Grid bot vs DCA: which suits bitcoin?
Dollar-cost averaging (DCA) and a grid bot are the two most popular ways to hold bitcoin without gambling. They do very different things: DCA builds a position, a grid bot earns from the swings.
DCA in one paragraph
With dollar-cost averaging you buy a fixed amount at fixed times, say every week. You sell nothing. Your result is entirely the price at the moment you look: if bitcoin rises you're up, if it falls you're down. Simple and cheap, but you lock in nothing until you sell yourself.
A grid bot in one paragraph
A grid bot (buy ladder) buys a slice on every fixed drop and sells each slice at a fixed profit. That profit is then locked in. A slice that isn't above its buy price yet isn't sold; it waits. The money in those slices works again once they are sold.
Compared on real prices
The same periods below, on Bitvavo's BTC-EUR daily prices up to 5 Nov 2026. The ladder: 2% between buys, 2.5% profit per sale, 20 slices, 0.15% fee per side. DCA: the same amount every 7 days. For DCA the figure is the value at that moment against what went in; for the ladder it is only the profit already locked in.
| Period | DCA (weekly buys) | Ladder: realized | Ladder: slices waiting | Buy and hold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last year | +4.2% | +12.1% | 16 | −22.8% |
| Last 2 years | −11.0% | +30.6% | 20 | −3.7% |
| From the Nov 2021 top | +70.5% | +74.1% | 20 | +19.7% |
Try other settings in the grid bot simulator. Simplified: daily candles, no slippage. History, not a forecast.
Which suits you?
- DCA if you want to build up bitcoin over years without watching.
- A grid bot if you want your money working every week and locking in profit, and you can wait when bitcoin falls: slices then sit still until the price comes back.
- Many people combine them: a fixed DCA pot and a separate amount in a ladder.
The bot in this logbook is a ladder that only sells above its buy price; every week is in the weekly results.