When the price differs between sites
- Author
- CRYPTO PORT Editorial
- Published
- Updated
- Reading time
- 4 min
In short
There is no single official price for a crypto asset. Prices are set by the trades happening at each venue, and information sites typically show an average or weighted average across several exchanges, captured at slightly different times. Seeing different numbers is the mechanism working, not a fault. What you will actually pay is the figure on the order screen of the service you are using.
Key points
- Each exchange forms its own price; there is no worldwide official figure
- Information sites show aggregates across venues, captured at different moments
- Brokerage-style services build in a spread, so their prices look very different from order-book prices
- The only figure that matters is the one on the confirmation screen of the service you trade on
Definition
The situation where the same asset is quoted differently across exchanges and information sites, arising from trading being spread across many venues and from differences in how and when figures are aggregated.
Start with the mechanism. Unlike shares, crypto trading is not concentrated in one venue. Exchanges around the world each match their own buyers and sellers, and each forms its own price from that supply and demand. Different prices at the same moment are therefore the norm. When gaps widen, traders step in to close them, which keeps prices within a range — but never identical.
Next, understand what information sites show. Most publish an average across several exchanges, weighted by volume or similar. Which venues are included and how they are weighted differs by site, so the sites disagree with each other too. Update intervals add to it: the number on screen may be seconds or minutes old, and the faster the market moves, the more that lag shows up as an apparent discrepancy.
For actual trading there is one more major factor: the difference between brokerage-style and order-book-style services. In brokerage style you trade at prices the operator quotes, and the gap between their buy and sell price — the spread — is their revenue. That gap alone makes their numbers look quite different from an information site at the same instant. Order-book style matches users' own orders, so the book is the price. 'Exchange versus brokerage' covers the distinction.
There is only one way to know what you will pay: enter the amount on the order screen of the service you actually use and read the estimated total and fees it shows. Prices elsewhere are reference figures and promise nothing about your execution. Make reading the confirmation screen a habit before you submit.
One caution: be wary of sites or apps advertising conspicuously favourable prices. Something offering to sell far below everyone else may be a fake platform from which you simply cannot withdraw. Never move funds to an operator you have never heard of because of a price difference.
Watch out for
- · Do not move funds to an unregistered exchange or app advertising cheaper prices — fake platforms built so withdrawals never complete do exist
- · You do not execute at an information site's price. Always read the estimated total and fees on the order screen
- · Turn down anyone pitching profits from price differences between venues; it is a standard opening for scams that pose as trading on your behalf
Frequently asked questions
Why does my position look down immediately after I buy?
In brokerage-style trading there is a gap between the buy and sell price, so a position valued at the sell price looks down the moment you buy. Nothing moved; that is the spread. 'How to compare spreads' explains it.