ArbiHunt finds and ranks the opportunities; you trade them on the exchanges yourself. So a little prep on those accounts pays off every time. This guide covers the setup that makes you fast and safe when a spread appears.
How many exchanges should you use?
ArbiHunt scans about 23 exchanges. You don't need accounts on all of them, but you do need accounts on both venues of any opportunity you want to act on — the one you buy on and the one you sell on.
Start with a handful of the larger exchanges that show up most often in your dashboard. The more venues you cover, the more of the live feed becomes actually tradeable for you. A practical approach:
- Begin with 3–5 well-known exchanges.
- Add more over time, guided by which exchanges keep appearing in opportunities you'd have liked to take.
- Use the Exchanges filter to hide opportunities on venues where you don't yet hold an account, so the dashboard only shows what you can act on. See Using filters to find the right opportunities.
Complete KYC early
Most exchanges require identity verification (KYC) before they'll let you withdraw — and sometimes before you can trade or deposit at all. Verification can take anywhere from minutes to a day or two.
Do this before an opportunity appears, not in the middle of one. Arbitrage spreads are time-sensitive and often last no more than 10–15 minutes; you cannot afford to be stuck waiting on a verification email while the gap closes.
- Have your ID document and a proof of address ready.
- Complete the highest verification tier you reasonably can, so withdrawal limits don't block a larger trade later.
Enable 2FA on every account
Two-factor authentication (2FA) is the single most important security step. You're about to hold real balances on these accounts, so protect them.
- Use an authenticator app (TOTP) rather than SMS where possible — SIM-swap attacks make SMS the weaker option.
- Save your backup/recovery codes somewhere safe and offline.
- Set a withdrawal-address allowlist if the exchange offers one.
Your keys, your accounts
ArbiHunt never logs into your exchanges, holds your funds, or moves money for you. You keep full control of your own accounts and credentials — so the security of those accounts is on you.
Fund both sides — the big speed advantage
Here's the move that separates slow setups from fast ones: pre-hold balances on both exchanges.
A naive arbitrage runs in three steps — buy on exchange A, withdraw the coin to exchange B, then sell. The transfer in the middle can take minutes to hours, and by the time it arrives the spread is usually gone. See Deposit and withdrawal times for why.
Instead, keep working capital on both the buy side and the sell side in advance:
- Hold a stablecoin balance (for example USDT) on the exchange you expect to buy on.
- Hold a balance of the coin — or stablecoin to receive the sale proceeds — on the exchange you expect to sell on.
Now when a spread appears you can buy on one side and sell on the other almost simultaneously, then rebalance with a transfer afterwards on your own time. You capture the spread without racing a slow network confirmation.
The trade-off is that capital is tied up across several venues, and you carry exchange and price risk on those balances. Spread your funding across the exchanges you trade most.
See where the spreads are
ArbiHunt ranks live opportunities by true net profit across ~23 exchanges, refreshed about every 30 seconds.
Before you commit: check transfers are actually open
Funding accounts isn't enough — for any specific opportunity, the coin has to be moveable between the two exchanges. Two things can quietly block this.
The network must be supported on both sides
A coin can usually be sent over several blockchain networks. The network you withdraw on must be a network the receiving exchange supports for deposits of that coin. Send on a chain the other exchange doesn't credit and the funds can be lost.
The ArbiHunt opportunity detail screen shows the active withdrawal network(s) on the buy leg and the deposit network(s) on the sell leg, and marks when they match. For more on picking a chain, see Choosing the right network for a transfer.
Deposits and withdrawals must be enabled right now
Exchanges pause deposits or withdrawals for specific coins — for maintenance, wallet upgrades or network issues — and this changes constantly. Before you commit, confirm:
- Withdrawals are open for that coin/network on the exchange you're buying on.
- Deposits are open for that coin/network on the exchange you're selling on.
The ArbiHunt status page and the per-opportunity details reflect the latest data, but conditions move fast — re-check on the exchange itself before you transfer.
Same ticker is not the same coin
The same symbol can be a different, migrated or wrapped contract on another exchange. ArbiHunt shows the contract address per exchange — always confirm the contracts match before moving any funds. Never assume two same-ticker coins are identical.
A quick setup checklist
| Step | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Accounts on both legs | You trade on the exchanges, not in ArbiHunt |
| KYC completed in advance | Avoid being blocked mid-opportunity |
| 2FA enabled (authenticator app) | Protect the balances you're about to hold |
| Funds pre-held on both sides | Capture spreads without waiting on transfers |
| Network supported both ways | Wrong chain can mean lost funds |
| Deposits/withdrawals open now | Conditions change constantly — verify live |
With these in place, you can move from spotting an opportunity to acting on it in seconds. When you're ready to run a trade end to end, read How to execute an arbitrage trade, step by step.
Nothing here is financial advice. Crypto trading carries risk, spreads can close in seconds, and opportunities may not always be executable.
See it live
ArbiHunt scans 23 exchanges in real time and ranks every spread by true net profit — after fees, withdrawals and live liquidity.