Spot trading involves the immediate exchange of a financial instrument at the current price.
What Is Spot Trading?
Spot trading involves the immediate exchange of a financial instrument at the current price. A spot trade is the most common type of trade in crypto and forex, where two coins are traded against each other. In addition to cryptocurrency pairs, spot trading includes commodities, bonds, and stocks.
Spot trading refers to the price of an asset at the time of sale or purchase, rather than a future price for an asset as in a futures contract. The standard settlement period for a spot trade is two days from the date the transaction occurs in a traditional market.
Spot trades are usually settled within two business days of purchase and are deemed to be more speculative because they involve more risk than transactions conducted on the forward market. They are also subject to greater volatility due to their short-term nature and high liquidity levels in comparison to the forward market; therefore their prices tend to fluctuate more rapidly than other trades.
Spot Market
A spot market is a cash market where immediate buying and selling of goods occurs. The prices fluctuate daily as a result of changes in supply and demand for particular goods.
The spot market can be contrasted with the futures market, which is defined by contracts made on the trading floor of a futures exchange. Such contracts are legally binding and are usually settled through an organized clearinghouse. The futures market allows investors to hedge against the risk of adverse price movements in an asset class.
In foreign exchange markets, the current exchange rate of a currency pair is called the spot exchange rate.
Cryptocurrency Spot Trading
Cryptocurrency spot trading means buying and selling a cryptocurrency for immediate settlement, so you can realize your profits or losses quickly, rather than waiting for the value to fluctuate over time.
Most exchanges support spot trading and some offer margin trading services as well. Margin trading is another term for leveraged trading — in other words, borrowing money to buy more of an asset than you’d be able to buy with just the cash in your account.
Spot Trading With Digital Wallets
Spot trades are typically done using digital wallets, which are software programs that are encrypted with private keys. This is where you store the currency you’re going to buy or sell on the exchange. The exchange either has its own proprietary wallet that you use, or it supports one of several common third-party wallets (like Metamask or MyEtherWallet).
Unlike stock exchanges, cryptocurrency exchanges are open 24/7. This means you can spot trade your cryptocurrency at any time, day or night.
Crypto spot trading has many benefits but like any other kind of trading, it’s also not risk-free. If you intend to enter crypto spot trading, it is advised that you gather some essential knowledge and trade with caution. Make sure you invest only the amount you can afford to lose. The key here is selecting a crypto exchange with a high level of liquidity as it reduces risk to an extent.
