How Much Money Do You Need to Start Arbitrage?

Short answer: it depends on the strategy, and the running costs matter as much as the account size.

There is no single number, but a realistic floor is a few hundred dollars for a lean crypto or small-account forex start, and low thousands for a serious latency setup once you add infrastructure. The strategy sets the account minimum; the infrastructure (VPS, price feed, software) sets the real cost of entry. Accounts that are too small usually fail not because arbitrage needs a fortune, but because fixed costs and minimum trade sizes consume a tiny balance before the edge can compound.

Starting capital by strategy

Different arbitrage strategies have very different capital profiles. Speed-driven strategies need infrastructure more than balance; capital-driven strategies need a working balance to be worth the effort.

Strategy	Rough starting account	What drives the minimum
Latency arbitrage (forex)	Low thousands	Infrastructure cost, not balance. The feed and VPS are the real spend
Crypto cross-exchange	Few hundred and up	You need balance parked on multiple venues at once
Funding-rate / basis (crypto)	Few hundred and up	Capital-driven: the return scales with size, so tiny is not worth it
News trading	Few hundred to low thousands	Position size must be meaningful relative to costs
Pair / statistical arbitrage	Low thousands	Two legs, margin on both, room to hold through drawdown

For a focused walkthrough of the smallest realistic forex start, see our dedicated guide on starting forex arbitrage with small capital.

Do not forget the running costs

The account balance is only half the budget. Arbitrage is an infrastructure business, and the recurring costs decide whether a small account can ever get ahead.

Cost	Why you need it
VPS or co-location	Low, stable latency to the broker. For latency arbitrage this is not optional
Price feed	The fast reference that gives you the edge in the first place
Software	The engine, plus tools to test and monitor execution honestly
Spread and commission	Paid on every trade. On a tiny account these dominate the outcome

Why too-small accounts fail

The most common beginner mistake is opening the smallest possible account, expecting to grow it, and being surprised when it bleeds out. Three forces work against a micro balance. Fixed running costs are the same whether you trade one hundred dollars or ten thousand, so they eat a small account proportionally alive. Minimum lot sizes force a trade size that is reckless relative to a tiny balance, so a normal losing streak wipes it out. And there is no room to survive drawdown, so the account dies before the edge has enough trades to show itself.

Rule of thumb: your account should be large enough that one month of running costs is a small fraction of the balance, and your minimum trade size is a sensible fraction of equity. If either is not true, the account is too small for that strategy, no matter how good the edge.

A realistic starting budget

Put the pieces together and a realistic first budget is the trading balance plus at least a few months of running costs held in reserve, so the operation can survive a normal cold streak. For capital-driven crypto strategies you can start lean, in the low hundreds, because the speed requirement and infrastructure are lighter. For latency arbitrage, budget for real infrastructure first and treat the trading balance as secondary, because there the spend is the feed and the VPS, not the float in the account.

Frequently asked questions

Can I start forex arbitrage with 100 dollars?

Realistically no for latency arbitrage, because running costs and minimum lot sizes will overwhelm the balance. A capital-light crypto strategy can start smaller, but even then, tiny accounts are fragile. See our small-capital guide for the honest floor.

What costs more, the account or the infrastructure?

For latency arbitrage, the infrastructure. The feed, VPS, and software are the real cost of entry, and they matter more than the size of the trading balance.

What is the cheapest arbitrage to start?

Capital-driven crypto strategies like funding-rate arbitrage have the lightest infrastructure requirements, which makes them the most approachable low-budget entry point.

Start small the right way

See the honest minimum for a forex arbitrage start, and the tools to test an edge before you fund an account.

Start with Small Capital
Forex Arbitrage VPS Guide