I've been watching the crypto market for a while and decided to figure out how people make money through crypto arbitrage. There's a lot of theory so far, but I want to understand the mechanics.

Basically, the idea is simple — the prices of the same coin differ across different platforms. This happens due to varying liquidity, delays in updating quotes, and regional demand differences. That's where the opportunity to profit from the price discrepancy arises.

Crypto arbitrage can take several forms. The first is inter-exchange arbitrage, where you buy cheaper on one platform and immediately sell higher on another. For example, BTC might be $96,000 on one exchange and $96,100 on another — that's the profit margin. The second type involves working within a single platform, exploiting differences between trading pairs. ETH/USDT might be cheaper than through a BTC pair, and you convert back and forth, earning on spreads.

There's also triangular arbitrage — exchanging currency through multiple pairs in sequence and returning to the original. Like USDT → BTC → ETH → back to USDT. And regional arbitrage, where you buy crypto on a large platform and then sell in local currency via P2P in another country.

What do you need to get started? First, accounts on multiple exchanges. Second, a balance, preferably in stablecoins like USDT or USDC — easier to work with. Then, you need to track prices using specialized services and bots. The main thing — don't forget about fees, or your entire profit will go to them.

This is where I start to have doubts. Deposit, withdrawal, and exchange fees — they seriously eat into profits. Plus, the time it takes to transfer between exchanges. While you're waiting for the crypto to arrive on the other platform, the price could move in the opposite direction. For speed, it's better to use fast networks like TRC-20 or BSC, but not all exchanges support them equally.

There are also withdrawal limits on some platforms and the risk of account blocks due to regional restrictions. All of this needs to be considered in calculations.

So, is crypto arbitrage a truly viable scheme or am I missing something? I’d love to hear opinions from those who have already tried it. Maybe there are aspects I haven't considered.