Traders profit from flash loan transactions by identifying price differences between exchanges and exploiting the passage of time. For example, if the price of a coin varies between two exchanges, a trader could use a flash loan to borrow as much as they want, say $1,000,000, and a second smart contract to buy tokens for $10,000 on one exchange and sell them for $11,000 on another, making a $100,000 profit. The trader then repays the loan and keeps the profit. However, this usually works best when the market is highly volatile.