why is price on BitStamp always 8-10% lower than Gox?

[EuroTrash]

1. Wire USD to BitStamp
2. Buy BTC on BitStamp
3. Transfer BTC to Gox
5. Sell BTC on Gox
6. Profit in USD? 

BitCoin-24 has also ridiculously high prices in EUR so could do BitStamp-->BitCoin24... but I have a trust issue with them since rumour has it that their bank account is frozen atm.

[gizmoh]

Unlike on gox,price is not being artificially inflated..Also BTC withdraw on bitstamp is not instantaneous(except small amounts),it can take up to 24hrs, so its risky to arbitrage.

[mmortal03]

The opposite has been happening over at bitfloor today, with a $10 price advantage vs. Mt. Gox most of the day.

[TimJBenham]

The opposite has been happening over at bitfloor today, with a $10 price advantage vs. Mt. Gox most of the day.

That suggests the reason is pressure of money from the US. The more US-centric an exchange is the higher its prices, it seems.

[mmortal03]

The opposite has been happening over at bitfloor today, with a $10 price advantage vs. Mt. Gox most of the day.

That suggests the reason is pressure of money from the US. The more US-centric an exchange is the higher its prices, it seems.

Good point, as CampBX has also been trending slightly above Mt Gox.

[dg2010]

There have been no deposits at bitstamp for the last 2 days.

So nobody can get money in to be able to arb.

That and large transfers are manual. So you need to have coins and fiat in large quantities at both exchanges to be able to do this.

Yesterday BitStamp was 10$ behind MTGox for much of the day. Now if it were easier to arb, it would have the effect of pulling the two prices together.

[mp420]

Also, cashing out small sums is cheap (for Eurozone dwellers) on Bitstamp and it can be ridiculously expensive in MtGox. Bitcoins, on the other hand, are easy to move around between exchanges.

[John Self]

I remember bitstamp often being higher than gox before the bubble burst.

[TimJBenham]

There have been no deposits at bitstamp for the last 2 days.

I haven't had a problem over the last two days. Bank wire in my account in under 3 hours. Twice.

[w00t]

There have been no deposits at bitstamp for the last 2 days.

I haven't had a problem over the last two days. Bank wire in my account in under 3 hours. Twice.

I also wired (SEPA) some money to Bitstamp and no problems so far (yeah it took about 3-4 days but there is nothing Bitstamp can really do about it).

[Ghostdog]

https://cointhink.com/

[MykelSilver]

I remember bitstamp often being higher than gox before the bubble burst.

I expect the BitStamp price will move closer to the MtGox price in a few days. But, being a smaller exchange, BitStamp is inevitably going to be more volatile than MtGox.

Still huge gap between Gox and Bitstamp: https://cointhink.com/

Bitstamp nearly $10 cheaper all the time..... If you buy fast at bitstamp and transfer the bitcoins to MtGox and sell the coins there, you can make lots of $$$

[mmortal03]

Speaking of BitStamp, they just surpassed BTC-e in 30 day volume.

[TimJBenham]

I also wired (SEPA) some money to Bitstamp and no problems so far (yeah it took about 3-4 days but there is nothing Bitstamp can really do about it).

Funny that SWIFT seems faster than SEPA. Then again you pay more for SWIFT.

[morningtime]

To answer the original question: BitStamp prices are really EUR prices converted to USD. Most BitStamp users are in the Euro-Zone and deposit in EUR.

For example (with today's rates):

1. Deposit 1000 EUR to Bitstamp = 1329 USD
2. Buy Bitcoin = 13.34793581 BTC @~99 USD

Now you can move this BTC to Mt.Gox

3a. Sell back to USD on Mt.Gox: 1489 USD
3b. Sell back to EUR on Mt.Gox: 1015 EUR

Notice how in EUR you only made 15 EUR profit, while in USD you would have made 160 USD profit (~120 EUR).

The point is that Euro prices are lower than USD prices for Bitcoin, regardless of the exchange. This price difference is actually unrelated to BitStamp vs. Mt.Gox. The EUR prices on Mt.Gox are the same as the EUR prices on Bitstamp, but Bitstamp displays them converted to USD. That's why they are lower, because BitStamp USD is based on EUR Bitcoin prices.

The real explanation is that it's more difficult to buy Bitcoin in USD to Mt.Gox than to buy in EUR. The USD prices on Mt.Gox are indeed inflated because of the difficulty to get USD in and out.

[tiptopgemdotcom]

I remember bitstamp often being higher than gox before the bubble burst.

I expect the BitStamp price will move closer to the MtGox price in a few days. But, being a smaller exchange, BitStamp is inevitably going to be more volatile than MtGox.

Still huge gap between Gox and Bitstamp: https://cointhink.com/

Bitstamp nearly $10 cheaper all the time..... If you buy fast at bitstamp and transfer the bitcoins to MtGox and sell the coins there, you can make lots of $$$

You can't cash out of gox.  So much for that plan.

[bitcoin44me]

Bitstamp is european right? So, it should be cheaper than anything from US or Asia...