TL;DR: CoinTracking tracks your portfolio with various metrics. "Total Account Value" is your live net worth. "Unrealized Gain" is the potential profit/loss if you sold now. "Realized Gain" is the profit/loss from completed sales. "Balance" refers to your holdings by time, exchange, or asset. Differences in values arise from accounting methods like FIFO/LIFO and treatment of fees or negative amounts.
What is "Total Account Value"?
The Total Account Value is the real-time value of all your coins, currencies, and commodities, shown in sections like the "Summary" box on the Transactions page. It represents your net worth if you sold everything right now.
Components include:
Sum Coins: Total value of all cryptocurrencies (BTC, ETH, etc.)
Sum Commodities: Value of assets like gold or silver (only if tracked)
Sum Currencies: Value of fiat holdings (often negative early on since crypto is purchased with fiat)
Example: If you bought 1 BTC for $500, and its current value is $1,000:
Coin value: $1,000
Currency value: -$500
Total Account Value: $500 profit
What is "Unrealized Gain"?
Unrealized Gain is your hypothetical profit or loss if you sold your coins now. It’s based on the difference between your average purchase price and current market value.
Formula: (Current market price − Average purchase price) × Amount
Example: You bought BTC at $300. It’s now $1,000.
Unrealized gain: ($1,000 - $300) = $700 profit per BTC
What is "Realized Gain"?
Realized Gain is the actual profit or loss you've locked in by selling assets. CoinTracking calculates this using methods like FIFO (First In, First Out).
Formula: (Sale price − Purchase price) × Amount sold
Examples:
Buy 1 BTC at $100, sell at $200 → Realized gain = $100
Buy 1 BTC at $100, sell 0.5 BTC at $100 → Realized gain = $50
What does "Balance" mean in CoinTracking?
Balance typically refers to the current or historical value of your holdings. Variants include:
Current Balance: Live value of your entire portfolio
Daily Balance: Value snapshot from any past date
Balance by Exchange: Portfolio value grouped by exchange
Balance by Currency: Value grouped by coin/fiat and time
Why do the Dashboard and Gains pages show different values?
The Dashboard and the Realized/Unrealized Gains page use different logic:
Dashboard: Calculates value simply as (amount held) × (current fiat price)
Gains Pages: Uses purchase history (cost basis) and your selected accounting method (FIFO, LIFO, etc.)
This can cause differences:
Dashboard may show positive value for an asset with a negative unrealized gain
Dashboard includes assets with negative amounts in total value, while the Gains page treats them as 0
Summary
Each value in CoinTracking—whether it's Balance, Account Value, or Realized/Unrealized Gain—reflects a specific aspect of your portfolio. Understand what each number means and how it’s calculated to get the clearest view of your crypto performance and tax position.