Updates

• 24 AUGUST 2025: The price difference between LUNO and VALR remained there until Monday, 8:30 AM, 11 August 2025. And it has not diverged again since. Not even slightly across any ZAR crypto pairs.
• 25 August 2025: Zarbitrage has launched a new comparison page tracking the BTC price across VALR, LUNO, and Binance in ZAR. The data highlights how closely aligned VALR and LUNO prices are at the moment.

Introduction

At Teruza, we track currencies, including cryptocurrencies, across multiple exchanges using market data taken directly from each exchange’s official APIs, as well as from our own Teruza API . This enables us to identify and measure price differences between trading venues in real time.

In July and August 2025, we recorded three notable events where the BTC/ZAR prices on LUNO and VALR diverged for extended periods. The graph below shows the estimated percentage price difference between LUNO and VALR for BTC, with the various spikes clearly indicating where the prices diverged significantly.

The summaries below detail what happened, how large the spreads became, and how long they persisted.

How to Read the Graphs

Each event is accompanied by a graph showing the estimated percentage difference between VALR and LUNO BTC/ZAR prices during that period.

Positive values (e.g. +2%) mean BTC was cheaper on LUNO than on VALR (buy on LUNO, sell on VALR). Negative values (e.g. -2%) mean BTC was cheaper on VALR than on LUNO.

Across these events, the spread at times spiked dramatically, with one peak at 26.83%. However, long stretches remained at smaller but tradable levels. While the events often lasted for hours or days, the largest spikes typically lasted only short periods (around 30 minutes).

Event 1: 6:00 PM Thu 10 July → 9:00 AM Mon 14 July (SAST)

A four-day divergence where the highest observed spike was 3.82%, which it reached twice for short periods. For most of the event, the spread remained in the 0.7%–2% range, creating ongoing opportunities to capture small, consistent arbitrage gains.

Event 2: 7:00 PM Sat 19 July → 9:00 AM Mon 21 July (SAST)

The largest and most persistent weekend divergence. The spread spiked to 26.83% at its highest, later hit 15.42% , and then hovered around 7% for roughly an entire day — meaning traders could have executed a ~7% arbitrage repeatedly during that time.

On 6 August 2025, Daily Maverick reported on the Saturday-night move at LUNO:

“At 8pm on Saturday, 19 July 2025, every coin on LUNO's platform plummeted between 15% and 25% in perfect synchronisation… before mysteriously recovering just as quickly.”

While that article focuses on a short, dramatic drop, our measurements show the surrounding divergence continued for nearly two days.

Event 3: 6:00 PM Fri 8 August → ongoing (SAST)

A renewed divergence starting on the evening of Friday 8 August and still active at the time of writing. The magnitude has varied, but the spread has persisted long enough to offer multiple trading opportunities.

Data Sources

Price inputs are taken from each exchange’s official API (LUNO API and VALR API) and aggregated/processed via the Teruza API.

Why These Events Matter

• Trading opportunities: Persistent spreads allow prepared traders to buy on the cheaper exchange and sell on the more expensive one (fees, transfer times, and limits apply).
• Market awareness: Monitoring spreads helps avoid overpaying or underselling relative to prevailing market prices.
• Market structure insights: Extended gaps can reflect liquidity constraints, market behaviour, or timing/pricing differences between venues.

Closing Notes

These three events show that local BTC/ZAR prices can diverge significantly - sometimes for hours or even days. By tracking data directly from official exchange APIs and processing it through the Teruza API, we can quantify and document these spreads accurately, giving traders and businesses better insight into real market conditions.

Work with Teruza

Teruza builds custom monitoring and trading solutions for businesses and traders. Whether you work in crypto, forex, or traditional fiat markets. Our systems can:

• Monitor multiple markets in real time
• Track price discrepancies and generate alerts
• Execute automated trading strategies based on your rules
• Integrate directly with exchange APIs and financial platforms

If your business needs data-driven trading tools, price monitors, or automated market analysis, our team can design, build, and maintain a solution tailored to you.

Contact us to discuss your requirements and see how Teruza can help you trade smarter.