5 min read • March 1, 2023
Over a decade, crypto has been rapidly growing in popularity and now, it's firmly in the mainstream. Sure a few knew about crypto but fewer even knew what arbitrage trading means. For those who don't know, the crypto market can be described in one word and that is volatile. 2023 has shown that nothing is certain when it comes to crypto and people are always looking for a leg up.
That is why traders and investors try to find different strategies to make life easier. One of the best routes to take is known as arbitrage. This particular strategy takes a unique approach to buying and selling and this has made people look at it closely. You should know a few things concerning arbitrage and its place in the crypto market. It would capture the attention quickly as a new opportunity, let’s check what's an arbitrage mechanism and why it is getting popular today.
- Arbitrage
- Types of Arbitrage
- The Pure Version
- The Merger Version
- The Convertible Version
- Why Arbitrage Is Beneficial
- Final Thoughts
The crypto market pretty much works based on buying and selling assets. When both are done across multiple markets in order to make a profit, that is known as arbitrage. The interesting thing about this strategy is that it makes these profits because of the markets' ranging prices. Unsurprisingly, it too isn't foolproof because the best prices to trade at won't last forever.
Despite this, the large number of possible outcomes can make this strategy very profitable. The only catch is that the right combinations are found. Seasoned investors will often use the assets traders as leverage or as a hedge fund because they may be worth something down the road.
In the same way that Arbitrage is just one of the many strategies used, it too has a few forms. If you want to count them, three versions of this strategy exist. Each has its characteristics and uses, but all try to accomplish the same thing. The followings are these variants and their unique properties:
Pure arbitrage is basically this strategy in its truest form and operates, in the same way, the above description states. In fact, the word "pure" is never really used that much and most people just call it arbitrage.
When trading assets across different exchanges, the hope is that some of these places will trade at different values. If this is the case, the difference between them will be the profit. However this difference is relatively rare and very temporary, so when they happen, you should be ready to take advantage.
Bringing modern technology to the whole thing has meant that human mistakes have almost disappeared. This means that the already rare price discrepancies have become even more so.
This version of arbitrage focuses on merging two entities that may come in the form of businesses found on the stock exchange. It consists of two sides: one that acquires and its target. Publicly traded targets often demand a high purchase of stock from the acquiring party.
The prices of such purchases are usually at the height of the stock's value. This means that for the most part, the stockholders make a killing on the entire process. One aspect of this type of arbitrage you should keep in mind is that publicity usually drives up the price closer to what it can be. This is unlikely to happen because the fear is that deals may not come to pass. Interestingly enough, arbitrage of this kind can exist beyond its basic form.
The other common occurrence is the shorting of shares in case deals may not happen. Another thing you can expect is the aforementioned possibility of a deal not happening. This can happen for several reasons, the most common being:
- Crackdown from regulatory bodies and
- Ever-changing state of the market.
The idea of convertible bonds is to be separate from their traditional counterparts. Also known as convertible notes, what makes them stand out is the fact that they can transform into shares of a latent company.
This will of course be done at a later date and at a bit of a discount. Enterprises do this in order to have the best deal in terms of interest, which is lowered as a result of this practice.
This practice can have its downsides, mainly owing to how unspecific it can be regarding the systematic factors prices face. This does make it seem unreliable, but no strategy is foolproof.
In fact, arbitrage has a distinct advantage over most strategies because of its reach. Dealing with multiple exchanges dramatically increases the chances of a hit and this is the main reason people have gravitated toward arbitrage.
A myriad of strategies exist in today's world and all of them try to do their best in volatile markets. Arbitrage, with its stretch over many exchanges, has been shown to yield profits for those using it carefully. It isn't immune to the volatile nature of the market, but it will do just fine for the most part.
Nowadays, technology has advanced to such a level that even arbitrage as it was has had to adapt. Arbitrage bots are probably the best example of this as they bring automation to the table. The future of this strategy is unknown, which is exciting.
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