Worked examples
A coin moves from 80 to 100. Separately, you hold a coin at 200 and want to know the price for a 50% gain.
| Change: 100 − 80 | 20 |
|---|---|
| Percent change: 20 ÷ 80 | +25.00% |
| Gain as a multiple: 1 + 50 ÷ 100 | 1.5 |
| Price needed: 200 × 1.5 | 300.00 |
Notice that going from 80 to 100 is +25%, but falling from 100 back to 80 is only −20%. The starting value sets the size of the percentage.
How the calculation works
Percent change = (new value − starting value) ÷ starting value × 100
Price needed = starting price × (1 + gain % ÷ 100)
Why it matters
Percentages let you compare coins with very different prices. A move from 0.50 to 0.60 and a move from 50,000 to 60,000 are both +20%. Percentages also show how hard losses are to recover from: after a 50% fall, a coin must rise 100% to get back to where it started.
Common questions
Why can’t the starting value be zero?
A percentage measures change relative to where you started. There is nothing to measure against at zero, because the sum would mean dividing by zero.
Why don’t a 20% fall and a 20% rise cancel out?
They apply to different starting points. If 100 falls 20% it becomes 80. A 20% rise from 80 gives 96, not 100.
Can the percentage be more than 100?
Yes. Going from 10 to 50 is a rise of 400%. A price can’t fall more than 100%, because a price can’t go below zero.
Does the target price include fees?
No. It shows the market price for your gain before fees. Use the break-even calculator to see how much fees add.