Spot Trading is an instantaneous or on-the-spot exchange of commercially relevant commodities between interested parties. Commodities may include precious metals, company shares, digital assets like cryptocurrencies, and bonds.
Organizational and technological improvements in this space have immensely diversified the scope of spot trading. Advanced computing protocols are renovating spot trading and peer-to-peer direct spot trading systems, shifting from the fundamental outlook. Nevertheless, the underlying principles remain constant.
When a spot trading agreement is satisfied, a faction in the agreement claims custody of assets which primarily transfers the ownership rights. Traders wishing for profits via this traditional exchange system depend on the variation in the value of the assets.
Based on presiding demand and supply conditions, an asset’s value can change significantly, and profit-oriented spot traders try to use this variation to generate returns.
Spot Markets
Spot markets feature at least one seller wishing to trade their asset and a buyer willing to give away his asset for the asset that is being put up for sale. Markets or trading venues are made when it becomes a place where people tend to gather to make trades.
However, the form of each market may vary. It can be simply regarded as a negotiation table for peer-to-peer exchange collection of orders, such as seen in modern trading systems. Spot markets allow spot traders to sign trading agreements and exchange their assets.
Virtual spot trading platforms are primarily designed with a detailed and comprehensive interface for sellers and buyers, powered by underlying computing protocols keeping custody of the assets meant for exchange, signing virtual agreements, and approving the transfer of ownership of these assets.
Spot Trading in Cryptocurrency and its working
There is an excellent chance for participation in a spot trade for a minimum of one time, even without prior knowledge of the proper name for this action. Major cryptocurrency enthusiasts are simple-to-spot traders, with a relatively minor group engaging in other types of trading.
More than $70 billion of digital currencies are regularly traded on spot markets. This doesn’t include OTC (“Over the Counter”).
For exchanging their assets, cryptocurrency investors use available spot markets for swapping the asset they own with another. Crypto spot markets enable you to cryptocurrencies and crypto assets in a trading pair which can be exchanged for the other.
Most of the crypto spot markets feature an order book system, whereas others enable only spot traders to trade at current market prices. Traders setting their purchase or selling prices at the present market price may instantly get their trades based on the size and liquidity aligned with their set parameters.
Order Books
Order books are an advanced ledger system to keep records of trade that is requested by traders on a spot trading platform. It arranges the buy and sell requests from various traders and classifies them according to the prices predetermined for the buying and selling agreement to be satisfied.
The common practice in exchanges is placing the buy and sell order books beside each other. This enables traders to make a direct picture of the supply and demand situation for the assets in the spot trade pairing.
An exchange controls cryptocurrency spot markets. These can be centralized, decentralized, or specially designed for peer-to-peer trade.
Centralized Spot Exchanges
Centralized spot exchanges are the major cryptocurrency spot market operators. Digital currency investors’ typical impression of a spot market is that it can be provided by centralized exchanges. Centralized exchanges are custodial institutions and usually run an order book system.
To use a centralized spot trading platform, traders must create an account and pass the KYC process. Many centralized exchanges need customers to pass the KYC process as part of AML regulations before enabling users to trade.
The exchange platform serves as a third-party holding spot traders’ assets and executing trades meeting presiding market conditions.
Decentralized Spot Exchanges
These are built with cutting-edge technologies executing spot trade agreements without holding custody of the traders’ assets. Traders transacting by decentralized spot exchanges swap digital currencies from their wallets’ comfort without providing personal details for using the trading platform.
Peer-to-Peer Spot trades
Direct crypto trades between peers are a popular form of crypto spot trading. It has now transformed into “Over the Counter (OTC)” trades for processing high-value crypto trades.
Institutions that want to avoid the hassle of buying significant volumes of Crypto on exchanges can set up an OTC panel to handle the exchange procedures.
The OTC panel may include an escrow service, an independent entity to retain custody of assets by the two parties, and executing the cross-exchange when both parties have satisfied their parts of the agreements.
Spot Trading Fees
You need to pay a fee for trading activities at spot trading platforms. This fee varies and depends on a percentage of the traded asset or a pre-selected amount for a range of values. Usually, it’s 0-2% of the total trade.
Where to Trade?
Reputable platforms for centralized exchanges may include Huobi, Binance, Kucoin, Kraken, Gemini, and Coinbase.
Margin v/s Spot Trading
| Margin Trading | Spot Trading |
| Can use leverage facilities | Leverage trading is unavailable for spot traders |
| These traders can use the leverage facility to make big traders according to their convictions. | Traders can only buy or sell at once, using the resources available. |
| Funds in this trading account serve as collateral for borrowing from the margin lenders. | Spot traders’ funds are used to purchase the desired asset directly. |
| These traders are needed to manage leverages, close their traders early, or increase their collateral. | No extras are needed for spot trading since leverage facilities aren’t available for them. |
Advantages of Spot Trading
- Transparency and Low-risk levels
- Lesser Control points
- Low Entry Barrier
Disadvantages of Spot Trading
- Absence of Leverage facilities
- Demand and Supply Complications
Final Thoughts
Global spot markets generate around $10 trillion worth of various assets each day. This cuts across digital currency, stock markets, and precious metals. With millions of orders created and filled daily, spot trading platforms are one of the busiest markets.
Peer-to-peer spot trading is also emerging in relevance, where OTC markets rank in the elite markets regarding daily trading volume.