Skip to main content
DFR Publication
← All DeFi tools

Free calculator · Liquidity pools

Impermanent loss calculator

Impermanent loss is how much less a 50/50 liquidity-pool position is worth than simply holding the same two tokens after their prices diverge. In a Uniswap v2-style pool it equals 2√r ÷ (1 + r) − 1, where r is the new price ratio divided by the old one: a 2× move costs 5.72% before fees.

Published 25 September 2026 · Educational tool, not financial advice · No wallet connection needed

Calculate your impermanent loss

50/50 constant-product pool (Uniswap v2 and forks). Full-range liquidity only.

Total at deposit, split 50/50.

Used for the fee maths, 1 to 3,650.

100 = doubled, -50 = halved. Above -100.

0 for a stablecoin that holds its peg.

Simple annual fee rate on the position. Leave blank to see the loss before fees.

Result

Updates as you type. Values are in US dollars.

Default example (hypothetical): $10,000 deposit, token A +100.00%, token B 0.00%, 90 days, 10% fee APR.

Value if you had held
$15,000.00
Value in the pool (before fees)
$14,142.14
Impermanent loss
−5.72% (−$857.86)
Token A in your position
−29.29%
Token B in your position
+41.42%
Fee APR needed to break even over 90 days
24.60%
Fees earned at your fee APR
$348.71
Pool position plus fees vs holding
−$509.15

At this fee APR, fees do not cover the impermanent loss: holding would have been $509.15 better.

Impermanent loss is measured against holding the same tokens, not against cash. Both can lose money if prices fall. Excludes gas, swap costs, rewards and tax.

Worked example (hypothetical): ETH doubles against USDC

Suppose you deposit $10,000 into a 50/50 ETH/USDC pool: $5,000 of ETH and $5,000 of USDC. The ETH price then doubles while USDC stays at $1, and you stay in the pool for 90 days. The numbers are illustrative, not a forecast.

  1. Held outside the pool, your tokens would be worth $5,000 × 2 + $5,000 = $15,000.
  2. Inside the pool, arbitrage traders rebalance the position to $10,000 × √2 = $14,142.14, still split 50/50 by value. You now own 29.29% less ETH and 41.42% more USDC than you deposited.
  3. The gap, $857.86, is the impermanent loss: 5.72% of what holding would be worth.
  4. To break even over 90 days, the position needs $857.86 in fees, a simple fee APR of 24.60% on its value.
  5. At a hypothetical 10% fee APR it would earn $348.71, leaving it $509.15 behind simply holding.

A halving of ETH gives the same 5.72% loss, because a price ratio of 0.5 is a 2× move in the other direction. What matters is how far the two prices move apart, not which way.

The formula, step by step

The calculator uses the standard result for a constant-product pool, the same formula quoted in Uniswap's v2 documentation on returns.

  1. Price ratio. r = (1 + change in token A) ÷ (1 + change in token B). If ETH rises 100% and USDC is flat, r = 2 ÷ 1 = 2. If both tokens rise 30%, r = 1 and there is no impermanent loss.
  2. Value if held. Hold = deposit ÷ 2 × (1 + change in A) + deposit ÷ 2 × (1 + change in B).
  3. Value in the pool. The pool keeps the product of its two token balances constant (apart from fees), and arbitrage keeps both sides equal in value at the market price. Solving those two conditions gives pool value = deposit × √((1 + change in A) × (1 + change in B)).
  4. Impermanent loss. Pool ÷ hold − 1 simplifies to 2√r ÷ (1 + r) − 1. It depends only on r, and r and 1 ÷ r give the same loss.
  5. Break-even fee APR. Fees needed = hold − pool. Break-even APR = fees needed ÷ pool value × 365 ÷ days × 100, a simple rate that ignores compounding.

In a constant-product pool the loss depends only on the starting and ending prices, not on the path between them. The fees you earn do depend on the path, because they come from trading volume.

Line chart of impermanent loss in a 50/50 constant-product pool versus price change on a log scale from 0.1× to 10×. Loss is zero at 1×, −5.7% at 0.5× and 2×, −13.4% at 3× and −25.5% at 5×, before fees.
Impermanent loss = 2√r ÷ (1 + r) − 1, where r is the price ratio versus your entry. A halving costs the same as a doubling (−5.7%), and trading fees can offset some or all of it.

Impermanent loss at common price moves

Token A moves by the amount shown; token B is unchanged. Dollar columns assume a $10,000 deposit and exclude fees.

Impermanent loss for a 50/50 constant-product pool at standard price moves
Token A move If held In pool Loss
−90.00% $5,500.00 $3,162.28 −42.50%
−75.00% $6,250.00 $5,000.00 −20.00%
−50.00% $7,500.00 $7,071.07 −5.72%
−25.00% $8,750.00 $8,660.25 −1.03%
−10.00% $9,500.00 $9,486.83 −0.14%
+10.00% $10,500.00 $10,488.09 −0.11%
+25.00% $11,250.00 $11,180.34 −0.62%
+50.00% $12,500.00 $12,247.45 −2.02%
+100.00% $15,000.00 $14,142.14 −5.72%
+200.00% $20,000.00 $17,320.51 −13.40%
+400.00% $30,000.00 $22,360.68 −25.46%

Small moves cost little: a 10% rise costs about a tenth of one per cent. The loss accelerates with larger moves, which is why volatile pairs need much higher fee income than correlated pairs to beat holding.

Concentrated liquidity (Uniswap v3 and v4) is not modelled

This calculator assumes full-range liquidity. Uniswap v3 and v4 let you place liquidity in a price range you choose. Inside that range your deposit behaves like a much larger full-range position, and the narrower the range, the bigger the multiple. That raises the fees you earn per dollar while the price stays in range, and it raises the divergence loss by the same leverage, so a given price move costs a larger share of your deposit than the figures above.

When the price leaves your range, Uniswap's documentation explains that the position stops earning fees and ends up entirely in one token: the one that fell in relative value. For a v3 or v4 position, treat the full-range result as a floor on the loss for that price move, not an estimate. Our guide to providing liquidity on Uniswap v3 covers range choice in more detail.

What this model leaves out

  • Real fee income. Fees are modelled as one constant, simple APR. In practice they vary with trading volume and pool size, and past fee rates do not predict future ones.
  • Price ranges. Concentrated liquidity positions, as explained above.
  • Other pool designs. Weighted pools (for example 80/20) and stableswap curves have different loss curves.
  • Rebalancing and top-ups. The model assumes one deposit held to the end. Adding or withdrawing liquidity, moving a range or rebalancing your own holdings resets the starting prices, so each change needs its own calculation.
  • Gas and swap costs. Approvals, deposits, withdrawals and any swaps to get a 50/50 split all cost money, which matters most for small deposits.
  • Rewards, tax and protocol risk. Incentive tokens, tax treatment, smart-contract bugs and token failures are outside the maths.

How to use this safely

  • Run a large rise and a large fall of the volatile token, not just the move you expect.
  • Compare the break-even fee APR with the pool's fee history over weeks or months. A single day's fees, annualised, can be misleading.
  • Correlated pairs, such as two stablecoins, usually move apart less. A depeg is exactly when they do, so test a -10% or -50% move for one side.
  • Add your gas and swap costs to the fees needed, especially on Ethereum mainnet or for deposits under a few thousand dollars.
  • Use the pool's official interface and check the token contract addresses. Copycat tokens and pools are common.

Impermanent loss calculator FAQs

What is impermanent loss in simple terms?
It is the shortfall between a liquidity-pool position and simply holding the same tokens. When one token's price changes relative to the other, arbitrage trades rebalance the pool, so you end up with more of the token that fell in relative value and less of the one that rose. Trading fees are not included in the figure.
Is impermanent loss permanent?
Only if you withdraw while the prices are still apart. If the price ratio returns to where it was when you deposited, the loss disappears. If you withdraw at a different ratio, the loss is realised, which is why it is also called divergence loss.
Can trading fees make up for impermanent loss?
Sometimes. Fees are added to the pool and can outweigh the loss when trading volume is high relative to the pool's size and prices do not move too far. This calculator shows the fee APR needed to break even over your holding period, so you can compare it with the pool's actual fee history.
Do stablecoin pairs have impermanent loss?
Only when the two stablecoins move apart. While both hold their dollar peg, the price ratio stays close to 1 and the loss stays close to zero. If one loses its peg, the pool gives you more of the weaker coin, so the loss can grow quickly.
Why is impermanent loss higher on Uniswap v3 and v4?
Concentrated liquidity makes your capital act like a larger full-range position inside the price range you choose. That multiplies both the fees you earn and the divergence loss for the same price move. If the price leaves your range, you are left holding only one token and stop earning fees.
Does this calculator work for Curve or Balancer pools?
Not exactly. It uses the formula for 50/50 constant-product pools such as Uniswap v2 and its forks. Curve's stableswap pools and Balancer's weighted pools use different curves, so their losses for the same price move are different.

Related guides and tools

Primary sources: Uniswap v2: understanding returns and Uniswap: concentrated liquidity. This calculator is educational and is not financial advice.