However, there are several important risks and pitfalls you need to be aware of before you start trading.
Arbitrage is the simultaneous buying and selling of an asset on different markets to profit from the price difference between those markets. In a highly simplified example of how cryptocurrency arbitrage works, you would search for a specific coin that’s cheaper on Exchange A than on Exchange B. You then buy the coin on Exchange A, sell it for a higher price on Exchange B, and pocket the difference.
The concept of arbitrage trading is not a new one and has existed in stock, bond and foreign exchange markets for many years. However, the development of quantitative systems designed to spot price differences and execute trades across separate markets has put arbitrage trading out of reach of most retail traders.
However, arbitrage opportunities still exist in the world of cryptocurrency, where a rapid surge in trading volume and inefficiencies between exchanges cause price differences to arise. Bigger exchanges with higher liquidity effectively drive the price of the rest of the market, with smaller exchanges following the prices set by their larger counterparts. However, smaller exchanges don’t immediately follow the prices set on larger exchanges, which is where opportunities for arbitrage arise.
Cryptocurrency arbitrage
However, arbitrage opportunities also exist in the opposite direction, where you would buy on a smaller exchange and sell on a larger exchange. The recent surge in the popularity of cryptocurrency has led to a dramatic increase in trading volumes on many exchanges around the world. Those exchanges are not linked, and a low trading volume on some exchanges can mean that the price listed doesn’t adjust to the exchange average immediately. As a result, this has seen the creation of price differences arbitragers could potentially exploit.
The most famous example of crypto exchange pricing differences was a phenomenon known as the “kimchi premium” which, in January 2018, saw the price of bitcoin (BTC) in South Korea rise to more than 50% higher than global prices.
It’s also worth pointing out that hedge funds are increasingly moving into the cryptocurrency sphere. For example, Singapore hedge fund Kit Trading is raising $10 million for a crypto arbitrage fund and is set to join the more than 80 crypto hedge funds that launched in 2017.
There are multiple strategies arbitrage traders can use to make a profit, including the following:
Simple arbitrage. Buying and selling the same coin immediately on separate exchanges.
Triangular arbitrage. This process involves taking advantage of the price differences between three currencies. For example, buy BTC in USD, sell it to make EUR, and then exchange those EUR back to USD.
Convergence arbitrage. This approach involves buying a coin on one exchange where it is undervalued and short-selling the same coin on another exchange where it is overvalued. When the two separate prices meet at a middle point, you can profit from the amount of convergence.
