Losses and recoveries aren't symmetric
Down 50% needs +100% back; down 80% needs +400%. This asymmetry is why survival beats heroics. See it in position terms on the drawdown recovery calculator.
Gains and losses are not symmetric
Lose 50% and you need a 100% gain to recover. Lose 25% and you need 33% to get back. This asymmetry is the math behind why drawdown management matters more than maximizing upside. A 10% loss requires an 11.1% gain to recover. A 90% loss requires a 900% gain.
The formula is straightforward: percentage change = (new − old) ÷ old × 100. For recovery percentage: recovery_needed = (1 ÷ (1 − loss_pct)) − 1. Lose 40% (0.40): recovery = 1/(1−0.40) − 1 = 66.7%.
At leverage, both sides scale. At 10x, a 5% price move against you is 50% of collateral lost. At 5% price move in your favor, 50% gain on collateral. The percentage gain/loss on collateral = price_change% × leverage. A 10% price drop at 10x leverage is a full wipeout.
Related: drawdown recovery time, recovery plan calculator, ROI calculator.