Spread: why buy and sell prices differ

You exchange rubles for USDT at one rate, and back at another, and don't break even? That's the spread — a normal part of how any exchanger and exchange works. Let's see where it comes from and how not to overpay.

What a spread is

A spread is the difference between the price at which an asset is bought and the price at which it's sold. An exchanger buys from you cheaper and sells dearer; that gap is its earnings and risk buffer.

Where it comes from

• Service earnings. The exchanger doesn't charge a fee outright but builds it into the rate.
• Risk and volatility. The more an asset's price jumps, the wider the spread — the service hedges.
• Liquidity. For popular pairs (USDT, BTC) the spread is narrow; for rare directions it's wider.

How the spread affects value

If you buy and immediately sell, you lose the spread. So frequent back-and-forth operations eat money faster than it seems. For a one-off conversion the spread usually isn't critical, but it's worth comparing.

How to reduce losses

• Compare not one rate but the amount received, factoring in the network fee and exchanger fee.
• Pick liquid directions (narrower spread) — visible in a monitor by the number of exchangers.
• Don't split a swap into many small operations without need — you pay the spread each time.

In short

• The spread is the buy/sell gap, a service's hidden markup.
• Narrower for liquid pairs, wider for rare and volatile ones.
• Compare the total with all fees, not just the rate.

Rates for all currencies — in the directory. Terms — in the glossary.