Coinmarketcap is a portfolio tracker for logging buy and sell positions

Manual entry, wallet address, or exchange connection?

The portfolio setup decision turns on whether you need a controlled transaction history or an automatically refreshed balance. Coinmarketcap offers 3 routes: manual transaction details, an on-chain address, or a supported exchange connection. Manual entry is the right mode when an old execution must retain its original price and time, or when holdings from several venues need one deliberately maintained ledger.

• Choose Manual when each completed trade must match an execution confirmation.
• Choose an address connection when on-chain balances should refresh automatically.
• Choose an exchange connection when the relevant account and venue are supported.
• Create separate portfolios when strategies or custody locations need independent totals.
• Use Watchlist when no owned quantity or purchase record exists.

The Manual route exposes Buy, Sell, and Transfer controls after an asset is selected. Buy and Sell represent cost-bearing executions; Transfer records quantity arriving or leaving without treating the movement as a new market trade. This distinction matters when Bitcoin sits on Ledger, Ether is held through MetaMask, and other positions remain at an exchange.

Build the source packet before entering the first position

A manual position needs 1 signed-in account and the original execution record from the exchange, broker, or wallet activity. Gather 5 core fields before opening the form: acquired or sold quantity, price per coin, execution date and time, transaction fee, and a useful note. Also confirm the full asset identity; Bitcoin and Ethereum are unambiguous examples, while ticker symbols are not reliable identifiers for every token.

Select Portfolio, create or open the intended portfolio, choose the asset, and then choose the transaction type. The price field may initially reflect the market quote visible when the dialog opens, so replace it with the actual execution price for a historical trade. If an order produced 2 separate fills, preserve them as 2 entries when their prices or times differ. Notes can retain a Binance order identifier, a Coinbase confirmation, a Kraken venue label, or a custody location without changing the arithmetic.

Record the buy as the first cost-bearing event

A Buy entry establishes the acquired quantity and purchase cost for the selected crypto asset. Enter the amount credited by the completed execution, the price paid per unit, the original timestamp, the fee, and a note that identifies the source record. Do not place the total amount spent in the price-per-coin field: quantity multiplied by unit price should reproduce the trade's gross value.

Consider a date-free arithmetic example rather than a market quotation. A purchase of 2 ETH at $1,500 per ETH has a $3,000 gross value; adding a $20 buying fee produces a $3,020 cost basis and a $1,510 average buy cost per ETH. Those 5 figures form a compact verification chain. After saving, open the Ethereum position and confirm that the Buy row shows the same quantity, unit price, time, and fee as the source confirmation.

Verify quantity before interpreting P&L

Position verification starts with asset units and transaction history, not the displayed gain or loss. After the example Buy is saved, the holding should show 2 ETH before any later Sell or Transfer event. Current value then equals recorded quantity multiplied by the current reference price. A valuation change without a quantity change reflects market data, whereas an unexpected quantity points back to the ledger.

The 24-hour change describes recent market movement; it is not the return since purchase. Views such as 7-day and 30-day performance provide additional market context, while inception P&L compares the position against recorded costs. Allocation follows another fixed relationship: an asset's current value divided by total portfolio value, multiplied by 100, gives its percentage weight. After editing a transaction, allow the balance chart and allocation view to recalculate before entering a duplicate correction.

Log the sale without rewriting the original buy

A Sell entry is a new execution event, so the original Buy must remain in transaction history. Select the same asset, choose Sell, and enter the amount sold, sale price per unit, timestamp, selling fee, and a traceable note. A partial sale lowers the holding while preserving the unsold units; a full sale should leave a recorded balance of 0 after every relevant transaction is included.

Continue the arithmetic example with a sale of 0.5 ETH at $2,000 and a $10 fee. Gross proceeds equal $1,000, net proceeds equal $990, and the allocated cost at $1,510 per ETH equals $755. Realized profit for that entry is therefore $235, while 1.5 ETH remains. Save the row, reopen Ethereum transaction details, and match those 4 outcomes against the ledger before treating the position as reconciled.

Use Transfer when ownership continues elsewhere

A Transfer entry changes the recorded quantity without describing a purchase or sale. The manual tracker provides 3 transaction types - Buy, Sell, and Transfer - and the Transfer type has 2 directions, in and out. Moving BTC from Kraken to Ledger or shifting a token from MetaMask to Trust Wallet continues ownership, so a Sell entry would misclassify the event.

Coinmarketcap does not hold the portfolio assets, which means there is no withdrawal from the tracking ledger itself. Complete the real movement at the exchange or wallet, then represent it in the appropriate manual portfolio. With 2 location-specific portfolios, record Transfer Out in the source and Transfer In the destination. With 1 aggregate portfolio covering every location, the move must not reduce total ownership; use a note or balanced location records instead of leaving an unmatched Transfer Out.

Reconcile and repair the ledger after every execution

Transaction history is the control surface for ongoing portfolio maintenance. Compare the tracker's asset quantity with the exchange balance or self-custody record after each batch of activity. An omitted Sell leaves the holding too high, while a duplicated Buy doubles both units and recorded purchase exposure. Correct the affected row through its edit control; adding a second, offsetting entry creates an execution that never occurred.

Review asset identity, chronological completeness, quantities, and source notes on a regular schedule that matches trading activity. Manual records should not duplicate the same inventory already included through an automatic address or exchange connection. Edits and removals can trigger chart recalculation, so inspect the asset detail page again after it refreshes. The same signed-in portfolio data remains available across the web interface, iOS, and Android, which keeps maintenance consistent across 3 access surfaces.

How balance and P&L emerge from the entries

The portfolio calculation engine combines the manual transaction ledger with changing market data. Average buy price equals total purchase value excluding fees divided by purchased units. Cost basis adds buying fees, while average buy cost divides that inclusive total by the quantity purchased. These related measures explain why the displayed average buy price and fee-inclusive break-even figure do not always match.

Performance then separates into 2 buckets. Realized profit comes from completed sales: net sale proceeds minus the allocated purchase cost. Unrealized profit compares the current value of remaining units with their allocated cost. All-time profit adds the 2 values, and the displayed P&L percentage expresses all-time profit relative to cost basis, multiplied by 100. Transfers create neither sale proceeds nor a new purchase price, although their direction changes the quantity used for unrealized value. The next part of this is set out in Coinmarketcap alerts.

Market-price updates therefore move current balance and unrealized P&L even when no ledger row changes. Operational completion has a firmer test: asset identity, transaction history, and actual quantity must reconcile. A clean sale exit ends at a 0-unit holding, while a location-specific Transfer Out needs the corresponding destination record. That final check closes the position workflow without confusing a portfolio entry with an exchange order or blockchain transaction.