What is crypto arbitrage?

Crypto arbitrage is the practice of profiting from the same asset trading at different prices in different places. You buy a coin where it's cheap and sell it where it's expensive, pocketing the difference — minus the costs of getting there.

Because crypto trades on dozens of independent exchanges with no single global price, the same token (say ETH) can be worth slightly more on one venue than another at any given moment. Those gaps are what ArbiHunt hunts for.

The simplest example

Imagine ETH is trading at $3,000 on Exchange A and $3,030 on Exchange B at the same instant:

1. Buy 1 ETH on Exchange A for $3,000.
2. Move it to Exchange B (or already hold a balance there).
3. Sell it on Exchange B for $3,030.

That's a $30 gross spread — about 1%. Whether it's actually profit depends entirely on the costs in between, which is the part most beginners underestimate.

Why do price gaps appear?

• Fragmented liquidity — each exchange has its own order book, so supply and demand differ.
• Capital can't move instantly — transferring coins between exchanges takes minutes to hours, so prices drift apart faster than traders can close the gap.
• Regional demand — some exchanges serve markets where a coin is in higher demand.
• New or thin listings — smaller coins on smaller venues are slower to track the global price.

The main types

• Cross-exchange (spatial) arbitrage — the same coin priced differently on two exchanges. This is the type ArbiHunt focuses on.
• Triangular arbitrage — exploiting price inconsistencies between three pairs on a single exchange (e.g. BTC→ETH→USDT→BTC).
• Funding-rate / derivatives arbitrage — capturing the difference between spot and perpetual-futures prices.

What makes an opportunity real

A spread is only worth acting on if all of these hold:

• The token is genuinely the same asset on both exchanges (same contract, same chain — never assume).
• There's enough order-book liquidity to fill your size without moving the price.
• The profit survives trading fees on both legs, the withdrawal fee, and any deposit cost.
• Withdrawals and deposits for that coin/network are enabled on both venues.

ArbiHunt checks these for you across 23 exchanges and ranks what's left by true net profit.

Is it risky?

Yes — like any trading, arbitrage carries risk. The gap can close while your transfer is in flight, a withdrawal can be delayed or suspended, and thin liquidity can eat your margin. Arbitrage is lower-directional-risk than speculation, but it is not risk-free or guaranteed. Nothing here is financial advice.