What makes bitcoin different
Bitcoin has one network, and it is slow and expensive. A transfer between exchanges takes from ten minutes to an hour, and the withdrawal fee on most venues sits at a few dollars regardless of the amount.
From that follows the thing that governs all work with BTC: the classic "buy here, transfer, sell there" barely works on bitcoin. While the coin is in flight the spread closes — it lives for seconds and the transfer takes tens of minutes.
How it is actually done
By holding balances on both exchanges in advance. Then the route executes instantly: sell where it is dearer, buy where it is cheaper, and end with the same total holdings. The transfer happens afterwards, calmly, once the spread is already captured.
That changes the capital requirement: not one deposit but one per venue. In exchange, the main risk disappears.
What to watch in the table
The spread is computed from best prices net of the trading fee. The withdrawal fee is not included, and on bitcoin it weighs heavily: a three-dollar fee on a hundred-dollar transfer is three percent, more than any spread.
So the rule is simple: the smaller the amount, the less sense moving BTC makes. On small sizes bitcoin is a coin to trade within one exchange, not between them.
Where spreads are usually wider
Between large venues bitcoin spreads are tight: it is the most liquid coin on the market and automated systems close gaps within fractions of a second. Visible differences appear either on small exchanges with thin books, or during sharp price moves when venues fall out of sync.
The second is a real opportunity; the first is usually a trap, because on a thin book the visible price holds for a couple of hundred dollars.
Methodology and principles of analytical processing
Forming and structuring the data
The analytical system brings disparate market information together into a single structure, accounting for the specifics of trading directions and the individual characteristics of each platform. That keeps the presentation consistent and the key parameters comparable.
Criteria for forming the results
Forming the analytical selection takes into account the completeness, availability and reliability of the source information. Parameters that meet the established processing and confirmation criteria are included in the calculations. Insufficiently substantiated values are not used in the final results.
Currency of the analytical information
The information presented is kept current through regular refreshing and reconciliation of the analytical parameters. How often that happens is determined by the nature of each category of data and the way it is processed.
