Basic formula: real net PnL = net realized sale proceeds + realizable value of remaining holdings − total purchase cost − gas − platform and priority fees − failed-transaction costs. “Realizable” matters more than the last-price market value shown in an app.
Realized versus unrealized PnL
| Measure | Meaning | Common error |
|---|---|---|
| Realized PnL | Completed sales net of matched costs | Ignoring sell fees, slippage and taxes |
| Unrealized PnL | Estimated value of the unsold position | Assuming the full position can exit at the latest price |
| Account net PnL | All realized, unrealized and trading costs | Showing one winner instead of the entire account |
A “2x” position that made much less
Suppose you spend 1,000 USDC on a thin meme token. After buy slippage and fees, the received position is worth 950 USDC. The interface later marks it at 2,000 USDC, but a full sale causes 25% price impact and returns about 1,500 USDC. Another 70 USDC goes to sell fees, gas and priority fees. Net proceeds are about 1,430 USDC and net profit about 430—not the 1,000 shown by the screenshot.
Seven costs people forget
- Buy slippage.
- Sell-side price impact.
- Gas and priority fees.
- Trading-terminal or bot fees.
- Failed transactions.
- Transfer, withdrawal and bridge costs.
- Capital lock-up and possible local tax obligations.
Why “profitable wallet percentage” can mislead
One person can control many wallets, while bots create addresses in bulk. Realized-only studies miss unsold bags; monthly netting can combine proceeds from one token with open risk in another. Always ask whether the analysis includes unrealized losses, filters bots, deducts costs and uses realistic sell prices for illiquid holdings.
What to record
- Every transaction hash, time, token contract and wallet.
- Actual assets paid and received.
- Gas, priority, bot and platform fees, including failed transactions.
- Quoted versus executed exit price.
- Unsold positions valued at a conservative executable quote.
- Weekly or monthly total account equity, not only win rate.