Could you have picked the perfect moment? A year of buying Bitcoin and gold, month by month.

If you've glanced at crypto headlines lately, you'll know it hasn't been the smoothest ride. Over the past 12 months, Bitcoin has dropped roughly 30% in Aussie dollar terms. Gold had a huge run early in 2026, then gave a lot of it back.

Years like this are when the question pops up: "Should I wait for a better time to buy?" So we looked back at the past year to see how hard "the right time" actually was to find, and what happened to someone who didn't try to find it at all.

The setup

Meet our example investor: On the first of every month from November 2025 to October 2026, they put in $100, split evenly: $50 into Bitcoin and $50 into gold. Same amount, same day, no matter what the news said.

That's dollar-cost averaging, or DCA. When prices are high, your $50 buys a little less. When prices are low, it buys a little more. Over time, you end up with an average buy price somewhere in the middle.

A year of buy prices

Here's what Bitcoin and gold cost on each of those twelve buying days, and the average price our investor actually paid.

Prices rounded. Your DCA average is the price you effectively paid across all 12 buys, because the same $50 bought more in the cheaper months.

Perfect timing vs. regular buying

Look at that last row. Our investors' average buy price was cheaper than half the months of the year, for both Bitcoin and gold. They didn't need to know which half. They just kept buying.

Would you really have bought in July?

On paper, the perfect move was obvious: buy Bitcoin in July and gold in August. But think about what those months felt like at the time.

Bitcoin had just fallen about 15% through June, and had been sliding, on and off, since the start of the year. Gold had been dropping for five months straight. That's exactly when it feels safest to wait "just a little longer" for things to settle.

And the worst moments? Bitcoin was at its most expensive right at the start, in November 2025. Gold peaked in March 2026, after climbing for four months in a row, just when it probably felt like the obvious thing to buy.

Hindsight makes timing look easy. In the moment, it rarely is.

Round-ups add even more buying moments

Round-ups take the same idea a step further. Using Bamboo, you can choose to round each card purchase up to the nearest $1, $2, $5 or $10. Your spare change builds up in the background.

So on top of your regular monthly buy, you get extra small buys landing on different days, at different prices, without you choosing when. As a rough example, if you made about 40 card purchases a month, rounding to the nearest $1 would reach $50 every two to three months. Rounding to the nearest $10 could get there about once a week.

Bigger settings add up faster, but they also take more out of your everyday account, so pick a level that sits comfortably alongside your bills.

The honest bit

DCA won't get you the lowest price of the year. It also won't stick you with the highest. It lands you somewhere in the middle, and in a year like this one, that middle was a lot more comfortable than the worst case.

It doesn't guarantee a profit, either. On 26 October, Bitcoin was trading at about $113,800, a little above our investors' average buy price, while gold was around $5,690, below it. And this is just one 12-month period. A different year, a different start date, or a different mix would tell a different story. In a market that climbs steadily, putting a lump sum in early may well come out ahead.

What DCA does do is take the guessing out of it. You don't need to read the headlines, predict the dips, or work up the courage to buy when things look scary. You just keep going.

The takeaway

Trying to time the market means guessing correctly where prices are heading next. Buying a small amount regularly asks you to get just one thing right: keep showing up.

If you're already DCAing with Bamboo, you've been doing exactly this. If you're thinking about starting, $50 is all it takes.

This is a hypothetical example for illustration only. It is based on publicly available Australian dollar prices for Bitcoin and gold on or around the first of each month from November 2025 to October 2026. It does not include fees or the spread on buying and selling, and the round-up example is based on an assumed number of card purchases. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. This article is general information only and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Consider whether it is appropriate for you and read the relevant disclosure documents before making any investment decision.