Cryptocurrency arbitrage in 2025: What is it, How it works, and How to Profit?

What is Cryptocurrency Arbitrage?

Cryptocurrency arbitrage – a trading strategy based on the difference in asset prices. It involves buying a coin at a lower price on one exchange and then selling it at a higher price on another exchange. As mentioned earlier, arbitrage – is not a new approach to trading, but in the cryptocurrency industry, it has "played with new colors".  

The reason for this is the large number of crypto exchanges, round-the-clock trading, a wide variety of assets in which arbitrage situations arise, as well as the lack of a common legal framework, which allows finding price differences between exchanges. 

Due to the fact that countries cannot come to a common agreement on cryptocurrencies (somewhere they are banned, somewhere they are planning to make BTC a state reserve fund), there is a concept of "market inefficiency": digital assets do not have a single center from which prices could be sent to crypto exchanges and other platforms. 

Therefore, any exchange adjusts the price of each cryptocurrency based on the demand and supply for it, as well as relying on the average market rate of the asset. As long as market inefficiency exists, cryptocurrency arbitrage will develop, allowing traders to earn and manage risks.  

Types of Cryptocurrency Arbitrage in 2025

Cryptocurrency arbitrage is a type of trading, having several variations. 

Inter-Exchange Arbitrage

The most popular type of arbitrage in the cryptocurrency market, which, in its simplest form, involves buying an asset at a low price on one exchange and reselling it at a higher price on another. Essentially, the first and most effective type of arbitrage to this day. It looks something like this:

• Buy a coin for $100 on the first exchange;

• Transfer to another exchange and sell for $110. 

• The profit will be $10. 

The problem with this example is that getting 10% in one "round" is quite problematic today. Usually, the profit will range from 0.5% to 3%. Also, keep in mind that transferring cryptocurrency from one exchange to another will take time, and you will need to pay a withdrawal fee. 

Intra-Exchange Arbitrage

Today, intra-exchange arbitrage is much rarer compared to a few years ago. Trading bots are to blame, which exchanges set up to optimize markets better. The essence: trading bots have one task – if they detect a price difference between cryptocurrencies (spread), they need to quickly equalize the rate. Due to this, arbitraging within one exchange today is quite problematic, so it is better to focus on inter-exchange arbitrage. 

P2P Arbitrage

Exchange through P2P platforms of the exchange differs in that you will need to involve cards and banks. The whole process looks like this: 

• You have 500 USDT. The arbitrageur exchanges them for fiat currency and sells them on the same exchange;

• Then withdraws to some payment system where the USDT rate is more favorable than the price at which he exchanged his stablecoins on the exchange;

• Deposits USDT on the P2P platform and repeats the procedure. 

In reality, there are more steps in this chain, but the essence is clear. As mentioned earlier, banks are usually involved in this scheme, through which fiat currency is conducted. This is the whole problem why this method is not suitable for everyone: government agencies track transactions over 600,000 rubles in Russia, and to make good money on this type of arbitrage, this figure should be the minimum turnover. As a result, you will conduct a round once or twice, and then your account with funds will be blocked. 

Triangular Arbitrage

The idea is to lock in profits by buying cryptocurrency at a lower price on one exchange and selling it at a higher price on another, or by sequentially exchanging between different cryptocurrency pairs within one exchange. 

Imagine a trader has 1 BTC. He starts by exchanging this bitcoin for Ethereum and gets 10 ETH. Then he uses these 10 ETH to buy Litecoins, which gives him 4000 LTC. Finally, he exchanges 4000 LTC back to bitcoins at the current rate and gets 1.04 BTC. The difference of 0.04 BTC is his profit, which arose due to the mismatch of exchange rates between these cryptocurrencies. 

Decentralized Arbitrage

The same as with centralized exchanges (CEX), but with decentralized exchanges (DEX). Such platforms differ from traditional exchanges in that users do not need to go through the KYC procedure, which is aimed at identifying and verifying clients by financial institutions.

On decentralized exchanges, traders can quickly and anonymously exchange assets, benefiting from short-term spreads between trading pairs. Coins represented on the decentralized exchange market often do not trade on centralized exchanges. This is because there is no management on DEX platforms, only a development team that supports the platform. Therefore, anyone can place their coin in the protocol and start trading. 

How to Make Money on Cryptocurrency Arbitrage

In cryptocurrency arbitrage, precise calculation and quick reaction to price changes are key to executing trades at the right time.

The process involves several steps. The first step is setting up the workspace: registering accounts on the necessary exchanges, activating wallets, and launching trading applications. 

Next is the stage of searching for links (price differences) and assessing potential profits – for this, it is convenient to use the arbitrage link search service Arbitragescanner, which will send notifications in Telegram with earning opportunities. 

The final step – conducting operations on the selected links. After completing the transactions, profits or losses are calculated, based on which a decision is made on further use of the link or moving on to searching for new opportunities. 

How to Start Cryptocurrency Arbitrage?

To begin with, you need to perform several simple steps without which cryptocurrency arbitrage will be impossible: 

• Pass KYC. Most cryptocurrency exchanges today require a verification procedure to have access to the full functionality of the exchange and to deposit in fiat currency; 

• Top up your account, for example, in rubles and exchange them for USDT, so that when an arbitrage situation arises, you can immediately buy a coin;

• Understand the principles of blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Sometimes an exchange suspends the ability to deposit or withdraw a certain cryptocurrency. Usually, this happens due to problems in the coin's blockchain or the volatility of the asset. There are other, extraordinary situations that you should be able to deal with promptly. 

How to Find Links for Cryptocurrency Arbitrage

Not so long ago, the search for profitable arbitrage links was done manually. Cryptocurrency arbitrageurs independently monitored rates on exchanges and monitoring sites. This was not very convenient, but there were no other options, so they had to work with what was available on the market.

Soon, various services began to appear, with the help of which the search for arbitrage links for cryptocurrencies became automated and did not require as much time. The leader in the segment of arbitrage links is Arbitragescanner. 

Here you will find: 

• Arbitrage scanner and screener – services for cryptocurrency arbitrage. Supports centralized and decentralized exchanges. Works without API requests, sends notifications about trades every 2 seconds, and allows you to track price differences between any exchanges and tokens. At different times, more than 10,000 spreads are tracked simultaneously; 

• Futures screener. Arbitrage by the spot + futures strategy, where clients currently make the most profit. The simplest strategy: go short with isolated leverage 1x more expensive – buy cheaper on the spot – make x's to the deposit, as the service's clients do. 

In addition, Arbitragescanner offers the best on-chain analysis tools on the market, allowing you to copy trades behind crypto whale wallets and smart money. 

Risks of Arbitrage Trading

Among the risks of cryptocurrency arbitrage, three main ones can be distinguished:

• Fees and charges. Exchanges charge fees for making trades, as well as for withdrawing cryptocurrency from the platform. This should be taken into account when checking an arbitrage link and deciding whether it will be profitable to enter it; 

• Potential losses. There may be losses in the early stages, and this is normal. Show me one investor or trader who has not gone into the red. Therefore, we recommend starting cryptocurrency arbitrage with a small amount (about $300) so that there is an opportunity to learn everything in practice, and potential losses are not too significant; 

• Risk of fraud. In this case, this applies to new tokens that are listed on different exchanges and often have a spread. As practice shows, many projects in crypto – are scams. Exchanges, often without realizing it, add tokens to tradable assets that are not trustworthy. Therefore, the links you find need to be checked. It is clear that this will take time, and the moment may pass, but it is better this way than to invest in a suspiciously dubious cryptocurrency and incur large losses. 

However, these risks only apply to newcomers in the field. Those who have been in the market for a long time are practically not subject to them.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Cryptocurrency Arbitrage

Among the advantages, the following can be distinguished: 

• Easy to learn. The service Arbitragescanner provides many educational materials with which anyone can learn cryptocurrency arbitrage;

• Fewer risks, compared to traditional trading, since everything here depends on the rates on different exchanges, not on price fluctuations; 

• It is quite realistic to make cryptocurrency arbitrage the main source of income, if you devote time to it and thoroughly understand the exchanges.

Disadvantages:

• Competition with other arbitrageurs. More and more traders and investors are turning to cryptocurrency arbitrage, as the earnings here are many times higher, so the competition in this profession is high; 

• Unexpected market fluctuations can lead to losses. Yes, they will still be less than in normal trading, but they will be there. Therefore, it is recommended to place protective orders (take profit, stop loss) to protect yourself from a sudden price reversal. 

How Much Can You Earn from Cryptocurrency Arbitrage?

Experienced users of the Arbitragescanner service earn 10-20% on their deposit each month with a fairly conservative approach. There have been cases when clients made 50-60% per month, but this requires being at the computer 24/7, as well as a deep understanding of the market – beginners will not be able to achieve such earnings.

In any case, such a monthly earnings on the deposit cannot be offered by any other type of earnings, when cryptocurrency arbitrage provides such an opportunity. The most important thing – is the correct choice of exchanges and ready funds in the account, and Arbitragescanner will provide the links. 

Expert Opinion on Earning from Arbitrage 

Alexander Melnikov, an analyst with ten years of experience in the field of cryptocurrency markets and financial technologies, shares his opinion:

"Arbitrage on cryptocurrency exchanges continues to be one of the most effective strategies for generating profits due to market imbalances. It is important to understand that the success of such operations directly depends on the speed of execution of trades and the accuracy of calculations. Working with decentralized exchanges (DEX) opens up new opportunities due to the absence of KYC and high liquidity on individual platforms. However, the trader should be attentive to transaction costs and possible price fluctuations to avoid losses. My recommendation – use advanced automation tools, such as Arbitragescanner, which help track cryptocurrency links in real-time."

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is worth noting that cryptocurrency arbitrage is one of the most stable and effective strategies in the digital asset market. Despite the fact that the approach itself has existed for many years, its relevance does not fade due to the constant development of the cryptocurrency market, as well as the ability to manage risks. Different types of cryptocurrency arbitrage provide traders with a wide range of ways to profit from price differences, each of which has its own characteristics and requires an individual approach.

However, success in arbitrage depends on attention to detail, speed of reaction, and accuracy of rate calculations. Using specialized tools such as Arbitragescanner allows you to automate many aspects of searching and analyzing links, significantly facilitating the work of traders. Like any other strategy, cryptocurrency arbitrage requires practice, understanding of the market, correctly selected exchanges, and readiness for risks.