I've noticed that their are small inconsistencies with Bitcoin to USD exchanges, and how the value for BTC appears to be different.
What if, I were to buy 1 Bitcoin from BTC-e for $637.00 and then sell it again on Bitstamp for $643.85?
To me, it looks like it could be pulled off, but how come I've never heard of "exchange jumpers"? People who buy cryptos on one exchange for the lowest price possible and then re-sell on a different exchange, reaping the profits of the small inconsistencies? Is it too cumbersome or are the profits simply not worth it? Why do these price inconsistencies exist on exchanges?
You can do this however there are a number of problems with this strategy. First of all I would say that there are a lot of scams out there that promise to allow you to earn unrealistic returns "risk free" as this is simply not possible and will likely simply steal your BTC.
The main problem with attempting to do this is the fact that you need to withdraw funds from your exchanges that you sell on and deposit your fiat funds on exchanges that you buy on. Generally most exchanges will only send funds to a bank account listed in your name and will only send funds to a bank account in your name. In other words you need to have a lot of money going into and out of your bank account, this will raise red flags at your bank as it may look like you are kiting funds and/or laundering money.
The next problem is doing the opposite, sending BTC from exchange to exchange. Most exchanges will require 6 confirmations prior to allowing you to trade with BTC and this will cause a delay from the time you buy your BTC to the time you sell it, creating the possibility that the price will fall, eating away at your profits or possibly creating losses.
