Arbitrage trading lastest opinion from traders

[Oshosondy]

I am not referring to what you see as arbitrage on exchanges like Bybit, neither am I referring to arbitrage on P2P exchanges but I am referring to spot arbitrage trading.

Some people have claimed that they make money from it. I have been a spot and derivative trader instead but I will like to know people's opinions about arbitrage trading in the spot market in 2026. Is it still as it was in the past or it has gotten more difficult with how close the prices of the same coins on exchanges are almost the same? Are you still seeing coins that you effectively make use of to arbitrage on two or more exchanges to make money in 2026? Which exchanges are you using for it? How risky is arbitrage now in 2026?

Which site make you see list if exchanges and the price of the coins on the exchanges?

[cryptoaddictchie]

Its quite rare to see a profitable arbitrage spot trading. If there is theres circumstances encountered like a guy see a low price on this exchange but higher on the other one but theres a problem the one with low price you want to arbitrage trade suspend withdrawals and you cant withdraw it to sell on other exchange.

But on dex arbitrage sometimes work as you find it low on other dex and high on some. Some might profit it if they found a good variance in price and worth the fee but the difference might not be so huge but some arbitrage traders take it as long as there some cinsiderable profit within the trade.

[DavidPham]

It is still possible to generate income using this method. However, the key issue is that you must pay close attention to the price spread and the trading volume on the two exchanges you intend to use. Trading volume determines the liquidity and absorption capacity of a coin on a given exchange.

In some cases, one exchange may have a lower price but high trading volume. This means that if you sell at the market price, your order will likely be filled quickly. On the other hand, another exchange may show a higher price but very low trading volume (often consisting mainly of bots). In such a scenario, even selling a small amount can cause the price to drop significantly because there are no real buyers.

Here is a typical example:

-On Binance, the market price of Coin A is 1,000 USDT, with a trading volume of 150 million USDT. This indicates strong liquidity, meaning that selling at market price will be executed immediately with available buyers.
-On MEXC, the market price of Coin A is 1,050 USDT, but the trading volume is only 5 million USDT, which is relatively low. In this case, if you attempt to sell a large amount of Coin A, the price may instantly drop to 990 or even 980 USDT. Your order may remain pending and fail to execute unless the price suddenly rises again.

Therefore, you should carefully consider this strategy before using it, as it carries the risk of reducing your expected profit. Additionally, if the exchange detects that you are using this method, some platforms may even suspend or lock your account.

[Charles-Tim]

-On Binance, the market price of Coin A is 1,000 USDT, with a trading volume of 150 million USDT. This indicates strong liquidity, meaning that selling at market price will be executed immediately with available buyers.
-On MEXC, the market price of Coin A is 1,050 USDT, but the trading volume is only 5 million USDT, which is relatively low. In this case, if you attempt to sell a large amount of Coin A, the price may instantly drop to 990 or even 980 USDT. Your order may remain pending and fail to execute unless the price suddenly rises again.

Exchanges are better now if compared to some exchanges in the past. I have experienced this before some years ago on an exchange that the trading volume and liquidity was low for few altcoins, but this can not happen on exchanges like Binance and Mexc, but I have not used huge amount of money up to millions of dollars to trade which could be the reason I have not experienced it.

Another thing is that I have not seen a coin that will have high price difference like this on exchanges recently but this is possible and what is called arbitrage will be possible with it.

[DavidPham]

-On Binance, the market price of Coin A is 1,000 USDT, with a trading volume of 150 million USDT. This indicates strong liquidity, meaning that selling at market price will be executed immediately with available buyers.
-On MEXC, the market price of Coin A is 1,050 USDT, but the trading volume is only 5 million USDT, which is relatively low. In this case, if you attempt to sell a large amount of Coin A, the price may instantly drop to 990 or even 980 USDT. Your order may remain pending and fail to execute unless the price suddenly rises again.

Exchanges are better now if compared to some exchanges in the past. I have experienced this before some years ago on an exchange that the trading volume and liquidity was low for few altcoins, but this can not happen on exchanges like Binance and Mexc, but I have not used huge amount of money up to millions of dollars to trade which could be the reason I have not experienced it.

Another thing is that I have not seen a coin that will have high price difference like this on exchanges recently but this is possible and what is called arbitrage will be possible with it.

You can verify this with a small-cap coin. If you sell on Binance at the market price, the order can still be executed without issues. However, if you transfer the same coin to MEXC and attempt to sell at a similar price, the order may not be filled, and the price chart can drop rapidly.

[Charles-Tim]

You can verify this with a small-cap coin. If you sell on Binance at the market price, the order can still be executed without issues. However, if you transfer the same coin to MEXC and attempt to sell at a similar price, the order may not be filled, and the price chart can drop rapidly.

I have not experienced this on Mexc before. But you mentioned coins that has small marketcap, what if what you are dealing with that is against you is the volatility because the coin could have falling to such price before you send the coin from Binance and received it on Mexc. Or you are using huge amount of money for it but which I have not tied before. So you can be very correct. I am not disputing that.

[AVE5]

I have been a spot and derivative trader instead but I will like to know people's opinions about arbitrage trading in the spot market in 2026. Is it still as it was in the past or it has gotten more difficult with how close the prices of the same coins on exchanges are almost the same? Are you still seeing coins that you effectively make use of to arbitrage on two or more exchanges to make money in 2026? Which exchanges are you using for it? How risky is arbitrage now in 2026?

Arbitrage spot trading hasn't been of my interest in the trading market even though as it's said to be less risky because of the slowly movements of volatility while the asset values trends in sideways.
Meanwhile arbitrage spot trading is said to be a trading strategy that a trader buys a coin in an exchange and tends to sell in other exchange whose same coin value is rated higher.
The risks mostly lies on the processing range of transactions because market price can change anytime and so on the transactions fees seems a barrier.
So I just wonder how those arbitrage spot trading actually make it successful.

[DavidPham]

I have been a spot and derivative trader instead but I will like to know people's opinions about arbitrage trading in the spot market in 2026. Is it still as it was in the past or it has gotten more difficult with how close the prices of the same coins on exchanges are almost the same? Are you still seeing coins that you effectively make use of to arbitrage on two or more exchanges to make money in 2026? Which exchanges are you using for it? How risky is arbitrage now in 2026?

Arbitrage spot trading hasn't been of my interest in the trading market even though as it's said to be less risky because of the slowly movements of volatility while the asset values trends in sideways.
Meanwhile arbitrage spot trading is said to be a trading strategy that a trader buys a coin in an exchange and tends to sell in other exchange whose same coin value is rated higher.
The risks mostly lies on the processing range of transactions because market price can change anytime and so on the transactions fees seems a barrier.
So I just wonder how those arbitrage spot trading actually make it successful.

This strategy used to work well, especially when prices on Korean exchanges were typically higher than on global exchanges. Many people made significant profits from this price difference. However, the situation changed when South Korea tightened regulations on deposits and withdrawals.
In addition, some exchanges may freeze your account if they detect that you are intentionally exploiting this strategy. Nowadays, this approach is no longer as effective as it once was, since the prices of major coins across different exchanges have become nearly identical, leaving very little arbitrage opportunity.

[knowngunman]

Therefore, you should carefully consider this strategy before using it, as it carries the risk of reducing your expected profit. Additionally, if the exchange detects that you are using this method, some platforms may even suspend or lock your account.

What if you're not intentionally doing arbitrage trading? I mean if you genuinely want to sell this coin for personal reasons? It's not your fault that the exchange has low liquidity and I don't think it's right to get you penalised for that. It baffles me how exchanges think they're smarter by taking advantage of their users without allowing the users to take advantage of the exchange in return.

But on dex arbitrage sometimes work as you find it low on other dex and high on some. Some might profit it if they found a good variance in price and worth the fee but the difference might not be so huge but some arbitrage traders take it as long as there some cinsiderable profit within the trade.

Arbitrage trading is becoming less available overall. Most Dex where it seems possible are likely a scam and you might lose your money attempting to give it a try. Moreover, the difference aren't even worth the risk in most cases.

[justinlamode]

I like the distinction you made about the general arbitrage trading and spot arbitrage trading because both are different based on what I have come to know later that some scam platform offer arbitrage trading where people claim they sell at prices higher that what is in the market. For spot arbitrage trading which is what you are referring to, I have not seen much people doing that begause of the low profits. I know it was very profitable before but like you said, the price differential is too small now which is why it is not as profitable as it used to be.

[DavidPham]

Therefore, you should carefully consider this strategy before using it, as it carries the risk of reducing your expected profit. Additionally, if the exchange detects that you are using this method, some platforms may even suspend or lock your account.

What if you're not intentionally doing arbitrage trading? I mean if you genuinely want to sell this coin for personal reasons? It's not your fault that the exchange has low liquidity and I don't think it's right to get you penalised for that. It baffles me how exchanges think they're smarter by taking advantage of their users without allowing the users to take advantage of the exchange in return.

But on dex arbitrage sometimes work as you find it low on other dex and high on some. Some might profit it if they found a good variance in price and worth the fee but the difference might not be so huge but some arbitrage traders take it as long as there some cinsiderable profit within the trade.

Arbitrage trading is becoming less available overall. Most Dex where it seems possible are likely a scam and you might lose your money attempting to give it a try. Moreover, the difference aren't even worth the risk in most cases.

This is the key point of the issue. Exchanges have their own risk control systems, and sometimes these systems can be overly sensitive, flagging transactions whenever they detect potential risk.
This means that if you only carry out this activity a few times, it may be considered normal. However, if you find it profitable and repeatedly exploit the same strategy, the exchange’s system will eventually detect the pattern and flag your activity.

[crwth]

In arbitrage, the legitimate way that you can do it is if the network is fast enough or you have software like Gunbot^[1]

If you are going to do it manually, it needs to be even better and, of course, cheap to transact, like SOL, L2s like BASE, etc. There should also be a consideration of the delays that you will have.

The market is definitely so fast that bots are the best way IMO if you are planning to do this strategy.


[1] - crwth.gunbot.com

[GreatArkansas]

I am not referring to what you see as arbitrage on exchanges like Bybit, neither am I referring to arbitrage on P2P exchanges but I am referring to spot arbitrage trading.

Some people have claimed that they make money from it. I have been a spot and derivative trader instead but I will like to know people's opinions about arbitrage trading in the spot market in 2026. Is it still as it was in the past or it has gotten more difficult with how close the prices of the same coins on exchanges are almost the same? Are you still seeing coins that you effectively make use of to arbitrage on two or more exchanges to make money in 2026? Which exchanges are you using for it? How risky is arbitrage now in 2026?

Which site make you see list if exchanges and the price of the coins on the exchanges?

I'm curious, how can you do arbitrage on P2P exchanges? How can you make money from it? Let's say fiat currency -> any cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or stablecoins (USDT, etc.)

I'm surprised that arbitrage is still a thing this 2026 as market cap of entire cryptocurrency is already huge so the trading volume too.

[vanesha]

The main difficulties in arbitrage are limited exchanges and high transaction fees. There may still be viable altcoins, such as Litecoin, TRX, and Pol, which offer low fees. However, the market is sometimes sensitive to significant price differences. This makes arbitrage less feasible this year. I believe only a few coins are arbitrage-friendly, and only the most meticulous and enthusiastic can execute arbitrage. Sometimes, the market blocks deposit or withdrawal access in certain cases. This is the problem.

[JeffBrad12]

Arbitrage is a racing game, there are always those sweaty hands that monitor the spot market 24/7 just to find arbitrage opportunity. At this point I prefer to delta neutral farming funding rate from different perpetual dexes than monitoring the market just to find arbitrage opportunity because trust me there are people running bot 24/7 monitoring dex and borrow flash loan to fill in the gap and in cex you are competing with advanced users or even trading firm.