BUY/SELL Between Exchanges - Think about it....

[GoldWater]

Ok, please pardon me if this is a bad question, stupid, illegal, dumb, or just plain...well you get it.



I have noticed that the exchange rate is different between exchanges, (MtGox, BitStamp, CoinBase, BTC-e)

If I buy BitCoin from CoinBase at $830, it seems like I could then turn around and sell it on MtGox for much more, lets just say $880 (there is a huge price difference, even now, just look - https://www.mtgox.com/ | https://coinbase.com/charts)

We can also assume the accounts are fully verified and all in USD.

What are your thoughts on this? and is this illegal??

Thanks!

[Crypto4me]

I too looked into this and found a couple things.  There are fees you will have to pay each time you go from one site to the other.  And there is a lag time also which might play into the factor of loosing a little bit more $.  BUT it might be a good deal to make a little here and a little there.  It will add up  .  

[Faince1985]

It's a great question and this method could be of some benefit when there is a difference between btc-e,bitstamp and coinbase but please exclude mtgox as money in there can't be withdrawn in most of the world.
The reason why Btc-e is Lower in price is the difficulty to fund your account (and the associated high fees of bankwire,funding to perfectmoney etc...) .

[GoldWater]

No. but mtgox sell for users with high price and buy from users with low price.  

But it's higher....

I too looked into this and found a couple things.  There are fees you will have to pay each time you go from one site to the other.  And there is a lag time also which might play into the factor of loosing a little bit more $.  BUT it might be a good deal to make a little here and a little there.  It will add up  .  

Yes, MtGox especially seems to have a terrible lag time, coinbase is VERY fast.

It's a great question and this method could be of some benefit when there is a difference between btc-e,bitstamp and coinbase but please exclude mtgox as money in there can't be withdrawn in most of the world.
The reason why Btc-e is Lower in price is the difficulty to fund your account (and the associated high fees of bankwire,funding to perfectmoney etc...) .

BitStamp and Coinbase have the fastest transaction times, but their price is very close indeed. If you're willing to wait, MtGox could be a killer money maker. Waiting is OK if you have funds to play with while you're waiting and the money is settling.

[gary2315]

I have also looked into this, and also found sites where there is quite a big profit margin.

However, you would probably want to find out first if you would have to pay tax by doing this. Here's what I've found so far,

If you're from the U.S:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=352049.0

If you're from the U.K:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=331740.0

If you're from anywhere else then just search for it, you're more than likely to find it here than any other BTC related forum.

[m4552669]

This is known as price arbitrage, the possibility exists within commodities like gold as well.

This article may help with a better understanding of the concept... http://www.heavy.com/tech/2013/11/btc-e-bitcoin-cheaper-lower-price-less-cost/

[james1457]

if it was easy, everyone would do it. arbitrage isn't easy and it carries risk if you need to cycle $ through the banking systems and back to exchanges

[tampazeus]

The reason why Btc-e is Lower in price is the difficulty to fund your account (and the associated high fees of bankwire,funding to perfectmoney etc...) .

The reason is: it is hard to deposit Btc-e and very risky, a lot of stories waiting for Btc-e deposits even from previously instant options like okpay

[HarrisonHill]

Yes, you can do it, but it's not really worth it.

1 - Withdrawals cost money. And usually it will be more than % gained by exchanging.
2 - Price isn't stable. While you are waiting for transfer from one account to another (which could take quite a while) - price might just drop.
3 - You have to play with large sums to overcome withdrawal fees and make significant profit, thus more risk.

If you are ok with high risks - go for it. Otherwise, it's not worth it.