Law of One Price
The Law of One Price states that in the absence of transaction costs and trade barriers, identical goods must sell for the same price in different markets. In financial terms, if two assets provide identical cash flows in all possible future states, they must have the same price today.
This law is the foundation for the No Arbitrage Principle and is essential for cross-exchange trading in cryptocurrency. If Bitcoin is trading at a higher price on one exchange than another, traders will buy on the cheaper exchange and sell on the more expensive one until the prices converge.
This process ensures that global markets function as a unified entity rather than isolated silos. The Law of One Price is maintained by arbitrageurs who monitor price discrepancies across multiple venues.
It is a vital concept for understanding how global liquidity flows and how pricing parity is established in decentralized finance protocols.