Yield Farming Calculator
Calculate real farm profits after IL and gas
LIQUIDITY POOL
FARM REWARDS
FARMING VS HODLING
HODL Strategy
Farm Strategy
ANALYSIS
Farm Stories
200% APR Became 5% After IL
Farmed SOL/USDC at 200% APR for 3 months. SOL went from $20 to $45 (125% gain). Earned $3K in farm tokens, $200 LP fees. But IL cost me $4.5K vs just holding SOL. Net: broke even vs HODL. Calculator would've shown IL kills returns. Lesson: Don't farm volatile pairs unless APR > 300%.
Stablecoin Farming: Safe 15% APR
$20K in USDC/USDT farm on Curve. 8% APR from fees + 7% CRV rewards = 15% total. Zero IL (both stablecoins). After 1 year: earned $3K, gas $150. Net: $2,850 profit (14.25% return). Way better than bank. Only risk: smart contract. Stablecoin farming actually works.
Gas Costs Destroyed Small Farm
Put $2K in ETH/USDC farm (80% APR = $1,600/year). Entry: $100 gas. Harvested weekly: $30 x 12 = $360. Exit: $100. Total gas: $560. After 3 months, earned $400 rewards. Net: -$160 loss. Should've used L2 or invested $10K+. Gas makes small farms unprofitable.
Auto-Compounder Saved Me
Farming MATIC/ETH manually: harvest daily $20, gas $15 = only $5 profit per day. Switched to Beefy auto-compounder. They harvest + reinvest, split gas across thousands. My effective gas: $2/day. Earned $1,800 more over 6 months. Auto-compounders worth 10-20% extra APR.
Farm Token Dumped 80%
New farm offering 500% APR in their token. Earned 10,000 tokens worth $5K. Held hoping for pump. Token dropped from $0.50 to $0.10 in 2 months. My rewards: now worth $1K. Should've sold immediately. Rule: Dump farm tokens unless you believe in project long-term.
Calculated Risk Paid Off
Used calculator: ETH/DAI farm at 60% APR, expected 30% ETH price rise. IL would be -5.7%. Net: 60% - 5.7% - gas 2% = 52% return vs 30% HODL. Farmed $15K for 6 months. Result: earned $3,900 vs $2,250 HODL. Extra $1,650 from farming. Math worked!
Common Questions
What is yield farming?
Providing liquidity to DEX pools (like Uniswap) + staking LP tokens in farms to earn extra rewards. Example: Add $10K ETH/USDC to Uniswap (earn 0.3% fees), stake LP token in farm (earn 50% APR in farm tokens). Total yield: LP fees + farm rewards - impermanent loss - gas costs.
How much can you make yield farming?
Varies wildly. Stablecoin pairs: 5-20% APR (low IL risk). ETH/altcoin pairs: 30-200% APR (high IL risk). New farms: 500%+ APR (often dumps fast). Real returns after IL and gas: Usually 50-70% of advertised APR. $10K in ETH/USDC farm at 80% APR = $8K/year, but -$2K IL if ETH pumps 50% = net $6K.
What is impermanent loss?
Loss from providing liquidity vs just holding. If you LP 1 ETH + 2000 USDC, then ETH doubles to $4K, your LP rebalances to 0.707 ETH + 2828 USDC = $5,656 total. But holding would be 1 ETH ($4K) + 2000 USDC = $6K. IL = $344 (5.7%). Calculator shows exact IL for any price change.
How do farm rewards work?
DEX pays you tokens for staking LP. Example: Stake $10K in ETH/USDC LP, earn 100 CAKE/day. If CAKE = $3, that's $300/day = $109K/year = 1090% APR. But CAKE price usually drops as more farmers dump. Real APR: 30-50% after token price decay. High APRs attract farmers → sell pressure → APR drops.
Is yield farming worth it?
Depends. Stablecoin farming (USDC/USDT): Yes, 10-20% APR with near-zero IL. ETH/USDC farming: Maybe, 40-80% APR but -10-30% IL if ETH moves. Shitcoin farming: Usually no, 500% APR but token dumps 90%, IL kills you. Rule: Only farm if APR > 3x potential IL + gas costs.
What are gas costs for farming?
Add liquidity: $30-100. Stake in farm: $20-50. Harvest rewards: $15-40. Remove liquidity: $30-100. Total entry/exit: $100-300. If farming $1K for 20% APR = $200/year, gas eats 50-150% of profits. Need $5K+ to make gas costs worthwhile. L2s (Arbitrum, Optimism) have $1-5 gas.
Should I compound farm rewards?
Yes but watch gas. If earning $10/day in farm tokens, harvesting daily costs $20 gas = lose money. Auto-compounders (Beefy, Yearn) harvest + reinvest for you, split gas across all users. Manual: harvest weekly/monthly. $10K farm earning $30/day = harvest every 3-4 days to balance compound gains vs gas.
How to reduce impermanent loss?
Farm correlated pairs: ETH/wBTC (both move together, low IL). Stablecoin pairs: USDC/USDT/DAI (zero IL). Narrow range on Uniswap V3 (earn more fees, but higher IL if price exits range). Accept IL if farm APR is 3-5x higher. Use IL protection pools (Bancor V3, though many discontinued).
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