What is cryptocurrency arbitrage? Types of arbitrage

Hoard
2 min readNov 12, 2021

Centralized and decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges facilitate trades worth billions of dollars daily. Because cryptocurrencies are decentralized, the prices vary from one exchange to another. These price differences show inefficiency in the crypto market.

Seasoned traders use this to gain instant profits. This strategy is known as arbitrage.

What is Arbitrage?

Cryptocurrency arbitrage is a trading technique that leverages the price variations between exchanges. Traders buy crypto on one exchange and sell it at a higher price on another exchange.

Cryptocurrency exchanges operate in a siloed manner. They update the prices based on recent buy and sell rates within the platform. Since prices vary from different exchanges, arbitrage became a go-to strategy for traders.

Arbitrage is a legal procedure. In cryptocurrencies, it results in price uniformity. There are around 300 cryptocurrency exchanges today that provide many arbitrage opportunities. Experienced traders constantly look for ways to identify and capitalize on these opportunities. They profit from these split-second price differences between exchanges.

There are various types of Bitcoin arbitrage, each of which works slightly different.

Types of Arbitrage

Spatial arbitrage

It is the simplest form of arbitrage. Traders buy and sell cryptos on different exchanges for a higher price.

Triangular Arbitrage

It is a more complex strategy. Traders conduct trades between three or more cryptocurrencies. A trader may, for example, exchange BTC for ETH, then convert the ETH to USDT before exchanging the USDT back for BTC. This procedure involves fund exchange via these pairs to end up with more BTC.

Decentralized Arbitrage

Traders using this technique conduct arbitrage trades on decentralized exchanges (DEXs). They buy and sell pooled digital assets that may be under or overvalued on the platform.

In the end,

Crypto arbitrage, when done well, can mean creating money out of thin air. But, it can result in significant losses if done incorrectly. Always be aware of the dangers and pitfalls associated with cryptocurrency trading.

Investors should conduct their research when considering crypto arbitrage. It includes looking at many lesser-known cryptos and tools to follow exchanges in real-time.

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