Impermanent Loss Calculator
Compare providing liquidity against simply holding the two tokens.
How it works
Impermanent loss is not a fee or a bug — it is the arithmetic of a constant-product pool. As the two token prices diverge, arbitrageurs rebalance your share toward whichever asset fell, so you end up holding more of the loser and less of the winner than if you had simply held.
It depends only on the ratio between the two price changes, never on their direction: both doubling costs you nothing, one doubling while the other stands still costs about 5.7%. The loss becomes permanent the moment you withdraw, which is why the honest question is always whether accumulated fees outrun it.
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How the Impermanent Loss Calculator works
An impermanent loss calculator compares two outcomes: providing liquidity to an AMM pool versus simply holding the same two tokens. The gap between them is impermanent loss, and this tool shows whether the fees you earn are large enough to cover it.
Where the loss comes from
A constant-product pool must keep the value of both sides equal. When one token's price rises, arbitrageurs buy it out of the pool until the pool price matches the market — which means your share ends up holding less of the winner and more of the loser than when you deposited.
Nothing has been stolen and no fee has been charged. It is the mechanical cost of running an automated market maker: you are continuously selling into strength and buying into weakness, and you are compensated for that service in trading fees.
It depends on the ratio, not the direction
Impermanent loss is a function of how far the two prices diverge, and nothing else. If both tokens double, there is no loss at all — the ratio is unchanged. If one doubles while the other stands still, the loss is about 5.7%. A 4× divergence costs roughly 20%, and a 10× divergence about 42%.
This is why stablecoin pairs carry almost no impermanent loss and why a volatile token paired against a stablecoin carries a great deal. It is also why the loss is called impermanent: if prices return to their original ratio, it disappears entirely. It becomes permanent at the moment you withdraw.
The only question that matters
Fees versus divergence. A pool paying 20% APR earns roughly 5% over a quarter, which comfortably covers the 5.7% cost of one token doubling only if that doubling took most of the quarter to happen. A pool paying 5% APR on a pair that moves 4× apart is a straightforward loss against holding.
Enter your realistic fee APR and holding period alongside the price moves you actually expect. The net figure — impermanent loss plus fees earned — is the honest answer, and it is frequently negative for volatile pairs.
FAQ
How do I avoid impermanent loss entirely?expand_more
Provide liquidity only to pairs that move together — two stablecoins, or two liquid staking derivatives of the same asset. The fees are lower, but so is the divergence, and the net result is often better than a high-APR volatile pool.
Does this apply to Uniswap v3 concentrated liquidity?expand_more
The direction is the same but the magnitude is larger. Concentrating liquidity in a narrow range multiplies both your fee income and your impermanent loss, and once price leaves your range you hold 100% of one token and earn nothing. Treat the figure here as a conservative floor for a v3 position.
Is impermanent loss ever actually good?expand_more
It is never good on its own — it is always a cost relative to holding. What can be good is the package: fees minus impermanent loss. Judge the pool on the net, never on the APR alone.