In this full review of eToro, the reader will find all about the broker's safety features, regulation, and reputation. This guide also looks at how to open an account at eToro, the fees and other charges applied by eToro to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency traders as well as supported payment methods.
eToro is an online brokerage and cryptocurrency exchange that introduces you to hundreds of investment products in both the stock and crypto markets.
eToro has also infused innovative and highly advanced trading and market analysis tools, a trait that saw the platform feted by different Fintech organizations for leveraging technology in online trading.
Other factors endearing eToro to users worldwide include its support for several trading products, top-notch customer support, zero commission on some trades, and versatility as it is available on the web and mobile app.
But we still want to know if it is safe for the traders, eToro-supported crypto coins, fees, how to take maximum advantage of its social trading feature, and how to buy Bitcoin at eToro. We will be explaining all this and everything else you need to know about eToro in this review.
eToro Main Features | |
|---|---|
| 🪙 Number of Coins | 20+ |
| 🔧 Margin Trading | Yes |
| 🔧 CFD Trading | Yes |
| 💰 Minimum Deposit | $200 |
| 💰 Zero Deposit Fees | YES |
| 💰 Zero Withdrawal Fees | No |
To help you understand better if the broker suits your trading needs, let us quickly enlist a few pros and cons below.
eToro was started in Israel in January 2007 by three trading and technology experts (Ronen Assia, Yoni Assia, and David Ring) to make online trading accessible to everyone across the world. In the following decade, it actively expanded its base, reaching virtually every corner of the world,’ after which it sought registration and licensing from some of the most reputable financial regulatory agencies in the world. Today, eToro is a highly regulated stock and crypto trading platform. It is regulated and licensed in Europe by CySEC, FCA in the UK, FinCEN in the US, and ASIC in Australia.
Regulatory Body: Registration Number
CySEC: HE20058
FCA: 583263
ASIC: 491139
eToro’s trading operations are maintained by different holding companies established in various jurisdictions. And while the online trading platform started in Israel, it currently operates from its headquarters in Cyprus. Here, the company is registered under the name eToro (Europe) LTD, also known as ‘eToro Europe’, and operates under license number HE20058. This trading name holds the trading license for eToro’s services in Cyprus and all other member countries of the European Economic Area. It is headquartered in Limassol, Cyprus, but also operates three overseas offices in the UK, USA, and Australia.
| Nationality | Office Addresses |
| EU Customers: | 4 Profiti Ilia Street. Kanika International Business Center (KIBC) 7th Floor, Germasogeia 4046. Limassol, Cyprus Tel: +357 25010468 |
| Non-EU Customers: | 4 Profiti Ilia Street. Kanika International Business Center (KIBC) 7th Floor, Germasogeia 4046. Limassol, Cyprus Tel: +357 25010468 |
| Nationality | Office Addresses |
| UK Customers: | 24th floor, One Canada Square, Canary Wharf London E14 5AB, United Kingdom Tel: +44 02038687213 |
| Non-UK Customers: | 4 Profiti Ilia Street. Kanika International Business Center (KIBC) 7th Floor, Germasogeia 4046. Limassol, Cyprus Tel: +357 25010468 |
| Nationality | Office Addresses |
| US Customers: | 221 River St., 9th Floor, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA |
| Non-US Customers: | 4 Profiti Ilia Street. Kanika International Business Center (KIBC) 7th Floor, Germasogeia 4046. Limassol, Cyprus Tel: +357 25010468 |
| Nationality | Office Addresses |
| Australian Customers: | Level 19, 9 Hunter Street. Sydney NSW 2000, Australia Tel: 1-800 778 439 |
| Non-Australian Customers: | 4 Profiti Ilia Street. Kanika International Business Center (KIBC) 7th Floor, Germasogeia 4046. Limassol, Cyprus Tel: +357 25010468 |
In the 13+ years that eToro has been in operation, it has extended its services to 100+ countries and territories worldwide. This is a small number compared to the 200+ countries supported by equally regulated online trading platforms like Binance. According to eToro, the legislation around online trading embraced by most countries has prevented them from onboarding into the eToro platform. The table below outlines all the countries whose residents can create user accounts on eToro.
Note: US Citizens residing outside of the US cannot register on the platform.
| Indonesia | Lebanon | Angola | Malta | Benin |
| Austria
| Andorra | Angola | Argentina | Armenia |
| Bermuda | Australia | Bahrain | Barbados | Belgium |
| Cameroon | Bhutan | Bolivia | Bulgaria | Brazil |
| Côte d’Ivoire | Cayman Islands | Chile | Colombia | Croatia |
| Dominican Republic | Cyprus | Czech | Denmark | Dominica |
| France | Ecuador | Egypt | Estonia | Finland |
| Greece | Georgia | Germany | Ghana | Gibraltar |
| Guernsey | Greenland | Grenada | Guadeloupe | Guatemala |
| Ireland | Hong Kong | Hungary | Iceland | India |
| Jersey | Isle of Man | Israel | Italy | Jamaica |
| Latvia | Jordan | Kazakhstan | Kenya | Kuwait |
| Macau | Lebanon | Liechtenstein | Lithuania | Luxembourg |
| Mauritius | Malaysia | Maldives | Martinique | Malta |
| Mongolia | Mayotte | Mexico | Moldova | Monaco |
| Oman | Montenegro | Morocco | Netherlands | New Zealand Norway |
| Portugal | Panama | Peru | Philippines | Poland |
| Saint Lucia | Qatar | Reunion Island | Romania | Russia |
| Slovakia | Saint Vincent | Saudi Arabia | Senegal | Singapore |
| Sweden | Slovenia | South Africa | South Korea | Spain |
| Tunisia | Switzerland | Taiwan | Tanzania | Thailand |
| Uruguay | Ukraine | United Arab Emirates | United Kingdom | United States |
| Venezuela | Vietnam | Virgin Islands
| Azerbaijan
|
According to the eToro website, you can trade up to 30 cryptocurrencies and tokens on the platform. This is a significant drop from the hundreds of cryptocurrencies, tokens, and stable coins supported by equally popular and highly regulated crypto exchanges. However, unlike other crypto exchanges where you can only exchange crypto for fiat currencies or another crypto, eToro is highly versatile and allows users to exchange crypto for other crypto, fiat currencies, and commodities. The company, nevertheless, adds new cryptocurrencies regularly. Here is a tabular representation of the coins supported on eToro:
| Cryptocurrency Name | Short Code @ eToro.com | Symbol(s) |
| Bitcoin | BTC |  |
| Ethereum | ETH |  |
| Bitcoin Cash | BCH |  |
| Ripple | XRP |  |
| DASH | DASH |  |
| Litecoin | LTC |  |
| Ethereum CLASSIC | ETC |  |
| CARDANO | ADA |  |
| IOTA | MIOTA |  |
| Stellar Lumens | XLM |  |
| EOS COIN | EOS |  |
| NEO COIN | NEO |  |
| BINANCE COIN | BNB |  |
| TRON | TRX |  |
| ZCash | ZEC |  |
| TEZOS | XTZ |  |
| MAKER | MKR |  |
| Compound | COMP |  |
| Chainlink | LINK |  |
| Uniswap | UNI |  |
| Yearn.Finance | YFI |  |
| Dogecoin | DOGE |  |
| Aave | AAVE |  |
| Algorand | ALGO |  |
| Enjin | ANJ |  |
| Basic Attention Token | BAT |  |
| Decentraland | MANA |  |
| Shiba Inu | SHIB |  |
| Polygon | MATIC |  |
| Spark | FLR |  |
Note: Crypto trading on eToro is broken into two parts: trading real assets and trading crypto CFDs. Currently, only US residents can trade real cryptocurrency assets and have the actual private keys for their coins deposited into the free custodial crypto wallet provided and maintained by eToro. The rest of the platform users can only engage in trading crypto CFDs.
The forex trading pairs on the platform reveal that you can trade as much as 21 fiat currencies. The supported currencies are UK Pound Sterling (GBP), Euro (EUR), US Dollar (USD), New Zealand Dollar (NZD), Canadian Dollar (ZAD), Japanese Yen (JPY), Swiss Franc (CHF), Australian Dollar (UAD), Russian Ruble (RUB), Chinese Yuan Renminbi (CHN), South African Rand (ZAR), Hong Kong Dollar (HKD), Norwegian Krone (NOK), Swedish Krona (SEK), Turkish Lira (TRY), Mexican Peso MXN), Singapore Dollar (SGD), Polish Zloty (PLN), Hungarian Forint (HUF), Czech Koruna (CZK), and the Romanian Leu (RON).
As we already mentioned above, cryptocurrencies on eToro can be traded for a wider variety of products. In the tables below, we outline the crypto-to-crypto, fiat-to-crypto, and crypto-to-commodity crosses.
On eToro, you can currently trade up to 14 crypto-to-crypto pairs as outlined in the table below.
| Base currency | Symbol(s) | ETH | BTC | EOS | BCH | ZEC | XRP | XLM | ETC | LTC |
| EOS | Yes | – | – | – | – | – | Yes | – | – | |
| XLM | Yes | Yes | Yes | – | Yes | – | – | – | – | |
| BTC | Yes | – | Yes | – | – | – | Yes | – | – | |
| LTC | – | – | – | Yes | Yes | – | – | – | – | |
| BCH | – | – | – | – | Yes | – | – | – | Yes | |
| DASH | – | – | – | – | Yes | Yes | – | – | – | |
| XRP | – | – | – | – | Yes | – | – | – | – |
On the eToro platform, you can trade up to 63 crypto-to-fiat pairs. Here, crypto matches the most popular cryptocurrencies on the platform with the most popular fiat currencies. The table below illustrates the crypto/fiat pairs supported today:
| Base currency | Symbol(s) | GBP | EUR | CAD | NZD | AUD | CHF | CNH | JPY |
| BITCOIN | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | – | Yes | |
| ETHEREUM | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| EOS COIN | Yes | – | – | – | – | – | – | Yes | |
| RIPPLE | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | – | Yes | |
| ETHEREUM CLASSIC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | – | Yes | |
| BITCOIN CASH | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | – | Yes | |
| LITECOIN | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| STELLAR LUMENS | Yes | Yes | – | – | – | – | – | Yes | |
| ZCash | Yes | Yes | – | – | – | – | – | Yes |
Note: The FCA-UK recently banned crypto CFD trading in the United Kingdom for retail traders.
eToro is one of the few and the pioneer of crypto to commodity trading. It allows its platform users to exchange cryptocurrencies for such commodities as gold and silver, energy products like oil and natural gas, textiles like cotton, and farm produce like sugar, wheat, or corn. The crypto/commodity pair market is, however, still a work in progress, and currently, eToro users can only trade Bitcoins for Gold (BTC/GC).
Note: eToro trading platform currently supports 49 crypto-forex pairs. These are all CFD trades and are currently unavailable to the US market due to regulatory restrictions.
Unlike most other crypto trading platforms that base their crypto trading fees on either the transaction volumes or standard commissions, eToro charges spread. This can be explained by the fact that unlike other platforms when you gain actual access to your digital assets’ private keys, a majority of the crypto trades initiated on eToro are CFDs-based. And as we already mentioned in the pros and cons section, one of eToro’s biggest downsides is its wide crypto trading spreads that range from 0.75% for TC trades and up to 5% when you trade Tezos.
There are two primary types of fees that act on Contract For Differences (CFDs) trades initiated on eToro: Spreads and overnight rollover fees. Crypto CFDs spreads range from 0.75% to 5%.
The overnight fees are equally variable, but eToro applies different rates depending on whether you are going long or short on a trade.
Here is an example of how the eToro fees would act on a crypto CFDs trade that involves buying XRP (Ripple) coins worth $1,000.
When copy trading on eToro, you will only have to pay the mandatory trading fees associated with your trade. eToro doesn’t impose additional fees on any copied trade. However, keep in mind that 20% of the profit earned from copied trades goes to the pro-trader from whom you copied the trade.
You will be charged an inactivity fee of $10 per month if you maintain a user account with eToro but go for more than 12 months without placing a trade.
Unlike most exchanges that impose hard limits on the number of cryptocurrencies you can trade or exchange daily or based on your verification status, eToro is somewhat flexible. CFD traders on the platform enjoy relatively extended trading limits regardless of the product they choose to trade. However, since most of the CFD trades on the platform are leveraged, the online broker sets highly variable limits on the utilization of trading margins. This means that there is no standard limit to the use of the margin limits. Instead, they vary from one trader to another and one trading instrument to another.
When eToro launched the desktop trading platform in September 2007, they referred to it as a Visual FX Trading platform. It stood out from the industry because it used a mix of text and graphical representations for all the supported financial instruments. In the years that followed, and as eToro introduced more trading instruments, the Visual FX would be subjected to progressive upgrades that culminated in the launch of the revamped eToro WebTrader platform in May 2009.
The difference between the two is that WebTrader doesn’t just support more trading instruments. It also integrated more trading and market analysis tools for both professional and beginner traders. But the WebTrader would also be subjected to even more technologically informed upgrades in the years that followed until 2015 when eToro launched the current eToro WebTrader.
In July 2010, eToro attracted the global online trading industry’s attention when it became the first online trading platform to integrate an OpenBook. This, in turn, ensures that the online broker becomes the first platform to provide social trading on its platform by facilitating seamless interactions between both pro and beginner traders. The platform users also had access to the CopyTrading tool which allowed them to copy the trades of highly successful traders on the platform.
It effectively set the ball rolling as numerous others online continue to introduce different versions of social and copy trading on their platforms. This fintech milestone would also see it declared the Best of Show winner for 2011 by Finovate Europe.
eToro integrates numerous other technical and fundamental market analysis and trading tools that serve both experienced and beginner traders in addition to the social trading feature. These include charting tools like candlesticks and Bollinger bands that are captured by both the normal and Pro charts. In addition to this is the current news and events calendar section that you can use to monitor industry happenings in real time. There are also market sentiment trades that analyze and gauge the trading mood/sentiments from different social media platforms.
Signing up for an eToro desktop trading account is relatively easy. However, remember that eToro, unlike most other crypto exchanges and trading platforms, lets you deposit a maximum of £/€/$2250 anonymously, after which you will need to verify your identity. The online brokerage adds that though the verification process is manual, it only takes a few days to have your account activated.
But before we provide you with a step-by-step guide on how to register with eToro, lets us first elaborate on its key features:
The trading section of the eToro website details all things trading on the platform. It describes everything from the available trading markets, the supported trading platforms to market hours and the fees levied on all your trades within the platform. By clicking on either of the different aspects of eToro trading listed here, you will be redirected to a page that explains how each of these works.
The trade markets redirect to the trading markets page that explains all the trade markets on eToro (stocks, crypto, forex, commodities, etc.) and provides you with a list of all the supported finance instruments in each market. The trading platform explains how the desktop and mobile trading platforms work while the copied trader goes into detail on how you can earn from copying the trades of successful traders on the platform. ‘Crypto on eToro’ and ‘CFD trading’ pages explain how to trade cryptocurrencies and CFDs respectively and outline available financial instruments in each category. Professional accounts let you apply for a professional trader account.
The top markets tab lists all the supported markets on the platform. Currently, eToro gives you access to six primary markets; cryptocurrencies, stocks, commodities, currencies, ETFs, and Indices.
By clicking on either market, you are redirected to the eToro desktop trading platform that lists all the trading instruments related to the specific market. However, you can click on the ‘all markets’ icon to access all the markets on the eToro WebTrader.
The website’s investing section details all the income-generating projects you can leverage when using the eToro platform. They start with the 0% commission stocks that explain how fee-free stock trading works on eToro and goes ahead to list all the stocks that you can trade fee-free on the platform.
The Copyportfolio page explains how the social and copy-trading aspects of the trade work. Then there is the popular investor tab that goes into details on the requirements you need to fulfill before you can have beginner traders copy your trades and how much you stand to gain from copiers.
The eToro earnings reports calendar provides users with a list of all the companies expected to issue earning reports, the announcement date, and the time of the announcement (before markets open or after markets close). It comes in handy by helping stock traders on the platform make informed investment decisions. The Free Investment Insurance tab, on the other hand, explains how eToro trader insurance works, who is covered, and the maximum coverage amount.
The education tab lists the different strategies employed by eToro in helping its platform users hone their trading skills. Some of the notable education resources captured in this tab are elaborate guides that break down complicated trading topics like “What is social trading” and Podcasts, video tutorials, and a trading school. We cover this section in detail down in this review.
The company tab tells you everything you need to know about eToro’s online brokerage. It starts with the about us page that outlines eToro’s roadmap and the different milestones hit by the broker since its establishment. It also has the ‘Why Us’ page that lists the benefits that you stand to enjoy by trading on eToro and eToro careers tab that outlines any open positions within the company. This tab also captures the eToro club and Help Center that we will elaborate on in the “Other Products and Services” section of this guide below.
The eToro desktop trading platform is multi-lingual and currently supports 21 international languages. These include English, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Russian, French, Arabian, Nordic, Portuguese, Bahasa, Romanian, and Suomi.
As we already hinted earlier, the process of creating a user account on eToro is relatively easy. Here is the step-by-step guide on how to go about it.
Cryptocurrencies have in the recent past gone on to become the most sought-after investment vehicle, primarily due to their massive volatility and impressive bullish and bearish runs. eToro has simplified the process of trading crypto and made it possible for you to take advantage of both the bullish and bearish market trends by going long or short on crypto CFDs (for non-US customers). Here is a breakdown of how trading Crypto on eToro works:
The copy trader is a social trading tool designed to help both intermediate and beginner traders maximize their revenues on the platform by copying the trades of highly successful platform users. It allows you to view the trade settings of PRO traders and replicate them on your trades. Here is a breakdown of the steps you need to follow when copying trades.
You don’t just get to copy people when using the eToro WebTrader, you can also invest in copy portfolios. Copy Portfolio is an aspect of social trading that works like copy trading, safe because it lets you copy the trades of highly successful portfolios. Further, unlike a copy trader who usually invests in one crypto asset, portfolios are pools of the best-performing assets.
It can be a market portfolio that pools together financial instruments, a partner portfolio created by such eToro partners as Berkshire Hathaway, or a Top Trader portfolio that lets you replicate the most successful individual traders’ portfolios. Here is a breakdown of how to invest in copy portfolios:
Note: The maximum stop loss level for copied trades and portfolios cannot be above 95%.
Popular Investors on eToro refer to highly experienced crypto trading professionals who are eligible to have their trades copied by the rest of the platform users. These have mastered the art of trading and have come up with unique investment strategies that earn them consistent high incomes. The program is unique to eToro and allows participants to earn a second income by sharing in the profits of individuals who copy their trade settings. Let us break down the step-by-step guide to becoming a Popular Investor:
eToro has made it possible for its users to interact with their services while on the move by launching the eToro mobile app. The mobile app is relatively light and available to both Android and iOS device users. It replicates virtually all the features of the eToro desktop trading platform by exposing users to all the trade markets as well as the advanced trading analysis and marketing tools. It also gives them access to highly innovative social trading tools and lets them copy other traders and eToro partners’ trades and portfolios.
One of the mobile app’s most attractive features is its highly intuitive user interface. It also has a relatively decongested and clean user dashboard that makes it easy to interact with most of its features. Like the desktop WebTrader, the mobile app is quite beginner-friendly as it stocks a wide range of educative content and how-to guides that users can rely on to learn online trading basics. Once registered with the mobile trader, you also get automatic access to a demo trader account with $100,000 in virtual cash that you can use for practice trading.
The process of signing up on the platform and creating a user account is also easy and relatively straightforward. It is much similar to creating an account on the WebTrader as it involves providing eToro with your personal information and verifying your identity.
Here is the step-by-step guide on how to create a user account on the eToro mobile trading app.
Buying cryptocurrencies on the eToro trading platform can be relatively straightforward. Here is the step-by-step guide on how to go about it:
eToro supports a wide range of deposit and withdrawal methods. Unlike most other online brokerages and crypto exchanges that will only support Bank or credit card payments, eToro includes a wide array of digital payment processors. Here are some of the deposit and withdrawal methods supported on eToro:
In the section on supported fiat currencies, we listed all the fiat currencies supported on the platform. It is important to add that, despite supporting the 60+ currencies, eToro has one base currency – USD. Therefore, all your deposits in any other currency will be automatically converted into USD before hitting the account whereby you incur the conversion cost.
Additionally, the minimum deposit amount for eToro clients in the US is $50 while the rest of the world has its minimum deposit capped at $200. The minimum deposit amount for Bank deposits is $500.
Deposits into the platform are almost instantaneous, especially if you are depositing from digital wallets. Crypto transfers are also instantaneous (subject to the blockchain network traffic) but cash withdrawals may take between 3 and 8 days to process – especially when withdrawing to a bank account. Withdrawal for US clients is free, but the minimum amount is capped at $30. Other eToro users will pay a $5 withdrawal fee.
In addition to the social trading tools, eToro platform users (both experienced and beginners) are subjected to various forms of crypto education. First is the Trading Academy that involves subscribing to a day-long trading crash course offered in London’s Canary Wharf and starts from 10 am to 5 pm. Class members also get access to live educative webinars, market watch webinars, and podcasts hosted by either Henry Ward or Etyan Weinstein and Naor Meininger.
Equally educative trading resources provided by eToro include video tutorials and the daily market review briefings posted on the eToro website under the “Education” tab. There is also an interactive Q’n’A session during virtually every webinar and during the trading class where you can engage the trainer directly.
There are three primary ways of getting any form of assistance from eToro’s customer support team. You can choose to chat with a representative, consult the FAQs eToro’s knowledge base on their help center page, or simply raise a support ticket.
Note, however, that the live chat option is discriminative and only available to eToro club members in the Silver Tier and above. Regular platform users and prospective traders have to consult their help center or raise a support ticket.
eToro nevertheless maintains one of the most informative help centers around as it captures virtually all redress to the everyday challenges that users face when interacting with the platform. They also feature numerous how-to guides that break down the processes of interacting with most eToro services. Here, too, are troubleshooting guides that help the user solve such problems as trouble depositing and withdrawing from the platform or resetting your password.
The only other support option available to eToro users, especially when they haven’t joined the eToro club, is raising a support ticket. And here is the breakdown on how to go about it:
Note: The Help Center also features a search bar that simplifies the process of interacting with the platform by searching for popular terms used on the platform. It also has dedicated a section of their Customer Service page to media where they share the official eToro press releases and the contact details for their media liaison representatives in different countries across the world.
Though not overwhelming, most of the commentaries and reviews about eToro and its services on Reddit are majorly positive. And key eToro features that elicit the highest levels of interest with Reddit users include its support for a wide range of tradable financial instruments on the platform, the social trading tools, and insurance – at least for eToro platforms users in Europe. There is a lot to talk about when it comes to the number of international stocks and ETFs supported on the platform with some users going as far as comparing the eToro with such other online brokerage as Interactive Brokers and Degiro.
The support and positive reaction about eToro social trading tools on Reddit are overwhelming. Most of the reviews and comments about social trading on the platform, however, revolve around copy trading and mirroring trades. But there are also many commentaries and opinions on how traders can spot reliable Popular Investors and how to make the most out of their successful trade settings.
One such user talks about finding a highly reliable Popular Investor that has had ‘Green Months for three years straight and copying him with 10% of their equity while using the rest (90%) to mirror his trades – but with higher leverage. Mirroring helps you bypass the copier fees while higher leverages increase your profit (possibly loss) margins.
eToro platform users on Reddit are, however, divided when it comes to how the platform imposes trading fees. Most of those commenting here feel that while the 0% commission for stocks is a welcome move, it isn’t as genuine as eToro would have its platform users believe. They argue that while the online broker uses the catchy zero-fee phrase to lure in investors, it imposes relatively wide spreads on trades that are specially designed and aimed at helping the broker recover the lost commission.
Reviews, comments, and answers to such questions as “Is eToro a scam or legitimate trading website” are overwhelmingly positive. Some of the eToro features that seem to go well with most users include the highly navigable and easy-to-use trading platform, the integration of a wide range of tradable financial instruments, and support for a wide range of payment methods. A similar optimism about the eToro copy-trading feature is witnessed here with reviewers expressing a lot of excitement about anyone’s ability to profit from the program.
Most PRO traders are excited about the ease with which one can join the popular investor program and create a new income stream from having other traders copy their trade settings. Beginner traders are, on the other hand, excited because copy-trading makes it possible for them to earn from the platform and trading virtually any financial instrument even when they don’t have prior trading experience.
One such reviewer says the most remarkable thing about eToro is that “you don’t even have to know anything about the markets to benefit. If you want, you can just copy other traders. With the copy feature, you select how much you want to copy with (e.g. $100) and everything they do, the system copies (by the same percentage).”
Some users have, however, expressed reservations about the platform on some issues. And just like in the Reddit reviews, the trading fees take center stage with Quora users complaining about eToro’s exorbitant spreads and withdrawal fees. Others have expressed dissatisfaction with the number and effectiveness of the analysis tools integrated on the platform for pro traders.
They would even go ahead and suggest that pro traders on the platform consider leveraging the powerful and highly advanced analysis tools provided by free trading platforms like MetaTrader 4 and only using eToro to execute the trades. A few complaints have also been directed at eToro’s slow withdrawal process arguing that it takes between 3 and 8 days from initiating the withdrawal process to having your funds reflected in your bank/card.
Yes, eToro is a relatively safe trading platform, as it has put in place adequate security measures around its services. It all starts with identity verification for all its platform users by subjecting them to strict KYC and AML processes to ensure that only real traders are allowed onboard. During the verification process, you will also be asked several questions about your income levels, trading history, and risk tolerance. eToro uses these to determine the maximum leverage to be advanced to you in a bid to shield you from destructive practices like overtrading and misuse of leverage that would be detrimental to your financial health.
Cryptocurrency traders on the platform are also provided with a free custodial wallet. It is highly secure and has never been compromised. eToro claims that it is a cold storage vault that stores 90% of user funds offline while the 10% is used to facilitate the day-to-day trades and withdrawals.
In addition to the ultra-secure digital vaults and identity verification, eToro trader’s deposits are also insured. Currently, however, the insurance offer is only available to residents of the UK and EU member countries and only available to non-leveraged trades. In the UK, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) offers up to £85,000 while Insurance Capital Standards (ICS) cover the European client deposits of up to €20,000.
However, and in light of the complaints raised by PRO traders about the limiting nature of these relatively low insurance schemes, eToro recently introduced the free investment insurance of up to GBP/EUR/AUD 1 million for its clients in the UK, Europe, and Australia. Llyods of London Company provides this personal insurance protection and covers losses suffered in case of insolvency.
Coinbase and eToro are both hugely popular and highly regulated online trading platforms. But while eToro integrates different markets and multiple financial instruments (stock, crypto, and Indices), Coinbase is a specialist that majors in providing a platform where one can trade crypto and tokens. Let us look at their similar and dissimilar character traits as we try to understand what makes either hugely popular in its niche.
What can you trade: As we have mentioned in the guide, eToro started as a stock and money market trading platform and only incorporated crypto in the recent past. However, it is hugely diverse and allows you to trade thousands of stocks CFDs, and ETFs from different markets across the world, about 16 cryptocurrencies, hundreds of commodities (like Gold, oil, or wheat), indices, and the most popular forex pairs. In addition to these are the Market, Partner, and Top Trader portfolios that you can also invest in. Coinbase is, on the other hand, a crypto-specific trading platform that only allows you to exchange cryptocurrencies or buy crypto using fiat currency.
Both eToro and the Coinbase trading platform give their platform users access to a wide variety of free and highly advanced crypto trading tools. These range from basic charts to Pro charting tools like candlestick and access to the real-time price changes for the supported trading instruments. They also provide users with real-time industry news and an events calendar that they can use to view current industry happenings. These help shape trading and investing decisions based on the impact each is expected to have on a particular market, industry, or individual asset. eToro takes this a step further and helps its platform users gauge the market and investment mood by providing them with Twitter-based Market Sentiments.
Both eToro and Coinbase have put a host of beginner-friendly features that aim to make the platforms as intuitive and easy to use as possible. Standard features integrated by both trading platforms include highly elaborate help centers on their websites that host how-to guides and FAQs. They have also decongested the trading platforms and made them highly navigable. More importantly, they both simplified the trading process and narrowed it down to just a few clicks. For instance, buying crypto on eToro is as easy as selecting a coin, adjusting trade settings, and clicking buy.
In addition to these common traits, eToro and Coinbase have adopted bolder but slightly different approaches to making their trading platforms beginner-friendly. eToro has introduced social trading while Coinbase split its platform into two: Coinbase and Coinbase PRO.
Regular Coinbase is specially designed to serve crypto beginners and features a basic interface with minimal advanced trader tools while Coinbase PRO features a more complicated interface that integrates highly sophisticated trading and market analysis tools. eToro’s social trading, on the other hand, has social and copy trading arms. The social trader makes it possible for beginner traders to engage and receive mentorship from expert traders on the platform while the copy trader tool makes it possible for them to copy the trade settings of PRO traders. It effectively allows them to earn profit from these trades as they learn the trading basics.
Both eToro and Coinbase offer margined trades to their platform users. eToro offers crypto traders on their platform a 2X leverage on their trades. Only Coinbase PRO users have access to leverages that are currently capped at 3X the trading equity. There is, however, a catch to how Coinbase offers leverages on their platform as it is also referred to as a line of credit. This means that if your maximum line of credit is $100, and you entered into a $50 crypto trade with 3X leverage, the maximum leverage you can get is $100 and not $150.
Compared to Coinbase, one may consider the security features around the eToro trading platform a bit lax. For instance, you only have a password and the two-factor-authentication (phone number-based) security features enabled. The crypto wallet is also only available to US clients who get to trade actual cryptocurrencies and not the rest of the world who trade crypto CFDs on the platform. Coinbase, on the other hand, operates a free crypto wallet available to residents of over 190 countries. And in addition to the password and two-factor authentication features offered by eToro, Coinbase stores 99% of client funds in cold storage, integrates anti-phishing tools on its website and trading platforms, and maintains active-session logs that let you view all the devices with access to your Coinbase account.
Both eToro and Coinbase have also insured their client deposits. However, the insurance policies taken up by either platform do not cover all their clients. For instance, while eToro will only cover the UK, EU, and Australian clients, Coinbase will only cover the deposits held in their custodial vaults. The policy cover for Coinbase clients isn’t specific, but eToro’s clients in the UK are covered for up to £85,000 by the FSCS while the EU clients are covered by ICS (CySEC) for up to €20,000. Recently, eToro introduced a free cover of up to 1 million for their UK/EUR/AUD clients.
Coinbase has a more responsive customer support team that is available online, via live chat on their website, and the phone 24/7. This is unlike eToro’s customer support team that is only available via email and has continuously been accused of ignoring client complaints and concerns online.
In addition to the eToro features captured on the online broker’s home page and explained above, there is a host of other equally essential features integrated on the eToro WebTrader platform. They include:
Like eToro, most online brokerages and crypto exchange platforms provide users with a demo/practice account. The difference between eToro and these other platforms is that while most of these require you to create a separate demo account and maintain different credentials for the real trading account, eToro’s demo and real account are co-joined.
By creating a real account, you are automatically provided with a demo account that shares the same login credentials. You get to switch swiftly from the real to demo account on eToro on the user dashboard.
Note: The demo account provides you with $100,000 in virtual trading balances that you can use for an unlimited amount of time.
eToro allows you to create a highly customized watchlist of the markets and individual assets and that you are interested in trading. You can then view their real-time trading statistics on the “Watchlist” tab under the ‘Trade’ section of your user dashboard. Here is a quick guide on how to customize/add assets to your watchlist:
eToro portfolio plays a crucial role in helping eToro platform users monitor their trades and view the progress of their investments in real-time. You get to interact with it by clicking on the “Portfolio” tab under ‘Trade’ on your user dashboard. It has the History section that outlines all the trades that you have engaged in in the past and the orders section that outlines all open and pending orders. The portfolio section, on the other hand, lists all the different investments held by you on the eToro trading platform.
The eToro club is a unique program run by eToro where subscribers get to enjoy personalized services and enhanced investing experiences not available to regular platform users. It is a five-tier program that is divided into Silver, Gold, Platinum, Platinum+, and Diamond tiers. The tiers are successive, and with every upgrade to the next tier, you get additional customer support and investment experiences not available to the previous tier.
For instance, Silver tier members and up can chat with the support team live, Gold Tier and up have a dedicated account manager, Platinum Tier and up don’t pay withdrawal fees and get a free subscription to The Wall Street Journal, Platinum+ Tier and up to get to interact with the account manager via Zoom and tickets to handpicked sports events. At the highest level, Diamond Tier members get invites to exclusive member events and subscriptions to the financial times.
eToro has a highly attractive affiliate program for individuals and entities that wish to market the most extensive social trading platform. Joining the partner program is free, and you get to enjoy highly competitive commissions for every successful conversion. The online trading company’s CPA (Cost Per Action) plan is divided into three tiers depending on the country. Successful conversions from Tier 1 countries receive $250, Tier 2 countries receive $200, while Tier 3 Countries get $100. Click on their “Affiliate Program” icon under the ‘Special Offers and Affiliations’ of the eToro website to view how the countries are divided into tiers.
eToro is, without a doubt, one of the most popular and highly innovative online trading platforms. And this can be attributed to the aggressive marketing carried out by the brand as well as the integration of highly innovative trading features like social and copy trading. The fact that it is one of the few brands to have successfully incorporated crypto, money, and stock markets in one platform makes it appealing to other categories of investors. Other factors that may have contributed to its immense popularity include the integration of both beginner and pro-trader features and tools on its trading platform. The brand, nevertheless, needs to work on its customer support department and be more transparent with its trading fees.
eToro charges a 1% fee for buying or selling crypto assets on its platforms.
eToro is very user-friendly and has a lot of social features that can be valuable for beginners. It’s also one of the lowest-cost platforms out there.
Yes, eToro is safe. eToro is a regulated company and is licensed by the Cypriot Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). eToro Europe Ltd. is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK.
It depends on your country’s tax laws. In the United States, you generally have to pay taxes on income that is earned from investments, so you would likely have to pay taxes on profits that you make from eToro.
eToro is definitely one of the best choices for beginners when it comes to online trading. They offer a very user-friendly platform that is perfect for those who are new to the world of online investing. With eToro, you can trade a variety of assets including stocks, commodities, indices, and cryptocurrencies. Plus, they offer some great features such as social trading which allows you to copy the trades of other successful investors on the platform. Overall, eToro is a great choice for beginners who want to get started in online trading.
Yes, you can withdraw money from eToro. However, there are some restrictions and fees that you need to be aware of. There are also fees associated with your withdrawal, so be sure to check with eToro in advance. Overall, withdrawing from eToro is a fairly simple process, but it’s important to understand the rules and fees before doing so.
eToro withdrawal fee is $5 fee
There are a few reasons why you might not be able to withdraw from eToro. First, you may have made a deposit using a credit or debit card, and eToro only allows withdrawals to be made back to the original funding source. If this is the case, you’ll need to use an alternative withdrawal method, such as bank transfer. Second, you may not have met eToro’s minimum withdrawal requirements.
eToro makes money by taking a commission on every trade that is executed through its platform. It also makes money by providing ancillary services, such as market analysis and education.
eToro is a great platform for long-term investors because it allows you to invest in a variety of assets, including stocks, currencies, commodities, and indices. Additionally, eToro offers unique features like social investing and Copy Trading which can help you make more informed investment decisions and maximize your profits.
