The mechanics that directly affect whether your trade makes or loses money. Not the marketing version.
TL;DR: Order books determine your real price (not the displayed one), fees take their cut from every transaction, and liquidity determines whether the opportunity is real. Check all three on BOTH sides of every trade.
When someone says "Bitcoin is $97,000" — that's not really a price. It's the last price someone paid. The price YOU will pay depends on the order book.
Buy now at whatever price. Eats into the order book from the best price. If you buy 2 BTC — average price ~$97,037. That's slippage.
You set your price. Your order sits in the book and waits. No slippage, but no guarantee of execution.
$10K buy barely moves the price
$500 buy moves price up 4.5%
For arbitrage this is critical: a 10% spread on a thin token doesn't mean 10% profit. If there's only $50 at the best price, your order eats through multiple levels.
0.05-0.20% per side
Maker: 0.02-0.10%. Taker: 0.05-0.20%
Flat or variable per transfer
Separate from exchange fee
Every 8h for perpetual futures
On a $15 gas day — net drops to $12.50. With only 1.5% spread — just $0.50.
Internal exchange spread, deposit fees, conversion fees. Even 0.10% vs 0.05% difference on both sides = 0.10% total. On a $5K trade at 2% spread — $5 saved. Over hundreds of trades, it adds up.
Liquidity = how easily you can buy or sell without significantly moving the price. This is the single most important concept for arbitrage traders.
A 15% spread with no liquidity is worthless. A 2% spread with deep order books is money.
Rough indicator, can be inflated. Tells about the past, not current book.
The real measure. $50K within 1% = comfortable for $5-10K trade.
< 0.05% = active market makers. > 2% = low liquidity, careful.
$500K volume in 10 trades ≠ $500K in 5,000 trades. More trades = more active market.
Order book model. You deposit funds, the exchange holds them, matching on their servers. Fast execution (milliseconds).
Fast execution, clear pricing, multiple order types
Withdrawal delays, D/W suspensions, KYC, exchange risk
Most use AMM — a liquidity pool instead of an order book. Price determined by the ratio of tokens in the pool.
No KYC, no withdrawal delays, transparent liquidity
Gas fees, slower execution, MEV risk (front-running), AMM slippage
CEX and DEX markets are partially disconnected. Different user bases, different liquidity providers, different speeds. When a token pumps on CEX, the DEX price lags. This creates consistent arbitrage opportunities.
Every trade you make is governed by these three factors:
Determines your actual execution price (not the displayed price)
Take their cut from every transaction
Determines whether the opportunity is real or a mirage
The traders who consistently make money aren't the ones who find the biggest spreads. They're the ones who understand the full cost structure and only trade when the math works after everything is accounted for.
VoltArb calculates actual net profit using order book depth, slippage, fees, and funding rates.
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VoltArb is a free real-time crypto arbitrage scanner monitoring 30 exchanges — with real profit calculations, not just spreads. Funding rate arbitrage · Fair Price screener · Pro from $49.