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Knife Trade Up CS2 Update: Complete Guide
Right at the height of the week, on October 23rd, Valve surprised everyone! The CS2 update was released, and its most exciting part concerns skins – or, more specifically, knives and gloves. They can now be obtained not only from cases but also through Trade-Up Contracts. We’ll tell you about this new feature in CS2 in this article for the MelBet Pick’em platform. Read on to learn all about the CS2 knife trade up mechanics, as well as how this update impacted the skin market!
What is Knife Trade Up CS2?
Counter-Strike trade-up contracts have been around since the days of CS:GO. They appeared over 10 years ago, and many had forgotten about them. But now Valve has given them a new lease of life. Starting October 23, 2025, 5 regular Covert items can be exchanged for one regular Knife item or one regular Gloves item from a collection of one of the items provided. Gamers have dubbed this update the “knife trade up CS2 update”, as knives are what everyone is most interested in.
How Knife Trade-Up Works in CS2
The mechanics of knife and glove trade-ups in CS2 differ only in one way from the trade-up of skins of any other rarity. This difference is the number of items required. Knife trade up CS2 require 5 Covert items, while crafting skins of any other rarity requires a whopping 10. We recommend reading our previous CS2 Trade-Up guide, which describes the contract mechanics in detail. However, we’ll cover the mechanics of knife and glove trade-ups in CS2 here:
Step 1 – Open the Trade Up Contract
Launch CS2 and go to your inventory. There you’ll see the “Trade Up Contract” tab. The interface hasn’t changed much since CS:GO: there are skin slots, a confirmation button, and tooltips at the bottom.
Step 2 – Select Covert Skins
If you’re reading this, you’re probably interested in knives and gloves. Crafting them requires five Covert-quality (red) items. This also works with StatTrak™ Covert—in this case, you’ll receive a StatTrak™ knife. Keep in mind that all items must be either regular or StatTrak™. You can’t use two StatTrak™ items and three regular ones.
The trade-up mechanics themselves haven’t changed in CS2. They’re still based on collections, not luck. If you use skins from the same collection, you’ll receive a knife or gloves from that collection. If you combine items from different collections, the resulting knife or gloves will be more unpredictable. However, it’s impossible for a CS2 trade up knife or gloves to be from a collection that wasn’t among the five skins used.
Step 3 – Confirm the Contract
Once all five items for the CS2 trade up are selected, click the “Submit Contract” button. It will take a few seconds for the contract animation to play, and immediately afterward, you’ll instantly receive your knife or gloves.
Step 4 – After Crafting: Sell, Trade, or Keep
The received item can be sold immediately on the Steam Market or third-party marketplaces. There are no new rules, although some players report that in the first hours of the update, gloves and knives obtained from Trade Up CS2 were unsellable. However, currently, everything is available for sale and trade.
Market Shock Due to the Trade-Up Update
The introduction of knife trade-up CS2 affected more than just those who wanted to obtain knives through crafting. It’s much more serious – millions of players have suffered or, on the contrary, benefited. In the first 24 hours after the update, the price of most Covert (red) items skyrocketed. This was especially true for the cheapest Covert skins and those with value due to the collection they belong to.
But it wasn’t limited to red items. The price of knives in CS2 also changed significantly due to the trade up knife update. In the first 12 hours after the release of the 2025 trade-up update, they dropped almost in half. This was most likely due to panic among players and traders. Now, about 24 hours later, the situation has stabilized somewhat. The price has risen slightly, but remains significantly lower than it was before the update.
Price Comparison Before and After the CS2 Knife Trade Up Update
| Item | Price Before Update | Price After 12 Hours | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| ★ Butterfly Knife | $1780 | $1320 | ↓ 26% |
| ★ Survival Knife | $160 | $100 | ↓ 38% |
| ★ Gut Knife | $200 | $100 | ↓ 50% |
| ★ Butterfly Knife | Legends | $1400 | $800 | ↓ 43% |
| ★ Falchion Knife | Legends | $280 | $180 | ↓ 36% |
| MP9 | Starlight Guardian | $2 | $43 | ↑ 2050% |
| AWP | Chromatic Aberration | $8 | $33 | ↑ 312% |
| SSG 08 | Dragonfire | $23 | $123 | ↑ 435% |
| AK-47 | Legion of Anubis | $7 | $34 | ↑ 385% |
| P90 | Asiimov | $10 | $100 | ↑ 900% |
| AK-47 | Nightwish | $7 | $40 | ↑ 471% |
| P250 | Farewell Grin | $4 | $47 | ↑ 1075% |
Why Valve Added Knives and Gloves to Trade-Up
The introduction of knife trade-up in CS:GO 2 is a highly controversial move. Until then, Valve had never interfered so radically with its own economy, and traders have always appreciated this. But if we look deeper, we can identify three main reasons for the update allowing the exchange of Covert items for knives and gloves:
- Motivation to use the Steam Market: Valve has a direct interest in players conducting all trades within the Steam ecosystem. Developers receive a commission from each trade. More trades mean more commission – it’s all very logical.
- Reducing reliance on cases: In some countries, cases are effectively banned due to anti-gambling laws. Now, CS2 knife crafting has become an elegant workaround.
- Promoting the Terminals system: The new format for interacting with skins could eventually completely replace classic cases and become the primary monetization model.
Knife Crafting vs. Case Opening — Which Is More Profitable?
Previously, knives and gloves could only be obtained by opening CS2 cases. The drop rate for “extremely rare” (gold) items was only 0.26%. Using simple math, it becomes clear that approximately 1 in 385 opened cases will yield a knife or gloves.
Now, another option has emerged: trading up Covert items, and it’s indeed simpler and more predictable. But to understand which method is more profitable, let’s compare them in a table:
| Parameter | Knife Trade Up | Case Opening |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Fixed: 5 Covert skins or StatTrak Covert | Variable: case + key, depends on market prices |
| Chance to Get Knife/Gloves | 100% (guaranteed from one of the used collections) | 0.26% (pure luck) |
| Control Over Result | Partial, depends on chosen collections | None, fully random |
| Risk Level | Medium, possible loss if cheap knife rolls | High, 99.7% chance to lose value |
| Profitability | Depends on market and selected collections | Very low probability, but huge if lucky |
End of an Era or a New Beginning for CS2 Skins?
Ultimately, the addition of knife trade-ups in CS2 has been a real shock to the entire community. Traders are still reeling from their losses, while those who always dreamed of owning a knife or gloves but could never afford them are, on the contrary, celebrating. The situation feels like a Robin Hood story, with Valve seemingly “robbing the rich to give to the poor.” At least, that’s how the CS2 knife contract appears at first glance.
Time will tell what happens next. One thing is certain: we’ll all have to adapt to this new knife and glove trade-up economy, where the balance between exclusivity and accessibility has changed forever. Whether that’s good or bad – everyone will have to decide for themselves!
FAQ
Yes, since October 23rd, players have been able to craft knives and gloves through the CS2 trade-up system. The mechanics are quite simple: 5 Covert items are exchanged for a knife or gloves. This feature is available to all players and does not require purchasing CS2 Prime.
The principle of the Trade-Up Contract has not changed, except that you only need 5 Covert skins instead of 10. After confirming the CS2 Trade-Up, you are guaranteed to receive a knife or gloves from one of the collections whose items were included in the contract.
Yes, if you use StatTrak Covert skins in a CS2 Knife Trade-Up, the result will be a StatTrak knife.
No, the CS2 Knife Trade-Up does not allow you to choose a specific model. The result is always random but limited by the collections from which you used the items.
From a CS2 economy perspective, knife trade-ups are more profitable because you get a guaranteed knife rather than relying on a 0.26% chance from a case.
Yes, you can. Many traders buy cheap CS2 Covert skins for knife trade-ups to reduce crafting costs. However, due to rising prices, all Covert skins are now quite expensive.
If you used skins purchased on the Steam Market, the knife can be listed for sale immediately. However, if the items were acquired through trades, they are subject to a 7-day trade hold.
Yes, you can. In this case, the CS2 Knife Trade-Up will become more unpredictable. The resulting knife or gloves will belong to one of the collections of the items used in the contract.
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