Why a drop and a recovery are not symmetric
A drop is measured against the original price; a recovery is measured against what is left. The smaller denominator makes the required percentage larger.
A 40% drop turns 100 into 60. Going from 60 back to 100 means adding 40, which is 40 ÷ 60 ≈ 66.67%.
Formulas
1 − dropdrop ÷ (1 − drop)1 ÷ (1 − drop) − 1Worked example (recompute it yourself)
Capital 10,000 USDT, price falls 40%:
Remaining value = 10,000 × 0.60 = 6,000 USDT. Recovering means going from 6,000 back to 10,000, a gain of 4,000 ÷ 6,000 = 66.67%.
Cross-check with the formula: 0.40 ÷ 0.60 = 66.67%, matching the step-by-step result.
Drop levels compared
| Drop | Remaining | Required gain |
|---|---|---|
| −10% | 90% | +11.11% |
| −20% | 80% | +25.00% |
| −25% | 75% | +33.33% |
| −40% | 60% | +66.67% |
| −50% | 50% | +100.00% |
| −60% | 40% | +150.00% |
| −75% | 25% | +300.00% |
| −90% | 10% | +900.00% |
Pure ratio conversion, excluding fees and slippage.
Adding fees to the recovery line
The figures above are the cost-free recovery line. With a 0.1% fee on both the buy and the sell, the gain needed just to get back to flat is slightly higher.
The formula becomes 1 ÷ [(1 − drop) × (1 − fee)²] − 1. For a 40% drop at a 0.1% fee, this is about 67.00% — roughly 0.33 percentage points above 66.67%.
Notes
The required gain describes only the ratio between two prices. It is independent of the asset and of the price level.
It says nothing about whether such a move will happen. This page makes no market call and offers no buy/sell advice.
If your goal is a specific profit rather than break-even, use the target price calculation instead.
FAQ
Why does a 50% drop require a 100% rise?
100 falling 50% leaves 50. Going from 50 back to 100 needs +50, which is +100% of 50. Halving the base doubles the required gain.
Why does a 90% drop require +900%?
The remaining 10% must grow back to 100%, which means adding 90 points: 90 ÷ 10 = 900%. The deeper the drop, the more disproportionate the gain.
How much does a fee raise the recovery line?
At 0.1% on both sides the example moves from 66.67% to about 67.00%, roughly 0.33 percentage points. Higher rates raise it further.