It depends on how the wallet is connected: a watched wallet doesn't need an opening balance, you only adjust the amounts of incoming transactions. A manual wallet gets an opening balance.
Watched wallet (zpub)
There's no opening row. The sync books Transfer in and Transfer out. The euro amount of an incoming transaction is just that day's rate, not your purchase price.
How to set your real cost basis:
Sync the wallet once.
Open Activity and filter by this account and BTC.
Open each Transfer in that should carry cost basis.
Keep the BTC quantity and set the total paid (or the price per BTC) to what you actually paid. You can change the date to the purchase date.
On Holdings, tap Sync from Activity.
If you want a blended cost basis, spread the total amount paid across the incoming transactions so the sum is right. Later syncs don't overwrite your euro amounts.
Don't do this on a watched wallet
- Don't put an opening balance on top of the imported incoming transactions. It replaces the lots, and the sync writes an adjustment row.
- Don't book a buy with the same quantity as coins that are already on the blockchain.
Manual wallet or BTC exchange
An empty account offers Set opening balance: enter the BTC quantity and the amount paid in your base currency. That row is your cost basis. Alternatively, book buys with quantity and total paid.
The market value stays quantity times the current BTC/EUR rate. Cost basis only changes the unrealised result. Not tax advice.
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Related articles
- How do I watch a Bitcoin wallet without handing over keys? You attach a read-only account key (zpub) to a BTC wallet account. Westara uses it to read balance and history from the blockchain, without ever seeing a private key.
- Why is there an 'Adjustment' row in Activity? The Adjustment row (balance reconciliation) aligns your Activity with the real balance of the watched wallet. It isn't a transaction on the blockchain.