Cryptocurrency Arbitrage: My Experience of Earning Easy Money

One evening, I was sitting after yet another market crash, thinking – where do all these money go? Then it hit me – surely someone is making money off these price differences! That’s how I got acquainted with the world of crypto arbitrage.

What kind of beast is this arbitration?

Simply put, arbitrage is when you buy cheap on one platform and sell higher on another. It sounds like a "buy-sell" scheme, just in crypto. Theoretically, you can earn without risk – well, that’s what the marketers tell us. Bought bitcoin for 1,500,000 rubles here, sold for 1,600,000 there, and there you have 100k in your pocket.

Three main features of arbitrage:

• The risk is minimal ( allegedly )
• Speed is everything ( who is faster gets to eat )
• Large volumes are needed ( you can't make much on 1000 rubles )

The essence is that prices differ on different trading platforms. While some are sleeping, others are profiting from these differences.

How It Started

It used to be a golden time! When Bitcoin was just gaining traction, it was possible to buy it in Russia and sell it in Korea with a markup of 40-50%. This was called the "Kimchi premium" – Koreans paid more due to local restrictions.

In Africa in 2017, there was actually a celebration – the price of BTC was 87% higher than the international price! Imagine buying Bitcoin for a million and selling it for 1.87 million. A fairy tale!

Do you know who grew on this? The infamous Alameda Research – they were transporting bitcoins from abroad to Japan, where prices were higher. Then they created FTX and... well, we know how it all ended.

Now, of course, everything is more complicated. Market makers with their super-fast algorithms are devouring all the sweet porridge, but there are still loopholes.

Types of arbitrage: where to look for profit

I tried different approaches:

• Intra-exchange: this is when you trade different pairs on one platform. For example, you buy BTC/USDT and sell through BTC/ETH and ETH/USDT. It is convenient because you don't need to transfer money anywhere.

• Inter-exchange: here you buy on one platform, transfer to another and sell there. Fees eat into some of the profits, but sometimes the difference is worth it.

• P2P arbitrage: my favorite topic. You buy a coin from a private seller below market price (many sell at a discount just to withdraw to rubles faster), and then you sell it on the exchange at market price.

A real-life example: on P2P some sell BTC 3-5% below the market if they need to urgently withdraw money through some exotic payment method. Bought, transferred to an exchange, sold – and there you have profit.

Links: The Path to Profit

No one just does "buy there - sell here". Usually, it's a whole chain of actions called a "bundle". For example:

1. Buy ETH for rubles on P2P
2. Transfer to a smaller exchange.
3. Sell ETH for BTC
4. Withdraw BTC to the third exchange
5. Sell for USDT
6. Withdraw USDT back to rubles via P2P

And this complex scheme can give you a 5-10% profit. But the main thing here is speed! While you are thinking, the bots have already bought everything up.

Link Search Tools

To avoid sitting with a calculator for days, I use:

• Cryptorank – there is a special section for arbitrage there.
• Dexscreener – I track the price differences in DeFi
• Special scanners like Coingapp or ArbiTool

But honestly? Most of these tools show either outdated data or already exploited pairs. By the time you see a "juicy" difference of 15%, it has already been eaten up by the bots of major players.

And what about those channels with "exclusive bundles" on Telegram? Well, well. If a bundle works, its owner uses it themselves, rather than selling it for 500 rubles to anyone who wants it.

Is this legal?

From a legal point of view, arbitration is not prohibited. But there are nuances:

• You will have to go through KYC on all platforms.
• Banks may block your transfers due to suspicious activity.
• In some countries, access to cryptocurrency exchanges is restricted.

I have encountered situations where after several large transfers, the bank would call asking, "Why are you being so active?" I had to explain that I am not laundering money, but simply trading.

Is it worth it?

Contrary to the beautiful picture painted by influencers, arbitration right now is not about "easy money". It is about:

• Managing dozens of accounts
• Continuous market monitoring
• Fighting against bots for a fraction of a percent
• Risks of blockages and transaction delays

When I started with arbitrage, I thought I would be raking in money with a shovel. The reality turned out to be harsher – the competition is enormous, the margin is melting away, and big players with million-dollar deposits and super-fast algorithms are gobbling up the best pieces.

But if you have patience, an analytical mindset, and a willingness to take risks – maybe you will find your gold mine in the world of arbitrage. Just don't believe those who promise you 30% profit a day with no risk. Such miracles do not happen in the market.

And while I wait for the next price spike – it is precisely during moments of high volatility that the juiciest opportunities for arbitrage appear.