Arbitrage Starts Not with the Spread, but with the Executable Price
The difference between two last prices may look like an opportunity even when it is impossible to buy and sell the required amount at those prices.
Crypto arbitrage is the simultaneous or nearly simultaneous purchase of an asset where it is cheaper and sale where it is more expensive. A spread becomes a real opportunity only after checking bid/ask prices, available volume, fees, funding, slippage and the ability to close both legs.
Arbitrage is not a risk-free return. Order books, funding and margin requirements can change between the signal and execution; one venue may delay an order, a withdrawal or its API.
Crypto CEX, perp DEX, xStocks, Ondo Stocks and bStocks — with the buy and sell direction.
Which Types of Arbitrage We Cover
CEX ↔ CEX
The same spot asset or futures contract trades at different executable prices on two centralized exchanges.
Perp DEX ↔ perp DEX
Opposing positions are opened in the same perpetual contract on two decentralized venues.
Funding-rate arbitrage
The trader hedges price direction and tries to capture the funding difference between spot and perp or between two perpetual markets.
Tokenized stocks
Prices of the same xStocks, Ondo Stocks or bStocks token are compared across several available venues.
A separate class is CEX ↔ on-chain DEX. Here, gas, MEV, confirmation time, bridges and the chance that a transaction executes after the quote has changed are added to trading risk. For a manual start, this setup is usually more complex than capital pre-positioned on two exchanges.
How to Calculate the Net Arbitrage Spread
For the “buy on A, sell on B” direction, the starting point is not last or mark, but the best ask in venue A’s order book and the best bid in venue B’s order book:
A position across two perpetual venues adds four trading actions: open the long, open the short, close the long and close the short. If each side executes as a taker order, fees are paid four times. A large spread can disappear at this stage alone.
The ask on venue A is 100.00 USDT and the bid on venue B is 100.70 USDT. The visible spread is approximately 0.70%. If total opening and closing fees are 0.32%, slippage is 0.18%, and funding plus rebalancing add another 0.12%, the estimated buffer falls to 0.08%. A single partial fill can turn the result negative.
The mechanics of slippage are explained in detail in the separate guide “Slippage, Piece by Piece”.
Tools for Finding and Verifying Arbitrage Setups
One screener rarely covers the entire process. A practical stack combines price discovery, funding verification and an assessment of venue liquidity.
| Tool | Best used for | What it checks | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| ArbSpread | Finding price spreads | CEX futures, perp DEX, xStocks, Ondo Stocks and bStocks; buy/sell direction based on ask→bid | The displayed spread is not net profit: fees, funding and actual slippage must be calculated separately |
| CoinGlass | Funding-rate arbitrage | Funding, APR, price spread, open interest and the next settlement time | APR extrapolates current rates; funding can change before the next payment |
| ArbitrageScanner | Broad searches across CEX/DEX and futures setups | Price discrepancies, funding and rate history on available plans | Before trading, you still need to open both order books and check limits, fees and withdrawal status |
| Coinalyze | Validating an idea | Price history, funding, open interest and related derivatives metrics | It is an analytical layer, not confirmation that both legs will execute simultaneously |
| DefiLlama Perps | Screening perp DEX venues | Volume, open interest, TVL, fees, revenue and protocol market share | Aggregate venue metrics do not show the executable price of a specific order |
| DEX Screener | Checking an on-chain pair | Token and pool address, liquidity, volume, trades and the DEX price | A pool price without price-impact, gas and MEV calculations is not a guaranteed swap result |
How to Use ArbSpread
ArbSpread separates markets into several tabs because the same risk model cannot be applied to all of them.
Crypto CEX
Compares futures quotes from Bybit, OKX, Bitget, Binance, Gate, KuCoin and BingX. It is suited to finding discrepancies between centralized venues.
Perp DEX
Matches the same perpetual contracts on Aster, EdgeX, Hibachi, Hyperliquid, Lighter, Nado and Variational when public quotes are available.
xStocks, Ondo and bStocks
Compares only identical tokens within the same product family and quoted currency. This matters: TSLAx, TSLAon and TSLAB are different instruments.
What the Calculation Gets Right
- The route is calculated as buy at ask → sell at bid, not as the difference between last or mark prices.
- The specific direction is shown: where to buy and where to sell.
- The duration of a discrepancy is recorded, making it easier to separate short-lived price noise from a persistent spread.
- For perp DEX venues, the availability of a public order book is taken into account.
- For tokenized assets, different issuer families are not mixed.
What You Must Calculate Yourself
- Your maker/taker fee tier on each venue.
- Price impact for the intended position size.
- Funding for both legs and differences in payment intervals.
- Deposit, withdrawal, bridge or future rebalancing costs.
- The margin buffer before liquidation.
- The product’s legal and geographic availability.
Arbitrage Between Perp DEX Venues
The basic setup is direction-neutral: long on the venue with the lower executable price and short on the venue with the higher price. Profit appears only if prices converge faster than fees, funding and slippage consume the initial spread.
Two opposing positions do not eliminate risk. Venues differ in mark price, oracle source, maintenance margin, auto-deleveraging mechanism, funding frequency and liquidation rules. During a sharp move, one leg can be liquidated even while the other shows a profit.
- Match the contract. The ticker, contract size, collateral and index specification must be economically equivalent.
- Normalize funding. An hourly rate cannot be compared directly with a rate charged every four or eight hours.
- Check depth. Calculate the average execution price for the entire size, not just the top of book.
- Keep a margin reserve. Capital on the profitable leg cannot always rescue the losing leg on another venue immediately.
- Define an emergency exit. Decide what to do if an oracle or API stops, or if one side cannot be closed.
For initial perp DEX screening, it is useful to combine ArbSpread’s price signal with volume and open interest from DefiLlama. High TVL alone does not guarantee depth in a specific order book, but it helps exclude very weak venues.
Funding-Rate Arbitrage: Why a High APR Can Be Misleading
With positive funding, long positions usually pay shorts; with negative funding, shorts pay longs. The classic cash-and-carry setup is to buy spot and open an equal short in a perpetual contract. The asset’s price exposure is hedged, while the potential result comes from funding and changes in the basis.
CoinGlass is useful here as a separate layer: it shows venue pairs, funding, spread, open interest, the next settlement and estimated APR. But the annualized rate is a conversion of current conditions, not a promise that the same return will last for a year.
- comparing non-normalized rates with different intervals;
- entering for a single payment without accounting for an adverse price spread on exit;
- counting only funding while ignoring fees for four trades.
Rate history matters more than one snapshot. Coinalyze and CoinGlass history help determine whether funding was persistent or whether an extreme value appeared for only one settlement period.
Arbitrage in xStocks, Ondo Stocks and bStocks
A tokenized stock is not an ordinary share held in a brokerage account, nor is it a universal token from a single issuer. xStocks, Ondo Stocks and bStocks use different contractual structures, contracts, availability rules and issuance or redemption mechanisms.
xStocks
States that tokens are backed 1:1 by underlying securities and operate across multiple networks. Availability is restricted by country and the terms of each venue.
Ondo Stocks
Tokenized stocks and ETFs with issuance and redemption available to eligible users outside the United States; legal and geographic restrictions apply.
bStocks
Tokenized certificates linked to individual securities and issued under their own legal structure. They do not provide direct ownership of a company’s shares.
Main rule: Only the same contract from the same issuer can be compared. TSLAx, TSLAon and TSLAB cannot be treated as interchangeable merely because all three track Tesla’s price.
Outside US market hours, a token’s price may deviate from the stock’s last price. This is not necessarily free arbitrage: primary issuance or redemption may be closed, available only to certain participants, or reopen at a different underlying price.
- the issuer and token address;
- the network and whether transfers between venues are possible;
- who is entitled to mint/redeem and during which hours;
- the handling of dividends, splits and tax withholding;
- restrictions for your country;
- whether the quoted currency matches and the actual depth of the order book.
Workflow: From Signal to Trade
- Find a candidate. Filter for a persistent ask→bid spread, not a one-off spike in last price.
- Confirm the instrument. Verify the contract, collateral, network, issuer and market specification.
- Open both order books. Calculate the average price for the full size on both sides.
- Complete the calculation. Opening and closing fees, funding, gas, withdrawals and rebalancing must be entered in advance.
- Check the infrastructure. API, deposit/withdrawal, oracle and network status matter just as much as the spread.
- Define the execution order. The thinner or riskier leg usually requires special control so that you are not left with open directional exposure.
- Start with a test size. Record actual fill prices, fees and funding for your own statistics.
- Close and rebalance. The net result is known only after both legs are closed and capital has been restored across the venues.
For API trading, use separate keys without withdrawal permission, an IP whitelist and only the minimum required permissions. The setup is explained in the guide to crypto exchange API key security.
Main Arbitrage Risks
Execution risk
One leg fills while the other remains open or executes at a worse price.
Liquidity risk
Visible volume disappears and the position size moves the price against the trade.
Funding and basis
The rate changes sign while prices across venues diverge for longer than the margin buffer allows.
Venue risk
A CEX delays a withdrawal; a perp DEX encounters an oracle, contract, sequencer or interface problem.
Liquidation
Profit on the other leg is not transferred automatically to the venue that lacks collateral.
Legal risk
Derivatives and tokenized securities may be unavailable in a country or for a particular user type.
A good screener reduces search time but does not assume the risk of the trade. If a service shows an unusually high percentage, the correct response is to strengthen liquidity and specification checks, not increase the position size.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can arbitrage be done without transferring coins between exchanges?
Yes. In practice, capital is often distributed across venues in advance and positions are opened almost simultaneously. Transfers are used later for rebalancing because waiting for a deposit or withdrawal can eliminate the spread entirely.
Why does a screener show a profitable spread while the trade loses money?
Most often because of taker fees, insufficient depth, slippage, a delay between legs or a funding change. You should also check whether the screener uses bid/ask prices or only last price.
Which is better: price arbitrage or funding-rate arbitrage?
They are different strategies. Price arbitrage depends on quote convergence and execution quality; funding arbitrage depends on the persistence of the rate and hedging costs. The choice is determined by infrastructure, fees and acceptable risk.
Can xStocks and Ondo Stocks for the same brand be compared?
They can be compared for relative pricing, but they are not the same interchangeable asset. The tokens have different issuers, contracts, networks and redemption rules. Simply buying one and selling the other adds basis and issuer risk.
Does ArbSpread execute trades automatically?
No. The service monitors markets and shows the spread direction. The user separately checks and controls orders, fees, funding, size and execution risk.
Sources and Methodology
Tool features and product terms were checked on July 31, 2026. Venue coverage, pricing, legal availability and contract specifications change, so verify the official documentation again before trading.
- ArbSpread — monitoring for CEX, perp DEX and tokenized markets
- CoinGlass — Funding Rate Arbitrage documentation
- ArbitrageScanner — Futures Screener
- Coinalyze — API and funding-rate data
- DefiLlama — Perps Dashboard
- DEX Screener — API, pairs and liquidity
- xStocks — official product and restriction information
- Ondo Stocks — official overview of tokenized assets
- BNB Chain — official bStocks overview
Start with an executable ask→bid spread, then subtract every cost and check the risk of each venue. ArbSpread helps find a candidate; CoinGlass and Coinalyze help verify funding; DefiLlama and DEX Screener help assess the market and liquidity. An opportunity becomes a trade only after both legs have been verified.
Use monitoring as the start of verification, not as a promise of returns.