eToro Review

Initially launched as RetailFX by two siblings Ronen and Yoni Assia and their partner David Ring, eToro is a social trading platform which offers various instruments such as, currencies, stocks, indices and commodities. eToro was established with a goal of providing a user–friendly trading platform that can cater to traders of different level. This type of a business model is hugely successful and attracts thousands of new users every day. It has helped eToro become one of world’s premier social trading platforms.

The innovative “Open Book” trading platform provided by eToro allows traders to trade in different types of instruments such as equities, currency pairs, market indices and commodities. With eToro’s “Copy Trading” feature, beginner traders can copy trades of the more experienced traders; offering the more experienced trades a way to leverage their trading skills as an additional revenue stream.  eToro has also launched its mobile trading platform to keep up with the times and cater to  the more tech-savvy audience.

eToro Regulations

eToro is regulated in two jurisdictions, Cyprus and UK.

eToro is regulated by Uk’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Cyprus Securities Exchange Commission in Cyprus (CySEC). Since both CySEC and FCA are operational under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), eToro therefore has full MiFID authorization to provide services in EU countries.

eToro Reliability

eToro has been operational for a decade and in this tenure has gained the trust of the trading community. EToro’s services and their ‘Open Book’ Trading platform have been covered by numerous financial publications such as Forbes, Financial Times, Finance Magnates, Fintech Finance and CNBC.

eToro is regulated with FCA and CySEC with both of these bodies imposing strict regulatory requirements which the broker has to abide by. In addiiton, the broker is further protected under the coverage provided by Financial Services Compensation Scheme in UK and Investor Compensation Scheme in Cyprus. As a part of their regulation, eToro is required to maintain its client’s accounts separately at Tier 1 banks.

SSL encryption technology is used by eToro to protect all the sensitive data on the web, and as a policy they do not share any of the client’s personal data without their permission.

eToro Trading Platform

eToro is considered the pioneers  in the social trading category; they were the first ones to introduce the concept to the market via their ‘Open Book’ platform, which was launched in 2010. As it’s a social trading platform, it harnesses the crowd’s wisdom and makes it available to individual traders to maximize their returns. The platform let’s traders view other’s trading statistics such as profit levels, the strategies adopted and the market movements all, real time.  Through the ‘Open Book’ platform eToro has been successful in breaking down all the barriers between traders and help accelerate their learning curve with the help of social trading through its ‘Open Book’ platform and foray in the social trading practises.

Mobile Trading

To extend the functionality of their social trading platform to the traders who would like to access the market on the go, Etoro has made its web platform available on mobile, as the app version on both IOS and Android. Traders can access all the functionalities of the ‘Open Book’ platform without being tied down to one’s desk.

eToro Trade Types/Instruments

eToro offers an array of instruments such as stocks, indices, precious metals, forex, ETFs and commodities. They introduced cryptocurrencies trading in early 2014. However, unlike other brokers, Bitcoin at eToro is available in the form of a CFD derivative as opposed to a currency; which means the traders will be buying and selling the cryptocurrencies as a financial security which tracks the value of Bitcoin in the open market.

eToro Cryptocurrencies Trading

eToro started trading with Bitcoin as early as 2014, at present they have expanded their cryptocurrencies portfolio to include the following:

• Bitcoin
• Dash
• Ethereum
• Bitcoin Cash
• Ethereum Classic
• Litecoin
• Ripple

eToro provides a simple and hassle-free way to trade in cryptocurrencies; instead of buying and selling the physical cryptocurrencies, it allows the traders to trade them using CFDs. The advantage of this being more affordable and secure trade and the access to 1:400 leverage ratio. It is also possible to mirror trades of popular investors or copy funds.

eToro Account Types

In adherence to their motto for simplicity, the traders are offered two account types – Standard and Practise account. A minimum deposit of 50$ is required to open a standard account.

eToro Demo Account

eToro provides an option of a demo account with a top up of $100,000 virtual currency, this is especially great for the novice traders who can test their trading strategies without  undertaking any financial risk. It also gives potential traders a chance to give their features a try before they commit any real money.

eToro Islamic/Swap-Free Account

An Islamic or a swap free trading account is available to the traders who wish to trade without violating the Sharia principles.

eToro Commissions and Spreads

Like most forex brokers, eToro does not charge any commissions or fees, in lieu it charges a small spread on trades that the traders engage in. Below is the table outlining spreads charged on the majority of currency pairs traders can choose on eToro.

eToro Deposits and Withdrawals Options

eToro nearly provides  a dozen of methods for easy deposits and withdrawals; the mediums they accept are mentioned below:

• Credit card by major players
• Debit card by major players
• Ewallet – Giropay
• Ewallet – Neteller
• Ewallet – PayPal
• Ewallet – Skrill Limited
• Ewallet – WebMoney
• Bank Wire Transfer
• Wirecard
• Yandex
• China Union Pay

The best method to deposit funds into the accounts is via credit cards or through e-wallets, the funds are transferred immediately into the trader’s account.

For withdrawals, you can use any of the methods mentioned above, the exact procedure and the time it takes for the funds to reflect into the trader’s account will depend on the medium through which the transaction takes place.

eToro Bonus and Promotions

eToro offers a programme called the “Popular Investor”. The programme enables the traders who let others copy their trade and earn additional payments of up to 2% from the assets under their management. In addition to the extra earnings, the traders will also enjoy a 100% spreads rebates for their trades.

eToro Customer Support

eToro has customer support on 24/5 basis, which can be contacted via  email, fax or by calling the telephone support number provided.  eToro’s website is  translated into several other languages to cater to their non – English speaking clientele.

Conclusion

When it comes to social trading, eToro has no competitor in the market. Their intuitive platform not only let’s traders copy trades from more experienced traders but also allows them to connect with their peers. Etoro is an ideal platform for both novice and experience traders.

eToro Rating

9.2

Easy to use

9.2/10

Fees

9.2/10

Support

9.2/10

Payment

9.2/10

Pros

• Easy to Navigate
• Excellent Open Book trading platform
• Trading Options
• Demo Account available
• Minimum deposit required

Cons

• Does not provide choices of trading platforms
• Costumer support not available on weekends