hmm, was it bit-finex or bit-stamp with the weird price!

[pooya87]

Bitfinex: $1578
GDAX: $1575
Gemeni: $1573
itbit: $1571
Bitsquare: $1588

Bitstamp: $1519

makes you wonder what the hell have people been doing in that exchange all this time, it keeps dragging its ass on the ground like a dog with worms

[CoinCidental]

You should buy there and sell it @ coinbase...

[ridery99]

yeah arb a lil bro, easy profit

[Nagadota]

Surely there must be some kind of explanation why arbitrage traders haven't cut that price difference to zero.  I know people call Bitstamp "Bearstamp" a lot because of the low price but this doesn't make any sense.  In the Forex market the difference would be gone in a millisecond.

[alyssa85]

Surely there must be some kind of explanation why arbitrage traders haven't cut that price difference to zero.  I know people call Bitstamp "Bearstamp" a lot because of the low price but this doesn't make any sense.  In the Forex market the difference would be gone in a millisecond.

It is because it is hard to move fiat. For example, banks work only on weekdays, so if an arb opportunity occurs on the weekend, you can't take advantage of it. And wire transfers typically take 24 hours, so by the time your money has arrived, the opportunity has gone.

[1Referee]

It is because it is hard to move fiat. For example, banks work only on weekdays, so if an arb opportunity occurs on the weekend, you can't take advantage of it. And wire transfers typically take 24 hours, so by the time your money has arrived, the opportunity has gone.

Whales mostly have balances on several major exchanges, which means that they don't have to transfer money to X exchange in order to buy coins there, and sell them on Y exchange. It takes far too much precious time away - and you know, time is money. In that regard, the lower average price on Bitstamp would have been bought up already. Whatever the reason is/was for their lower price, it has already slimmed down, and will likely continue to do so.

[alani123]

It is because it is hard to move fiat. For example, banks work only on weekdays, so if an arb opportunity occurs on the weekend, you can't take advantage of it. And wire transfers typically take 24 hours, so by the time your money has arrived, the opportunity has gone.

Whales mostly have balances on several major exchanges, which means that they don't have to transfer money to X exchange in order to buy coins there, and sell them on Y exchange. It takes far too much precious time away - and you know, time is money. In that regard, the lower average price on Bitstamp would have been bought up already. Whatever the reason is/was for their lower price, it has already slimmed down, and will likely continue to do so.

That's the case with arbitrage but the thing is that not all exchanges can be in sync at times of distent. Bitfinex had huge spreads at a time and they are still having a hard time dispelling the uncertainty they brought to crypto spaces. IMO bitstamp remains closer to real prices as traders in other places might be after Bitfinex's premium under the bullish market sentiment.

[1Referee]

That's the case with arbitrage but the thing is that not all exchanges can be in sync at times of distent. Bitfinex had huge spreads at a time and they are still having a hard time dispelling the uncertainty they brought to crypto spaces. IMO bitstamp remains closer to real prices as traders in other places might be after Bitfinex's premium under the bullish market sentiment.

Correct. After all, it's a free market - exchanges aren't forced to follow the other if they don't see a valid reason to do so. That's exactly why Bitstamp is my main exchange. I like its conservative nature, while others like the wild ups and downs coming from exchanges like Bitfinex.

[alyssa85]

It is because it is hard to move fiat. For example, banks work only on weekdays, so if an arb opportunity occurs on the weekend, you can't take advantage of it. And wire transfers typically take 24 hours, so by the time your money has arrived, the opportunity has gone.

Whales mostly have balances on several major exchanges, which means that they don't have to transfer money to X exchange in order to buy coins there, and sell them on Y exchange. It takes far too much precious time away - and you know, time is money. In that regard, the lower average price on Bitstamp would have been bought up already. Whatever the reason is/was for their lower price, it has already slimmed down, and will likely continue to do so.

If they did have balances on all the exchanges, then there wouldn't be any price differences, because they'd have taken advantage of the arbitrage...

The fact that the price differences exist means that they DON'T have money on all the exchanges.

[stompix]

If you're looking for weird prices take a look at btce.
Right now they are still at 1470 compared to 1575 and 1538 for Bitfinex and Bitstamp.

Although it's pretty weird that the gap is closing in weekend and not by the start of the week.

[Iranus]

If you're looking for weird prices take a look at btce.
Right now they are still at 1470 compared to 1575 and 1538 for Bitfinex and Bitstamp.

Although it's pretty weird that the gap is closing in weekend and not by the start of the week.

Every exchange is weird.  Coinbase has a higher price than Bitfinex - that should be one of the weirdest things around.

At least with BTC-E the reason is obvious - they're not taking fiat deposits so far less people are converting to Bitcoin and people are withdrawing in fiat to deposit into other exchanges/

[Wayan_Pedjeng]

Bitfinex: $1578
GDAX: $1575
Gemeni: $1573
itbit: $1571
Bitsquare: $1588

Bitstamp: $1519

makes you wonder what the hell have people been doing in that exchange all this time, it keeps dragging its ass on the ground like a dog with worms

Well, what about this?

Bitfinex: $1,579 per coin
Bitstamp: $1,539 per coin
Coinbase: $1,578 per coin
BTC-e: 1,463 per coin

Why the BTC-e prices are $100+ less than the Coinbase rates? What prevents someone from buying coins from BTC-e, and then selling them in Coinbase?

[Natuhant]

Bitfinex: $1578
GDAX: $1575
Gemeni: $1573
itbit: $1571
Bitsquare: $1588

Bitstamp: $1519

makes you wonder what the hell have people been doing in that exchange all this time, it keeps dragging its ass on the ground like a dog with worms

Well, what about this?

Bitfinex: $1,579 per coin
Bitstamp: $1,539 per coin
Coinbase: $1,578 per coin
BTC-e: 1,463 per coin

Why the BTC-e prices are $100+ less than the Coinbase rates? What prevents someone from buying coins from BTC-e, and then selling them in Coinbase?

It is difficult to get fiat in to BTC-e.

[pooya87]

Bitfinex: $1578
GDAX: $1575
Gemeni: $1573
itbit: $1571
Bitsquare: $1588

Bitstamp: $1519

makes you wonder what the hell have people been doing in that exchange all this time, it keeps dragging its ass on the ground like a dog with worms

Well, what about this?

Bitfinex: $1,579 per coin
Bitstamp: $1,539 per coin
Coinbase: $1,578 per coin
BTC-e: 1,463 per coin

Why the BTC-e prices are $100+ less than the Coinbase rates? What prevents someone from buying coins from BTC-e, and then selling them in Coinbase?

it has always been like this. they are usually matching the price with some delays. and of course when price goes up fast they fall farther behind.
i believe it is mainly because of the way their fiat deposit/withdrawal fees work. and the fact that apart from wire transfer they mostly have online fiat wallet such as Okpay,... with extremely high fees.