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Topic: Is it possible to exploit the different prices for BTC on different exchanges? (Read 1469 times)

sr. member
Activity: 266
Merit: 250
I've noticed that their are small inconsistencies with Bitcoin to USD exchanges, and how the value for BTC appears to be different.

What if, I were to buy 1 Bitcoin from BTC-e for $637.00 and then sell it again on Bitstamp for $643.85?
To me, it looks like it could be pulled off, but how come I've never heard of "exchange jumpers"? People who buy cryptos on one exchange for the lowest price possible and then re-sell on a different exchange, reaping the profits of the small inconsistencies? Is it too cumbersome or are the profits simply not worth it? Why do these price inconsistencies exist on exchanges?  Huh

You can do this however there are a number of problems with this strategy. First of all I would say that there are a lot of scams out there that promise to allow you to earn unrealistic returns "risk free" as this is simply not possible and will likely simply steal your BTC.

The main problem with attempting to do this is the fact that you need to withdraw funds from your exchanges that you sell on and deposit your fiat funds on exchanges that you buy on. Generally most exchanges will only send funds to a bank account listed in your name and will only send funds to a bank account in your name. In other words you need to have a lot of money going into and out of your bank account, this will raise red flags at your bank as it may look like you are kiting funds and/or laundering money.

The next problem is doing the opposite, sending BTC from exchange to exchange. Most exchanges will require 6 confirmations prior to allowing you to trade with BTC and this will cause a delay from the time you buy your BTC to the time you sell it, creating the possibility that the price will fall, eating away at your profits or possibly creating losses.
full member
Activity: 196
Merit: 101
Arbitrage can work if you have:

1 A lot of money
2 Coins on many different exchanges
3 A good arbitrage bot

Still the profit won't be high.
hero member
Activity: 798
Merit: 1000
I don't know much about this, but I always figured the fees to withdaw and deposit and the entie process etc etc sort of evens out.
otheriwse everyone would do it... err right lol ??

Not really, fees don't even out, for example, at ANXPRO our fees are as low as 0.05%, so you could take advantage of that.
It just requires a lot of money to make a small profit. If you try and arbitrage with like 0.001BTC, you wouldn't make much.
legendary
Activity: 910
Merit: 1000
★YoBit.Net★ 350+ Coins Exchange & Dice
I don't know much about this, but I always figured the fees to withdaw and deposit and the entie process etc etc sort of evens out.
otheriwse everyone would do it... err right lol ??
hero member
Activity: 798
Merit: 1000
Feel free to use our ANXPRO platform for arbitrage today, our price is currently a bit higher than Bitstamp, and we charge fees as low as 0.05%, and we also support SEPA withdrawals.

Thanks for telling me about anxpro, byt411. Love the UI, looks a lot better then some of the other exchanges I've seen. I'll keep Anxpro at the back of my mind, as of now, I'm looking at some other altcoins to arbitrage.

Our Platform supports many fiat currencies and a few cryptocurrencies, so you might want to check that out! Wink
full member
Activity: 139
Merit: 100
Feel free to use our /anxprobyt]ANXPRO platform for arbitrage today, our price is currently a bit higher than Bitstamp, and we charge fees as low as 0.05%, and we also support SEPA withdrawals.

Thanks for telling me about anxpro, byt411. Love the UI, looks a lot better then some of the other exchanges I've seen. I'll keep Anxpro at the back of my mind, as of now, I'm looking at some other altcoins to arbitrage.
hero member
Activity: 798
Merit: 1000
Feel free to use our ANXPRO platform for arbitrage today, our price is currently a bit higher than Bitstamp, and we charge fees as low as 0.05%, and we also support SEPA withdrawals.
full member
Activity: 139
Merit: 100
I am aware that Bitcoin does have a long transaction time and the risks involved. I am also aware that newer cryptos could potentially have shorter transaction times and wider spread between exchange values enablong a much more profitable arbitrage scheme.
sr. member
Activity: 350
Merit: 250
'Slow and steady wins the race'
Yes this is possible however you do need to take into consideration the credit risk you are taking. In the event that one of the exchanges goes belly up then you would lose all of the BTC/fiat that you have deposited with them.

Another issue is that you cannot easily transfer BTC from exchange to exchange. If for example you wanted to buy BTC at exchange 1 and sell it on exchange 2 then pocket the difference you would not be able to do this instantly. You would first have to deposit fiat at exchange 1, buy BTC, withdraw BTC to deposit address at exchange 2, wait for generally 6 confirmations, then sell BTC at exchange 2. During this time you will be risking that the price of BTC will fall.
sr. member
Activity: 462
Merit: 250
Well arbitrage its not so easy, its hard to put money into almost all exhcnages and if you move huge amounts of money i think your accounts can be put on hold, in resume you need to have good bots and programming skills and good banking or money transfer systems.
member
Activity: 112
Merit: 10
What arbitage will tend to do is flatten out the price across the markets and make it a little less volatile, just a little though.
full member
Activity: 139
Merit: 100
I'll remember not to focus too much on make money from arbitrage Grin
Now that PolarPoint mentioned the fact you should have fiat and cryptocurrency ready to go, I kinda wish all the crypto exchanges would use one centralized user wallet so you wouldn't have to distribute specified portions of your crypto or fiat on different exchanges.
hero member
Activity: 672
Merit: 500
Arbitrage is profitable if you already have fiat and bitcoin in the exchanges, so you can buy and sell at the same instant. If you send funds when you spot a margin, it is already too late. The current margin between exchanges are too small to make any arbitrage worthwhile.
sr. member
Activity: 252
Merit: 250
I think a lot of people actually use the arbitrage to get a nice profit.  If you're doing it enough, even at 2% you can make a lot.  I think your best bet though is not to try it between the 2 major exchanges.  I would try to buy some cheaper on something like localbitcoins and then you can sell on exchange or some other services for more and get a bigger price difference, like 10% even I think.

Better yet, on Localbitcoins, if you build up a reputation as a buyer and seller, you can buy/sell with a fat (5-7%) premium vs. exchange prices.
hero member
Activity: 700
Merit: 500
I think a lot of people actually use the arbitrage to get a nice profit.  If you're doing it enough, even at 2% you can make a lot.  I think your best bet though is not to try it between the 2 major exchanges.  I would try to buy some cheaper on something like localbitcoins and then you can sell on exchange or some other services for more and get a bigger price difference, like 10% even I think.
sr. member
Activity: 252
Merit: 250
I dont really bother with arbitrage. BTC is so volatile that it just seems more practical to ride the waves for much more profit than to pick up 1% here and there on arbitrage. But I do realize that arbitrage is pretty much guaranteed money, so there's that.
full member
Activity: 238
Merit: 100
I think most traders will exploit an arbitrage situation occasionally (even I, not being a trader, could make some mBTC from an arbitrage opportunity within Ripple some time ago), but it probably does not make much sense to concentrate on arbitrage exclusively.

Onkel Paul

I would agree that it doesn't make sense to concentrate on arbitrage exclusively, certainly with bitcoin. But I do watch the divergence between BTCE and Stamp, and exploit it sometimes. Tongue
full member
Activity: 231
Merit: 100
Getting harder to exploit market inefficiency.
hero member
Activity: 560
Merit: 509
I prefer Zakir over Muhammed when mentioning me!
BTC moves too quick for real arbitrage (e.g. buy BTC on BTC-E, sell on Bitstamp, withdraw fiat and re-deposit on BTC-E). But since the spread narrows and widens, you can take advantage by, for instance, buying on BTC-E, selling on Bitstamp, and waiting for the spread to close before buying and sending back to BTC-E.

Thanks, Sir!  Cheesy . It is a good statement for making profit with BTC .
Kindly,
       Muhammed Zakhir
legendary
Activity: 1039
Merit: 1005
I think most traders will exploit an arbitrage situation occasionally (even I, not being a trader, could make some mBTC from an arbitrage opportunity within Ripple some time ago), but it probably does not make much sense to concentrate on arbitrage exclusively.

Onkel Paul
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