Each exchange sets its own price
No authority publishes an official price for a coin. The price you see is simply the last trade on that exchange's order book. Every exchange runs its own book with its own mix of buyers and sellers, so the last traded price differs slightly even at the same moment. The gap between Korea and overseas markets is covered in the kimchi premium guide; this one looks at gaps between Korean won markets, and between global exchanges. These gaps are usually tiny, but they can open up suddenly in certain situations.
When Korean exchanges drift apart
Korean won exchanges all trade in won, so no exchange rate is involved, and their prices normally move almost in lockstep. When one gets cheaper, traders buy there and move coins to sell elsewhere, which closes the gap. Put the other way, a gap appears the moment that movement is blocked. A visible difference between Korean exchanges usually comes down to one of the following.
- Deposits and withdrawals of that coin are paused on one exchange
- The coin is listed on only one exchange, or delisting has been announced on one side
- The coin trades thinly, so both order books are shallow
- During a sharp move, orders hit one exchange first
Gaps between global exchanges
Most global exchanges quote coins not in dollars but in stablecoins pegged to the dollar. Exchanges and trading pairs use different stablecoins, and stablecoins drift slightly against each other. So the same coin shows different numbers depending on which stablecoin, or real dollars, it is priced in. Exchanges also differ in their main user regions and trading volume. The price on the biggest venues tends to act as the reference while smaller ones follow, so in a fast move a small exchange can lag for a moment.
One exchange, several prices
Exchanges that also offer futures show several kinds of price on one screen. The names are similar and easy to mix up, but each has a different job. Futures liquidations, in particular, are often judged against the mark price rather than the last trade, so if you only watch the last trade it can be hard to see why a liquidation happened.
- Spot price: the last trade of the coin itself
- Perpetual futures price: the last trade of the contract
- Mark price: the reference used for liquidation and unrealized profit and loss
- Index price: a blend of spot prices from several exchanges
What to line up before comparing
Before putting two screens side by side, make sure you are comparing like with like. A few seconds of difference can look like a big gap during a fast move. Percentage changes need care too: some screens measure from 24 hours ago, others from midnight. Coins with the same name can be entirely different projects, so for an unfamiliar coin, check the exchange's listing notes to see which asset on which network it is.
- Are the prices from the same moment?
- Are they in the same quote currency (won, stablecoin, dollars)?
- Are you comparing spot with spot and futures with futures?
- Is the starting point for the percentage change the same?
- Is it a different asset that happens to share the ticker?
Why a gap is not a profit
It is tempting to think you can buy low on one exchange and sell high on another, but in practice little is usually left over. Gaps tend to be widest exactly when transfers are blocked, so the gap is visible but the coin cannot be moved. Even when transfers work, the price keeps moving while you wait for them to clear. And the displayed price only applies to a very small quantity; a large order eats through several levels of the book and fills at worse prices.
- Trading and withdrawal fees apply on both sides
- The biggest gaps often coincide with paused transfers
- Prices move while a transfer is pending
- On a thin book, larger orders fill at progressively worse prices
Check it with this site's live tools
The kimchi premium radar puts the won prices of two Korean exchanges next to the price on a large global exchange, and flags coins whose transfers are suspended. Comparing the two Korean won prices side by side, you can see them stay nearly identical most of the time and drift apart on coins carrying a suspension flag. Open the all-in-one dashboard for one Korean exchange's won market alongside the whale board for another Korean exchange's won prices, and compare the order books for the same coin to see how much volume actually sits near the displayed price.
A word of caution
This guide explains why prices differ between exchanges and is not investment advice. It does not recommend cross-exchange arbitrage. Transfer suspensions, listing status and fees change often, so check each exchange's official notices before moving coins or trading.
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