YTD

What Does Year-to-Date (YTD) Mean?

Year-to-date (YTD) refers to the cumulative performance or change from January 1 of the current calendar year up to today's date.

YTD takes January 1 as the starting point and tracks gains, losses, or returns up to the present. For example, to see how much Bitcoin has increased this year, or how much profit your account has earned since January 1, YTD is the standard measure. The calculation resets every New Year and does not carry over across years.

Why Is It Important to Understand Year-to-Date?

YTD directly answers "How has this year performed?" making it easy to set annual goals and review outcomes.

For traders, YTD provides a consistent time frame to compare different assets or strategies, avoiding mixing last year's losses or previous profits into this year's data. For project teams and funds, YTD is a common reporting metric that investors find intuitive for understanding "what has been delivered this year."

How Does Year-to-Date Work?

Calculating YTD is straightforward: use the value on January 1 as the baseline, and measure cumulative change up to the current date.

Example for price: If a token’s price was $100 on January 1 and $130 today, YTD return = (130−100)÷100 = +30%. Example for account returns: If net value was 1.00 on January 1 and is now 1.18, YTD return = +18%.

Common YTD metrics include: YTD price change, YTD trading volume, YTD fee income, and YTD strategy net value. Unlike “rolling 12 months”, YTD resets to zero every January 1.

How Is Year-to-Date Used in Crypto?

YTD is widely featured in market data, account dashboards, on-chain analytics, and investment platforms.

On exchange market pages, many tools display a "YTD price change" column to rank coins by their performance this year. For example, on Gate, you can filter by “YTD performance” in your watchlist or market screener, then use daily/weekly charts for timing. Third-party sites like TradingView and CoinGecko also offer quick YTD filters and charts.

For portfolio and strategy backtesting, YTD shows how a strategy's net value has changed from the start of the year. For instance, a grid trading strategy’s YTD curve lets you see if it outperformed simply holding spot assets.

In on-chain data and project analytics, YTD is used to report cumulative fees, minted tokens, or active users for the year. For example, tracking whether a blockchain’s fee income continues rising this year or is affected by seasonal events.

How to Use Year-to-Date in Trading?

Use YTD as a first filter, then validate with other periods to avoid misleading conclusions.

Step 1: Sort assets by YTD performance in market tools to identify this year's strongest or weakest performers. Note: strong performance may not continue; weak assets may not rebound—this is just an initial shortlist.

Step 2: Compare rolling 12-month and quarterly performance. If a token’s YTD is high but has dropped significantly in the past six months, it signals changing momentum—caution is needed before chasing gains.

Step 3: Integrate risk management. Set take-profit or drawdown thresholds based on YTD—for example, lock in some profits once your account's YTD hits a target (like +20%), so late-year volatility doesn’t erase your gains.

Notable Year-to-Date Trends and Data This Year

In 2025, YTD is increasingly used to align annual targets and performance disclosures. Many dashboards now show YTD as a default column for investors to quickly grasp “year-to-date status.”

Sample calculations illustrate seasonal effects. For price: Suppose Bitcoin was $42,000 on January 1, 2025 and $65,000 in December; this gives a YTD of about +54.8%. If it was −15% for all of 2024, the combined two-year result isn’t just added together; instead, it reflects compounding—a net gain of around +32% (example), showing that YTD only represents that specific year’s results.

For account returns: If an account starts at 1.00 in Q1 2025 and grows to 1.12 (+12%), drops to 1.06 in Q2 (still +6% for the year), rises to 1.20 in Q3 (+20%), and ends at 1.18 in Q4 (+18%), then YTD closes at +18%. The “last 12 months” figure may differ since it covers a rolling window, not strictly from January 1.

What Is the Difference Between Year-to-Date and Last 12 Months?

The time frames differ: YTD always starts on January 1 of the current year; "last 12 months" uses a rolling window that moves with time.

This impacts conclusions. If a token surged in last year's Q4 but moved sideways this year, its YTD may look flat while its "last 12 months" is strong; conversely, if it plunged in Q4 last year but rebounded this year, its YTD looks impressive while "last 12 months" may be average. Always clarify if you’re focusing on “this year’s performance” or “the past 12 months” when making decisions.

Key Terms

• YTD (Year-to-date): The period from January 1 to today used to measure cumulative price change or performance within the current calendar year.
• Cumulative Return: Percentage measure of total investment gain over a specific period; reflects asset appreciation.
• Volatility: Indicator of how much an asset's price fluctuates; higher volatility means greater risk.
• Market Capitalization: The current price of a crypto asset multiplied by its total supply; represents its overall market value.
• Trading Volume: The amount or value of assets traded during a specific period; indicates market activity.

FAQ

What Is the Start Date for Year-to-Date?

Year-to-date always begins on January 1 of each calendar year. No matter when you view the data, YTD covers from the first day of that year up to today. For example, 2025’s YTD data runs from January 1, 2025 through the moment you check it.

Does Year-to-Date Data Include Weekends and Holidays?

Yes, YTD data includes all calendar days—weekends and holidays—since crypto markets operate 24/7 without closing days. So when calculating YTD price changes or trading volume, every day within the period is counted.

How Can I Quickly View the Year-to-Date Performance of a Cryptocurrency?

On major platforms like Gate, open a coin’s candlestick chart and switch the time frame to “Year-to-date” or “YTD” mode to see its full price movement and change since January 1. Most exchanges also display YTD percentage gain directly on coin detail pages for quick comparison across assets.

Is Year-to-Date Suitable for Long-Term Investment Decisions?

YTD data is useful for assessing annual trends and performance but should not be your sole decision metric. Combine it with one-month, three-month, and other time frames for comprehensive analysis, while also considering project fundamentals and market conditions. YTD helps you interpret market trends from an “annual perspective.”

Can Year-to-Date Data Be Retrospectively Changed?

No. YTD is calculated from historical trading records that are immutable on the blockchain. As long as exchanges maintain accurate history, YTD figures remain fixed and verifiable. While minor discrepancies may exist due to different data sources across platforms, the data itself cannot be altered.

References & Further Reading

• https://www.investopedia.com/terms/y/ytd.asp
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year-to-date
• https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/accounting/year-to-date-ytd/