Author

Topic: Mt Gox arbitrage (Read 730 times)

legendary
Activity: 1232
Merit: 1195
January 14, 2014, 06:22:02 PM
#8
I buy Btc in UK for (lets say) 7% lower than I can sell it for on Mt Gox. I buy £1k of btc via Bitbargain. I transfer the btc to my mates Mt Gox account - he happens to work in Japan and have a Japan bank account ( as well as a UK bank account). My mate is back in UK twice a year.

    He sells the btc for yen via mt gox and then transfers the yen to his Japanese account for next to nothing/no fees.

   How do we then get the Yen back to the UK to be able to convert it to GBP for the minimum cost ?

    How much (physical) Yen can you leave Japan with ?   

    The Post Office in the UK is a good place to sell the Yen I believe ?

   Has anyone out there done this ( or similar) ??

People do do this arbitrage, but it's not as easy and as simple as it sounds. Have you factored in the time it takes to send and withdraw money and all the fees involved. Give it a a go if you wish, but I'm sure you will see it's not a simple way to make money.
DCP
member
Activity: 110
Merit: 10
January 14, 2014, 05:52:21 PM
#7
I don't think it's realistic to make much of a profit with the amount you have. It's not really worth it for the risk.

 From last January until now Bitcoin has gone up 50x and Litecoin 100x.  That's in 1 year.  There are some really good investments opportunities now. You could choose 5 of the top picks and split your money between them. A year from now when one or more of them go up 10x, 20x or more, you'll be in good shape. We're still at the beginning of a massive trend. This is the first time in history where we don't have to rely on banks and third parties with our money..
hero member
Activity: 770
Merit: 500
January 14, 2014, 05:25:19 PM
#6
Just sell your btc on montgox as you can choose EUR or US$ and have that money transferred to your account
Yes - but the bank fees for transfering/exchanging the Eur/dollar to a UK GBP account would most likely wipe out any profit.


What's tricky is that the price jumps around a lot. Say you do your buy and then price takes a big drop. Now your funds are tied up and you need to wait for it to come back up.  Another consideration is how long it takes your mate to be able to withdraw it to his bank account.

I transfer the btc to my mates (Japan) Mt gox account - upon confirmation of said btc my mate sells immediately (or at least at the 7% requisite markup).

That being said, if you still want to do it then you could check out Skrill, they're a solid company. (formerly named Moneybookers) "Sending money costs 1% of the amount sent but is capped at a maximum of €10"



Thanks for your input. i just wonder what exchange rate Skrill uses as this could be the point at which they claw back their low (1%) fees.

There must be someone that has done/is doing this.

How unrealistic is it to leave Japan with (physical) Yen - then get it cashed out at a UK post office with no commission charged ?

How much of that 7% arb could realistically be maintained ?

Or would I just be better buying £1k of btc and holding it ??
hero member
Activity: 826
Merit: 1000
January 14, 2014, 04:52:50 PM
#5
I dont want to sound all negative. But, if there wasnt issues with getting your money out timely then this would be possible.

Mt. Gox has a huge rep with like any exchange, a painful withdraw process.

copper member
Activity: 80
Merit: 10
January 14, 2014, 04:49:35 PM
#4
Just sell your btc on montgox as you can choose EUR or US$ and have that money transferred to your account- Nothing so complicated I think
DCP
member
Activity: 110
Merit: 10
January 14, 2014, 04:43:16 PM
#3
What's tricky is that the price jumps around a lot. Say you do your buy and then price takes a big drop. Now your funds are tied up and you need to wait for it to come back up.  Another consideration is how long it takes your mate to be able to withdraw it to his bank account.

That being said, if you still want to do it then you could check out Skrill, they're a solid company. (formerly named Moneybookers) "Sending money costs 1% of the amount sent but is capped at a maximum of €10"

member
Activity: 61
Merit: 10
January 14, 2014, 04:39:05 PM
#2
Trade FOREX.
hero member
Activity: 770
Merit: 500
January 14, 2014, 04:30:45 PM
#1
I buy Btc in UK for (lets say) 7% lower than I can sell it for on Mt Gox. I buy £1k of btc via Bitbargain. I transfer the btc to my mates Mt Gox account - he happens to work in Japan and have a Japan bank account ( as well as a UK bank account). My mate is back in UK twice a year.

    He sells the btc for yen via mt gox and then transfers the yen to his Japanese account for next to nothing/no fees.

   How do we then get the Yen back to the UK to be able to convert it to GBP for the minimum cost ?

    How much (physical) Yen can you leave Japan with ?   

    The Post Office in the UK is a good place to sell the Yen I believe ?

   Has anyone out there done this ( or similar) ??
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