Crypto arbitrage explained: price gaps vs. trading fees

Crypto arbitrage means buying the same coin more cheaply on one exchange and selling it at a higher price on another, pocketing the price difference as profit. The idea sounds like risk-free money, and advertisements sell it in exactly those terms. Our own calculation using real prices shows the opposite: on Thursday evening, November 5, 2026, the largest price gap for Bitcoin across four major euro exchanges was around €10 per bitcoin. Trading fees for buying and selling €1,000 came to €10.50. A retail investor who had tried it would have walked away with a loss.

This article explains how price differences between crypto exchanges arise, works through a complete example including fees and transfer time, and puts the other forms of arbitrage in context, from triangular arbitrage to funding rates. It closes with what the German tax office expects to see on arbitrage profits.

What is crypto arbitrage? One coin, two prices

Arbitrage is the exploitation of price differences for the same asset in different places at the same time. Stock markets have known it for decades: when a share trades in both Frankfurt and New York, specialist traders iron out the smallest deviations within fractions of a second. The crypto market works the same way, except that instead of a handful of large venues there are hundreds of trading platforms, each with its own order book.