Bitcoin Forum

Apologies in advance if this topic is being discussed elsewhere, I did a quik scan of topics but didn't see it.

What am I missing vis a vis the obvious risk free arb of buying at btc-e and selling at bitstamp/coinbase, etc.

There is a consistent $50+/btc risk free profit sitting there unless there is something I'm missing.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks!

SQ

take a look at the exchange fees / withdrawal fees in all the currencies your looking to trade in, you might realize that the arb value is very close to the real value + the total value of fees.

There are times when the difference is even bigger than that, however part of the problem here is that quite a lot can happen currently in the time it takes to transfer the coins between exchanges. If BTC tanks 200$ while you're waiting for the coins to show up on the other side, that doesn't do you much good does it...
And when things calm down and the value becomes stable-ish, the prices will fall in line with each other (accounting for fees etc)

Thanks for the feedback, greatly appreciated.

SQ

Does anybody has account with BTC-e. I deposited funds today and wanted to withdraw the bought BTC. What i got was a message - money on hold for 30 more days!!! WTF, is it a joke?

I guess that' s the reason for arb. Should i worry about my funds?

haven't crunched the numbers but this must be true, even when moving back using a smaller & more stable altcoin.

Here is a btc-e own topic in this forum.
You can ask a support on site.
As usual, them freeze all withdrawals for two days after change password, make deposit and so on, as a security measure.