Options arbitrage
The same option costs different money on four exchanges. We show where to buy it cheaper and where to sell it dearer — in dollars per contract.
The gap is counted on best quotes, before fees and without book depth. "In ticks" shows how many minimum price moves the edge is worth: under a few ticks it is rounding, not an opportunity.
The return of the route to expiry. A healthy market keeps it near the risk-free rate — a few percent a year. The interesting points are the ones that fall out of line with their neighbours on the same date.
The return is annualised on capital employed. A four-leg route locks the strike difference until expiry; the "above neighbours" tag marks a date where another venue pays noticeably less.
What the scanner compares
An option is defined by three things. Match all three on two venues and it is one instrument — and the difference in its price is the opportunity.
The scanner brings Deribit, OKX, Bybit and Binance instruments to a common form and shows where the best bid on one diverges from the best ask on another.
Only BTC and ETH options trade on all four venues today. SOL and XRP exist on Deribit and Bybit, but the gaps there are smaller than a tick.
Why the edge is in dollars rather than percent
A percentage on an option misleads — it depends on the price of the contract, not on what you earn.
A cheap contract
It sounds like luck, but it is exactly one tick of the quote. Move the price by the minimum step and the "opportunity" is gone.
RoundingDeep in the money
A modest percentage, but in money it is a thousand dollars on one contract. That is why the list is sorted by dollars, with the percentage alongside for scale.
An opportunityWhat the scanner does not do
Three things to check yourself before trading.
On options they are usually charged on the underlying value rather than the premium, and depend on the account tier.
Option books are thin: the best quote may be for a single contract. Check the size in the exchange book.
Deribit and OKX quote the premium in the coin, Bybit and Binance in dollars. The payout is the same, but collateral and margin sit in different currencies — harder to hedge.
The second tab: call-put parity
Within a single venue option prices must hold to each other too. Parity is what binds them.
The forward price must be the same at any strike — it is the same goods. If two strikes on one date give different prices, the difference can be locked: build the forward where it is cheaper and sell it where it is dearer. At expiry the coin cancels out and a known sum remains.
We deliberately avoid the classic C − P = S − K·e−rT: the asset price and the rate are assumptions, and each paints "violations" where the assumptions diverged rather than the prices. The two-strike scheme needs neither.
What is filtered out
Because a percentage on an option depends on the contract price, not on the earnings. Eight dollars on a twenty-five dollar contract is "thirty-five percent" and exactly one tick. Five hundred dollars on a hundred-thousand contract is half a percent and real money.
How many times the edge exceeds the minimum price move on the venue. Under a few ticks the gap comes from quote rounding rather than an opportunity.
No. On options the fee is usually charged on the underlying value rather than the premium and depends on the account tier — one number cannot stand for everyone. Count it at your own rates.
Deribit and OKX take the premium in the coin itself, Bybit and Binance in dollars. The contract payout is the same, but collateral and margin land in different currencies, which makes the route markedly harder to hedge.
The return of a four-leg route that locks the difference between two strikes until expiry. A healthy market keeps it near the risk-free rate; the interesting points are the ones out of line with their neighbours on the same date.
How to use this
A practical guide to working with the analytical tools, reading the figures and using what the platform offers.
The crypto options market is thin, so divergences reach sizes unthinkable on spot. How to compare contracts and why the size behind those prices is small.
Scams that look like real trades: how the trust is built, why the first profit proves nothing, and what to check in the minute before you press Send.
The gap between buying and selling exists everywhere. Two different spreads people confuse, and why a percentage without a size means nothing.
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.