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Against the backdrop of the recent ups and downs of the bitcoin course, the interest of broad masses to crypto currencies has sharply increased. The Internet is full of predictions about the future of this digital currency: some say it is another bubble, while others predict multiple growth. But is it possible to benefit from these wild fluctuations of the exchange rate and not stay with the depreciated virtual coins? Is it possible to have time to make money at the general agiotage and at the same time reduce the risks to a minimum? Fortunately, there is an answer, and it is positive. Here, time-tested arbitrage strategies will come to our aid.
First, let's see what arbitrage is. The essence of arbitrage strategies is to extract profit from the price difference for the same asset, traded in different markets. When the value of an asset on one exchange becomes more than another, then an arbitration transaction is made - the asset is sold on the first exchange and at the same time is bought at the second. When prices are leveled, the reverse operation occurs. Thus, the trader receives a guaranteed profit, which does not depend on the direction of the market.
Consider how you can use this high-yield strategy in the case of Bitcoins. At present, there are two most popular world stock exchanges: Japanese MTGox and its main competitor BTC-e. The most interesting feature of these exchanges for us is that the difference in bitcoins prices reaches 10-20%. And on MTGox the price, as a rule, is higher, than on BTC-e. How can you benefit from such a price difference? Of course, you can just buy bitcoins on BTC-e, transfer them to MTGox and sell them there. But here there are many difficulties associated with the need for physical transfer of bitcoins and cash between exchanges. As a result, the potential benefit from such a strategy will be commensurate with costs.
But there is an easier way to use the price difference - this is bitcoin statistical arbitrage. This strategy involves trading not physical bitcoins, but CFD-contracts for them. Currently, you can find brokers who provide CFD contracts, the basic prices for which are both the bitcoin rate for MTGox and the rate for BTC-e (the BTC-e exchange itself allows trading contracts through the MetaTrader 4 terminal). Thus, at the time of a high price difference, instead of physically delivering goods from the stock exchange to the stock exchange, it is enough to simultaneously sell a CFD contract for the MTGox exchange rate and buy a CFD contract for the BTC-e exchange rate. And when prices equalize - simply close the open positions and get a guaranteed profit.
The current price difference at bitcoin-exchanges is a unique situation, because nowhere else will it be possible to find an exchange instrument with such a wide spread of prices at different sites. Therefore, the potential profitability of arbitrage strategies on bitcoins looks simply staggering. Naturally, to implement such a high-tech strategy, it is better to have special software capable of performing simultaneous trading operations on different accounts. As an example of such a specialized program, you can cite the universal trading robot Megatrader, which allows you to simultaneously work with various trading terminals and design complex arbitrage strategies.
