ARBITRAGE: Bitstamp -> CEX.IO - Proof of Concept

[Serpens66]

Instead of trying to arbitrage with FIAT, why not arbitrage with coin pairs?  There seem to be large enough differences between exchanges that it could be profitable. Also, less fees and faster transfers because it is all in crypto mean that one can probably cycle the arbitrage over and over again.

bter does not allow btc withdrawals.

and all the prices you see there are "last prices". This means nothings.
btcmarkets for example has a spread from 0.09 to 0.096. So you wont get 0.0933 as you see in screenshot.
There is no arbitrage profit in crypto to crypto markets, cause it is that easy to do and many many bots are doing this already.

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[Razzoel]

Instead of trying to arbitrage with FIAT, why not arbitrage with coin pairs?  There seem to be large enough differences between exchanges that it could be profitable. Also, less fees and faster transfers because it is all in crypto mean that one can probably cycle the arbitrage over and over again.

bter does not allow btc withdrawals.

and all the prices you see there are "last prices". This means nothings.
btcmarkets for example has a spread from 0.09 to 0.096. So you wont get 0.0933 as you see in screenshot.
There is no arbitrage profit in crypto to crypto markets, cause it is that easy to do and many many bots are doing this already.

I wouldnt say that there is no arbitrage in different crypto markets. There are small price differences time to time. You just have to keep your eyes open. Its not an easy way to make profit, but easy money doesn't exist anyways unless you get lucky.

[Alice Nuttal]

Yes, that must be one of the practical problem of arbitrage trading. Price gaps may fade away in quick time or will fall into narrow range which may not cover the trading and withdraw fees. Probably we may utilize such gap for one time and these gaps may not available for subsequent tries.

But we may still keep money on Bitstamp, whereas bitcoins - on CEX.IO, so that to buy and sell bitcoins simultaneously.

[Alice Nuttal]

Now prices are into $2500 ranges. It means cex prices started to converge toward other market prices. (maybe someone started arbitrage after seeing this topic  )

Well, the price on Bitstamp is $2433.98 now and $2560 on CEX.IO. The difference is still within $120. And yes, probably someone began to level the prices 

[Pamadar]

Now prices are into $2500 ranges. It means cex prices started to converge toward other market prices. (maybe someone started arbitrage after seeing this topic  )

Well, the price on Bitstamp is $2433.98 now and $2560 on CEX.IO. The difference is still within $120. And yes, probably someone began to level the prices 

its interesting to see if there's really someone out there who's trying to play with this arbs game as we knew that within a split of the seconds price will move and the transaction period will be the concern, but if done correctly and timing went to your direction its really an easy money to deal.

[dossantosleite]

EU countries have advantages because depositing fiat it's free and withdrawing using sepa cost only about $10.

[Herbert2020]

sorry i completely forgot about this topic

now lets look at the orderbooks.
if you sell ~1BTC the price will drop $10
and if you sell ~2BTC the price will drop $25

strange assumption. Do you really think such amount will influence the market?

it was not an assumption. i opened up cex.io and checked out the orderbook of that time. and by that time if you sold those amounts price would have fallen that much.
in deeper prices the orderbook volume became more though.

apart from withdrawal fee you will be paying trading fees too.
$20,000 * 2.5% = $500 * 2 = $1000
i don't know how much the fiat deposit in bitstamp and withdrawal from cex.io will cost

according to fee schedule it's 0.25%, and not 2.5% https://www.bitstamp.net/fee_schedule/

yeah, sorry i fixed it!

p.s. did you try it and see if you can make profit in reality or is it still at concept/theory stage?

[Alice Nuttal]

p.s. did you try it and see if you can make profit in reality or is it still at concept/theory stage?

I haven’t tried it yet. Actually, I started this topic to get some advice. I am studying the pros and cons now, so I greatly appreciate that you share your opinion here.  

P.S. I am still going through verification process on Bitstamp. It was much faster on Cex.io.
Besides, the difference in rates is around $50 now. Apparently, someone has already followed my advice 

[holtzmann]

For me, it is pretty much like short-term investing. You put your money in some asset, keep it and then sell after a short period of time. Does it work like this? Or is it better to sell bitcoins right away? 

[gokayc]

Hi everyone! 

I am newbie on bitcointalk.org and hope that I created thread in right place.

I have an idea how to make arbitrage between exchanges and make money without any risk.

But I am trying to undertand where I am wrong.



The idea is simple - buy bitcoin on Bitstamp @$2374.99 and sell on CEX.IO @$2540.00.
Profit is $165.01 per 1 BTC.


Could you dab me where I am wrong? 

If you have big enough amount money then it is worth to wait even 20 days. Otherwise doesn't worth to wait. I know some people doing this all the time but most of them doing this as a company so they can play with big amount money.

[BitcoinHodler]

...
Besides, the difference in rates is around $50 now. Apparently, someone has already followed my advice 

prices usually are balanced after a while and it doesn't have to be because of arbitrage really. it can simply be one market reacting to the change later than the others. sometimes (not necessarily this case) the difference is because of timezone differences. some exchanges have more European traders and some US and some Asian, ...

[buwaytress]

I'd given this some thought as well a month earlier when prices weren't so high yet the spreads were more or less the same, so the fee percentages didn't matter as much as they do now. I did see some theoretical +ve gains but it would require volume and a full-time dedication... unfortunately not something that is at my disposal right now. Good luck if you do try!

[Alice Nuttal]

If you have big enough amount money then it is worth to wait even 20 days. Otherwise doesn't worth to wait. I know some people doing this all the time but most of them doing this as a company so they can play with big amount money.

I am certainly not prepared to venture large sums of money until I have a good look through the whole process. For a start, it is reasonable to start small and see what it will bring.
I’ve also heard that doing arbitrage on a large scale is quite troublesome in terms of regulation. Not all banks are familiar with the nature of bitcoin transactions that's why they avoid taking risks.

[rickadone]

...
Besides, the difference in rates is around $50 now. Apparently, someone has already followed my advice 

prices usually are balanced after a while and it doesn't have to be because of arbitrage really. it can simply be one market reacting to the change later than the others. sometimes (not necessarily this case) the difference is because of timezone differences. some exchanges have more European traders and some US and some Asian, ...

But I read some local exchanges are trading in different price levels due to isolated conditions for payment options like they are unable to access other exchanges and hence they are leading or lacking in prices, but over time I did see all the exchange prices are converge to rest of world.

Honestly I am not hearing anybody making use of these price differences still I do see many people keep on spotting such opportunities. Hopefully some people would have got benefits from them but ignoring sharing here ?

[Alice Nuttal]

But I read some local exchanges are trading in different price levels due to isolated conditions for payment options like they are unable to access other exchanges and hence they are leading or lacking in prices, but over time I did see all the exchange prices are converge to rest of world.

Honestly I am not hearing anybody making use of these price differences still I do see many people keep on spotting such opportunities. Hopefully some people would have got benefits from them but ignoring sharing here ?

Actually the root idea of my post here was to get practical advice and probably see some cases from people, who have tried it. But, again, it’s a kind of business that needs a good strategy. It is obvious that people do not seem eager to reveal details of their successful deals. 

[recklessMe]

Seems like bitcoin price is at the stage of correction. The rates are little different among the exchanges.
Don’t you think it’s the right time to buy and wait until the price goes up?

[ucho1990]

If you wanna play on arbitrage try this is free http://trade.btcprojects.website/

[Alice Nuttal]

If you wanna play on arbitrage try this is free http://trade.btcprojects.website/

Seems like this website is not secure. Moreover it provides little information for unregistered users, so how does it work?

[ucho1990]

Yes site now doesn'd have ssl but this doesn't need it you don't provide any data only register login and password, email isn't needed jet. If you are scared about lose you pass and login make that login info what you don't use anywhere. Site to propertly work don't need any api key or something. This is arbitrage script what compare pairs from listed exchanges

[mrBTCman]

Seems like bitcoin price is at the stage of correction. The rates are little different among the exchanges.
Don’t you think it’s the right time to buy and wait until the price goes up?

Bitcoin price has surpassed $3000. And looks like it is going to follow the trend. I'm guessing the difference in prices among exchanges will continue to grow as well.