adjustment
The ethereum return calculator uses data from Bitfinex via Quandl. Historical backfill is from Ethereum Price History.
Using the Ethereum Price Return Calculator
By design, there are only a few options to play with on this tool – but with such a volatile underlying security in Ethereum, your choices can make a significant difference.
Investing Options
- Starting Investment ($): The balance you invest in Ethereum on the theoretical 'Starting Date.'
- Starting Date: The date you purchase the Ethereum.
- Ending Date: The date you sold the Ethereum, or a middle date you'd like a spot estimate of value.
- Adjust for Inflation (CPI): Control whether you want a CPI-U adjustment to the investment values to account for inflation.
Ethereum Return Output Results
- Total Return (%): The total return of the Ethereum investment if held from the Starting to Ending date. (CPI adjusted if you choose.)
- Annualized Return (%): The return of the Ethereum investment normalized to provide annual results. (Again, CPI adjusted if you prefer.)
- Ending Value ($): The terminal value of your Ethereum investment on the Ending date. (CPI adjusted if checked).
- CPI Adjusted? Indicates whether you chose to adjust for inflation in the scenario's calculation.
Sources and Methodology for the Ethereum Price Return Calculator
The Ethereum return calculator uses data from BitFinex, with backfill data from Ethereum Price History. BitFinex data takes precedence where there are multiple data points – all the recent data is from BitFinex.
Ethereum – like other cryptocurrencies – doesn't really "close" in a traditional sense, instead trading 24 hours a day and seven days a week. As a highly volatile, speculative instrument, any investor may have paid a vastly different price than another in the same 24 hour period. You should assume 10% (or even more!) differences on some of the days where we have data.
While "someone" may have received a specific price on a day, look at the tool as giving you an estimate of possible returns. Roughly correct, not absolutely wrong – and the trend should be generally correct.
Ethereum as a Speculative Investment
Don't take my inclusion of an Ethereum price return calculator as any sort of investment advice. On the contrary, know that Ethereum – in its role as a protocol and as a cryptocurrency – is a wildly speculative instrument. Unlike a stock tied to the underlying cash flows of a business, Ethereum doesn't have 'cash flows' in any sense, and its value is solely determined by collective action, popularity, and utility.
Whatever you end up doing in your portfolio, hopefully the tool was a good starting point for your investment research. If you stick around, you'll find a number of other investment tools and research, along with a litecoin return calculator and bitcoin return calculator.
