Impermanent loss calculator
When you provide liquidity to a pool and one token's price moves, you end up with less than if you had simply held both tokens. Enter a price change to see the size of that gap.
A standard two-token pool
The example is a $1,000 deposit, half in each token, where one token doubles against the other. Lesson 44 explains why the pool leaves you with less of the token that rose.
How to read the result
The pool keeps the two sides equal in value. When one token rises, traders buy it from the pool, so the pool sells it on the way up. You finish with less of the token that rose and more of the one that did not.
The loss depends only on how far the price moved, not on the direction. A token that doubles and a token that halves both cost about 5.7% against holding. It is called impermanent because it disappears if the price returns to where it started.
Fees are the other side. Every swap pays a fee into the pool. Whether the fees cover the loss depends on how much trading the pool sees.
What this calculator does not do
- It covers a standard pool that holds two tokens in equal value. Pools with other designs behave differently.
- It does not estimate fees. Enter what the pool has paid, if you know it.
- It leaves out gas, reward tokens and the risk that the pool's contract fails. Lesson 45 covers those risks.
Read the full lessons: Lesson 42: DEXs and liquidity pools: how swapping works and Lesson 44: Where DeFi yield comes from.
This page does not look up live prices and does not save or send what you type. It is arithmetic, not advice: prices can fall, and you can lose everything you put in.
The course by email
Five short emails to get you started, each built on one lesson. After that, one short email a month about what is new. No price tips and no hype.
Free. Unsubscribe any time. See our privacy notice.
Want your progress saved too? Create a free account.