PnL and cost basis are where many crypto dashboards stop being useful. A user may know what assets they hold, but not what those positions cost, what current UPnL looks like, or how much gain or loss remains open.
In digital assets, the difficulty comes from movement. Assets are bought, swapped, transferred, bridged, deposited into protocols, withdrawn, and sometimes hedged or traded through derivatives.
UPnL and Open Positions
UPnL, or unrealized PnL, belongs to open positions. It helps users understand whether current holdings are above or below their economic entry level before a position is closed.
A user may have strong open-position gains in one venue while carrying underwater exposure elsewhere. Without portfolio-level context, UPnL can look clear in one wallet but misleading across the full portfolio.
Cost Basis Methods
Cost basis assigns economic cost to positions. Common methods include FIFO, LIFO, HIFO, average cost, and dynamic average cost. Different methods can produce different analytical results.
This is why cost basis should be handled carefully, especially across multiple wallets. A transfer between wallets owned by the same user should not automatically be treated like a sale. A swap may create a new position. DeFi interactions may require additional interpretation.
This article is educational and not tax advice.
Hyperliquid and Derivatives
Hyperliquid spot positions can fit into portfolio PnL and cost basis analysis. Derivatives positions require additional context: entry, mark price, UPnL, funding, fees, margin, leverage, and liquidation price.
Derivative attribution is useful for portfolio review, but it should not be described as final tax-lot accounting unless that is explicitly supported.
Raster's Role
Raster helps users review PnL and cost basis as part of portfolio truth, not as a separate spreadsheet exercise.
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