Trading

DEX DCA (Dollar-Cost Averaging)

8 min read

What it is

Recurring DEX accumulation on autopilot. Pick a spend + buy pair, a per-slice amount, a frequency, and a slice count. Sign all slices back-to-back ONCE. Solvers fill each slice on its scheduled date — gas-free for you. Works with CoW (Eth/Arb/Base) and Velora (adds Polygon/BSC/Optimism/Avalanche). Includes 4 starter templates and Market vs Limit pricing models.

How to think about it

DCA removes timing and emotion from accumulation. Instead of trying to buy the dip, you commit to buying $X every week for N weeks regardless of price — historically the most reliable strategy for long-term accumulation. This is the DEDICATED /dex-dca page; the legacy DCA tab on the Swap page has been retired. For one-shot TWAP/VWAP/Iceberg execution intents in a single short window, use DEX Algo Orders instead.

Step-by-step

  1. Connect wallet + open How DCA works panel

    Connect Wallet first. Click the "How DCA works" expandable banner top of page — 4 short explainers covering: configure plan → sign once per slice → approve token once → slices fill autonomously. Worth reading before your first plan.

  2. Pick a template or configure manually

    Templates: Conservative (Weekly × 8 · 2% slip), Standard (Weekly × 4 · 1% slip), Aggressive (Daily × 14 · 1% slip), Long-term (Monthly × 12 · 2% slip). Click any to pre-fill. Manual: pick frequency (Daily / Weekly / Bi-weekly / Monthly), slice count (4 / 8 / 12 / 24), and adjust slippage.

  3. Pick protocol + chain + tokens

    CoW for Ethereum / Arbitrum / Base. Velora for the same plus Polygon / BSC / Optimism / Avalanche. Spend (sell) token = usually USDC. Buy token = whatever you want to accumulate (WETH, WBTC, LINK). For custom tokens, paste the contract address.

  4. Pick Market DCA or Limit DCA pricing

    Market DCA = each slice fills at current market with your slippage cushion (typical "always-fills" DCA — default 1% slippage). Limit DCA = slices only fill if market is at or BETTER than your fixed price (disciplined — skips unfavorable slices). Note: Polygon supports Limit DCA only (CoW does not quote market on Polygon).

  5. Set per-slice spend amount

    Amount per slice in your spend-token units (e.g., 25 USDC). The page shows your live wallet balance below the field and computes total spend = per-slice × slice count. Make sure your wallet balance covers the FULL total — the approval upfront needs the whole sum allowed.

  6. Click Start + sign approval + sign each slice

    Click Start DCA. First-time spend-token on the chosen protocol: ERC-20 approval transaction (one-time gas ~$0.05-3). Then the wizard prompts you to sign each slice in sequence — 4 slices = 4 MetaMask popups back-to-back, each a free EIP-712 signature. Each signed order says: "any solver can fill this on or after the scheduled time, at this price."

  7. Watch slices fill autonomously

    After signing, the wizard closes and your plan appears in the plans list with status Active. Each slice fires on its scheduled date — you get an in-app notification per fill. Solvers compete for the right to fill each order; the best price wins. You can cancel the plan at any time — remaining unsigned slices stop, already-signed ones may or may not fill depending on schedule.

Tips & pitfalls

  • Approval is gas-paid ONCE for the FULL plan total (per-slice × slice count). After that, no gas paid by you on any slice fill — solvers absorb gas in exchange for the spread they capture.
  • Conservative template (Weekly × 8 · 2% slip) is the right choice for first-time DCA users: low frequency, wider slippage handles volatile markets, 8 weeks of accumulation is meaningful sample size.
  • Aggressive (Daily × 14) is best for accumulation right around a known catalyst (e.g., halving, ETF approval, listing). The high frequency catches every dip in the 2-week window. Outside catalysts, the cost of 14 signature popups + worse fill quality usually beats Weekly × 4.
  • Limit DCA is disciplined buying — slices SKIP if market is unfavorable. Use it when you have a strong "I will not pay more than X" opinion. If skipped slices accumulate, the plan ends with fewer total fills than slices — that is by design, not a bug.
  • Polygon requires Limit DCA because CoW does not have a Polygon orderbook for market quotes. The page auto-switches to Limit pricing when you select Polygon — if you want Market, switch to a different chain.
  • Cancellation: stops all FUTURE signing prompts immediately. Slices already signed and in the orderbook may still fill on their scheduled dates — you cannot "unsign" an order in flight. Plan accordingly.
  • For one-shot TWAP/VWAP/Iceberg execution (slice a single large order across hours, not weeks), use DEX Algo Orders. They share the same backend engine but DCA is recurring-mode and Algo Orders is one-shot mode.
  • The TradingView chart below the form follows the spend/buy pair you picked — useful for spot-checking that a Limit DCA price is realistic for current market conditions.