The Crypto Cost Basis Tracker works out what your crypto actually cost you, what you have already gained or lost by selling, and what your remaining holdings are worth on paper. Enter your buys and sells in order, pick a cost-basis method — FIFO, LIFO, HIFO, or average cost (ACB) — and the tracker maintains your lots for you: total holdings, total cost basis, average cost per coin, realized gains, total fees, and, if you enter a current price, unrealized gains too.
How It Works
Every buy creates or adds to your position at a unit cost that includes the fee: a buy's unit cost is (amount × price + fee) ÷ amount. What happens on a sale depends on the method. FIFO consumes your oldest lots first, LIFO your newest, HIFO your most expensive — and average cost ignores lots entirely, pricing every sale at your running average cost per coin:
For lot methods, the tool also returns the matched lots for each sale — exactly which buys funded it and at what cost — which is the audit trail a tax filing needs. Selling more than you hold is rejected, as are negative prices or fees.
The Same Trades Under Three Methods
Buy **1 coin at 100), then **0.5 at 50), then sell **0.5 at 50):
| Method | Cost of the 0.5 sold | Realized gain | Remaining basis (1.0 coin) | |---|---|---|---| | Average cost | 46,766.67) | **46,766.67 | | FIFO | 40,100) | **50,100.00 | | HIFO | 60,100) | **−40,100.00 |
Same wallet, same trades — three different tax stories. FIFO realizes the biggest gain here because it sells the cheapest coins first; HIFO deliberately realizes a loss by selling the most expensive lot, which is why it is used (where the rules allow) for tax-loss harvesting. Under average cost, if the current price is 55,000 against a basis of 8,233.33.
Which Method Can You Use?
This depends on your jurisdiction, not your preference. Canada uses average cost (with its superficial-loss rules); the US defaults to FIFO but allows specific identification if your records substantiate it; Australia generally uses parcel selection with CGT discount considerations. The tracker computes all four so you can see the consequences of each, but the method you may legally report is the one your tax authority prescribes — the matched-lots output is what lets an accountant reconcile your choice.
Reading the Results
Average cost is your break-even: the current price above it means unrealized profit. Realized gains are locked in by sales and are usually the taxable figure. Total fees shows your friction — every fee raised a buy's unit cost or reduced a sale's proceeds, quietly shrinking gains on both sides. Keep transactions for one asset in one run: the tracker assumes all entries are the same coin.
Limitations
The tracker handles buys and sells of a single asset in one currency. It does not model crypto-to-crypto trades (taxable disposals in many jurisdictions — enter them as a sale at fair market value plus a new buy), staking or airdrop income, wash-sale or superficial-loss rules, or exchange imports. For a formal filing, use the output as the working papers for a tax professional, not as the filing itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the method change my gain if nothing was actually different?
Because a "coin" is fungible but your purchase lots were not: you paid 60,100 per coin for another. Every method is a rule for deciding which of those costs a sale consumed. The cash in your account is identical; the taxable gain the rules assign is not.
Do fees really belong in the cost basis?
Yes. A buy fee is part of what acquiring the asset cost you, so it raises the lot's unit cost; a sell fee reduces your proceeds. Over hundreds of trades this routinely moves realized gains by several percent, and ignoring it overstates your tax bill.
What happens if I enter a sale bigger than my holdings?
The calculation stops with an error rather than inventing coins. It usually means a buy is missing, entered out of order, or recorded in the wrong asset — fix the sequence and run it again.