What Auto-DCA is — and why it works
Dollar-cost averaging is the simplest strategy in Bitcoin: buy a fixed dollar amount on a fixed schedule, regardless of price. You stop trying to time the market and start accumulating. Backtests of every rolling 4-year DCA window since 2014 return positive — and the strategy outperforms 80%+ of attempts at lump-sum timing.
Lightning Pay's Auto-DCA runs the entire loop for you: charge your funding source, buy the BTC through a regulated on-ramp, deliver it to your non-custodial wallet, log the cost basis for tax. From $10 a week, no exchange account required.
How to set up Auto-DCA in 60 seconds
- 1
Open Lightning Pay → Buy → Recurring
Available on Windows, macOS and Linux. Free to install, no account required. - 2
Pick an amount ($10–$5,000 per cycle)
Smaller and more frequent generally beats larger and less frequent for smoothing volatility. - 3
Pick a cadence
Daily, weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. Weekly is the sweet spot for most stackers. - 4
Connect funding
Bank transfer (cheapest), debit card, or Apple Pay. Powered by MoonPay. - 5
Confirm — that's it
BTC arrives automatically on every cycle. Pause, edit or cancel any time from the Recurring tab.
Auto-DCA fees by payment method
| Payment method | All-in fee | Settlement | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank transfer / SEPA / ACH | ~1.0% | Same day | Long-term stackers |
| Debit card | ~2.5–3% | Instant | Speed + small amounts |
| Apple Pay / Google Pay | ~2.5–3.5% | Instant | Mobile-first users |
| Credit card | ~3.5–4% | Instant | Last resort |
Lightning Pay charges 0% on top of the on-ramp fee. There's no subscription, no spread markup. Compare this to Cash App (1.75% fee + ~1.5% spread) and the savings on a $200/week DCA are roughly $300 a year.
Auto-DCA in Lightning Pay vs the alternatives
| Feature | Lightning Pay | Cash App | Coinbase | Strike |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-custody by default | Yes | No | No | No |
| Minimum per cycle | $10 | $1 | $1 | $1 |
| All-in fee (bank) | ~1.0% | ~3.25% | ~1.49% | ~0.3% |
| Auto-withdraw to your wallet | Built-in | Manual | Manual | Manual |
| Tax report included | Yes | 1099-B | Add-on | 1099 |
| Pause/edit instantly | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
How much should you DCA?
The standard rule of thumb is 1–10% of net monthly income, only from money you can lock up for at least four years. Below are reference outcomes based on the historical Bitcoin DCA performance (past returns don't predict the future — this is for sizing, not advice).
- $25 / week
- $1,300/year contributed — beginner-friendly starter stack
- $100 / week
- $5,200/year — typical committed stacker
- $500 / month
- $6,000/year — payday-aligned cadence
- 1% of paycheck
- Salary-linked DCA via Bitwage or Strike payroll
DCA mistakes to avoid
Skipping cycles during dips
Leaving coins on the on-ramp
Using credit cards
Ignoring cost basis
Auto-DCA FAQ
Ready to own your Bitcoin?
Lightning Pay is free, open source, and non-custodial. Your keys never leave your device.