Bitcoin Forum

Hello folks.

I've been wondering...


If i get 142 USD for selling 1 BTC @ Mt.Gox.

If 142 USD gives me 1.10746199 BTC @ Bitstamp,


I can be the richest man in the world just repeating that whole day.

Now, what am i missing? If it was true, everybody was doing that.

Thanks.

Fees.  To buy and sell on the same site, there's usually a spread that will eat your profit.  And to move money between sites there's probably a fee.  But it may be possible in some cases.  It's called arbitrage.  

In a more liquid market with lower fees and no problems moving money, it would happen, and it would force the prices to be much closer together.

The issue is... how are you going to get that 142 USD into Bitstamp? That's your problem.
If it's via bank, you'll be waiting days and the price will have changed.
If it's by something similar to Bitinstant, you're facing ridiculous fee's that make it a lot less profitable.

you won't get your money from gox. don't you find it strange that no one else is doing it?

+1

If its possible I doing this a some time ago, but is not possible :)

Hahaha so true... What if you get the usd out, then you can buy via coinbase...

Wouldn't be too surprised if gox went bankrupt and shut down.

That is very likely, as the rate of government closing their bank account 1 by 1.

sorry friend now you have to wait for becoming richest man in the world this idea is not working any more :(

Fees,and MtGox would go bankrupt if it was so easy

Everyone would be doing that and would be profit. But the main problem is Mt.Gox is having withdrawal issues. So you can deposits but you can't withdraw. Sounds like a 100% lost there.

Luckily the OP asked before tried this get rich quick oppurtunity.

after reading this all now I hope he will never try to give this try its not a quick rich opportunity its quick bankrupt opportunity

I was being sarcastic, bit it seems that your sarcastic-dar is not working =/

In fact it looked like standard newbie question in Newbie section  :P

sometime its ok we need to ask things like this and these are very informative for some newbies

If it was easy and cheap to move USD between Gox and BitStamp, then their bitcoin prices would be the same.  The only reason that there is a difference in bitcoin exchange rate between those two exchanges is because it is difficult and not cheap to get USD from Gox to BitStamp.

If Gox ever changes such that it becomes easy to move USD from Gox to somewhere like BitStamp, then Gox exchange rate will suddenly drop, the BitStamp exchange rate will suddenly soar, and the two will meet somewhere in the middle.  Programmers will create trading programs that will closely monitor the difference between the two exchange rates and as soon as there is enough difference for the program to make even $0.01 profit, the program will immediately place the trades at both exchanges and take the tiny profit.

If BitStamp made it easy and cheap to move USD back to MtGox, then these arbitrage programs will become "enforcers" that use market forces of supply and demand to keep the exchange rate from every separating very much at all.  From then on, MtGox and BitStamp would both move up and down in lockstep.

You may find better arbitrage opportunities between currencies rather than between exchanges. Also, try increasing your BTC holdings not your $ holdings. It is "cashing out" that will clobber you. You don't need dollars anymore, you have bitcoin.  ;)