Short Position Profit Calculator

See what a crypto short position makes if the price falls to your target, where it breaks even after fees and what it loses if the stop-loss is hit.

Your short position

Value of the coins you sell short, at the entry price.

Price per coin you sell at.

Price per coin you plan to buy back at.

Above the entry price, where you would buy back to cut the loss.

Trading fees, optional

Your short position

Fill in your position and choose Calculate Profit. Your figures appear here.

Coins Sold

0

Position size ÷ entry price

Fees

₹0.00

To sell and to buy back at the target

Break-Even Buy-Back Price

₹0.00

Buy-back price that covers the fees

Loss at Stop-Loss

₹0.00

Enter a stop-loss to see the risk

Net Profit at Target

₹0.00

Gross profit − fees

Before tax, and before funding, borrowing interest or leverage. Fees are charged on the value traded on each side. For a short in futures, use the Crypto Futures P&L Calculator; for a long, the Long Position Profit Calculator.

How it is calculated

A short position sells coins now and makes money if they are bought back for less, less a fee on each side.

  • Coins sold = position size ÷ entry price
  • Gross profit = coins × (entry price − target price)
  • Fees = position size × sell fee, plus coins × target price × buy-back fee
  • Net profit = gross profit − fees
  • Return = net profit ÷ position size
  • Break-even buy-back price = entry price × (1 − sell fee) ÷ (1 + buy-back fee)
  • Loss at the stop-loss = coins × (entry price − stop-loss price) − fees, with the buy-back fee on the stop-loss value
  • Reward to risk = net profit at the target ÷ loss at the stop-loss

Frequently asked questions

Short answers on short positions, stop-losses and what this calculator counts.

A short position sells a coin first and buys it back later, so it makes money when the price falls. You do not need to own the coin: the exchange lends it to you, or you open the short through futures. In India most exchanges offer shorts through futures or margin trading, not on the spot market.

Divide the position size by the entry price to get the coins, then multiply the coins by the fall in price. Short ₹1,00,000 of Bitcoin at ₹25,00,000 and you sell 0.04 BTC. Buy it back at ₹21,00,000 for ₹84,000 and the gross profit is ₹16,000. With a 0.1% fee on each side, ₹100 to sell and ₹84 to buy back, the net profit is ₹15,816, a 15.82% return on the position.

A long can lose at most what you put in, because a price cannot fall below zero. A short has no such limit: if the price doubles, the short loses the whole position size, and it can lose more. In the example above, a stop-loss at ₹27,00,000 caps the loss at ₹8,208: ₹8,000 on the price and ₹208 in fees, ₹100 to sell and ₹108 to buy back. This calculator works out the loss; the exchange has to place the stop-loss order for you.

It is the net profit at your target divided by the loss at your stop-loss. In the example, ₹15,816 ÷ ₹8,208 gives 1.93 : 1, so the trade aims to make about ₹1.93 for every ₹1 it risks. For sizing a trade from the amount you are willing to lose, use the Crypto Position Size Calculator.

A real short usually costs more than the two trading fees. Futures charge or pay a funding rate every few hours, and margin trading charges interest on the borrowed coins. With leverage the position can also be liquidated before your stop-loss. For those, use the Crypto Futures P&L Calculator and the Crypto Liquidation Price Calculator.

Profit from crypto is taxed at a flat 30%, or 31.2% with cess, and a loss cannot be set off against other income or other crypto gains. How profit from crypto futures is treated can depend on the exchange and how the contract is settled, so check with a tax professional. This calculator shows figures before tax; for the tax on a sale, use the India Crypto Tax Calculator. For a long, use the Long Position Profit Calculator.

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