eToro

Overview and History

eToro is a social trading and multi-asset brokerage company that focuses on providing financial services and is well known for their copy trading services and social trading platform. eToro was founded in 2007 by brothers Yoni Assia and Ronen Assia. It started out offering stocks and other traditional market pairs to its traders but have since expanded to offer crypto as well. Right now they offer, stocks, crypto, ETFs, indices, commodities and currencies. It was only in 2019 that eToro launched their crypto offerings. They even launched a separate platform altogether which is known as eToroX. It has registered offices in Cyprus, Israel, the United Kingdom, the United States,and Australia. It has more than 1,000 employees worldwide. Raised $222m in total.

Copy Trading

eToro is most well known for its copy trading feature. You can go to eToro, browse other top social investors, allocate a certain portion of your funds for copying him and you’re done. Take note that the availability of this feature depends on your results to the questionaire during the initial verification.

eToroX

Aside from eToro main trading platform offering crypto trading pairs, they have also released their own crypto to crypto exchange called eToroX which was launched in 2019. This is a separate website and entity altogether. You will have to sign up for a new account. This is their version of the exchange that veers away from the social trading aspect and more towards a typical crypto exchange that offers more crypto trading pairs.

Supported Countries

eToro offers their service to almost every country on the planet. However, due to regulations the eToro does not operate in the following countries.

• Afghanistan
• Albania
• Belarus
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Botswana
• Brunei
• Burundi
• Canada
• Chad
• Congo Republic
• Crimea Region
• Cuba
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Ethiopia
• Guyana
• Guinea
• Guinea-Bissau
• Iran
• Japan
• Laos
• Libya
• Mali
• Myanmar
• Namibia
• Nicaragua
• North Korea
• Palau
• Samoa
• Serbia
• Somalia
• Sudan
• Syria
• Turkey
• Uganda
• Yemen

eToroX shares the same restricted countries list but also includes Puerto Rico, United states and US Virgin islands on its list.

eToro (Main) Trade Interface

When you first login, you will be greeted with a barrage of different stocks. Since eToro is still primarily a stocks exchange, crypto pairs are not the first thing you see. You will have to go to the Trade Markets section and choose Crypto.

Right now, the number of cryptocurrencies you can trade on eToro is still limited to the following: BTC, ETH, BCH, XRP, DASH, LTC, ETC, ADA, IOTA, XLM, EOS, NEO, TRX, ZEC, BNB, XTZ and GRAM.

When you click the cryptocurrency you would like to check, the first thing you’ll see is a feed of other eToro users who have talked or tagged the cryptocurrency. Keep in mind that eToro is still positioned as a social trading platform first and foremost. On the right side, you’ll see a brief introduction to the cryptocurrency. This is good for beginners who are just beginning. They’ll learn a lot from more experienced traders and see their thoughts and trades as well.

Clicking on the chart section will pull out the current chart for the cryptocurrency. Unlike other crypto exchanges, the chart offered by eToro is very basic. You will just see a candlestick chart with no indicators or drawing tools.

When you finally decide you want to buy, click on the Trade button and the order options will pop out. You have the option to enter the amount you would like to buy with it, the leverage, the stop loss as well as take profit price. Compared to other exchanges, eToro’s order options are actually extensive. They also offer trailing stop loss. At the bottom, you will see the fees that you will incur when you hold on the position overnight and over the weekend. Crypto will not have these fees unless you are using leverage for margin trading.

eToroX Trade Interface

eToroX’ interface will be more familiar as it looks more like your typical crypto exchange. You have the charts, order books and order options on the main page. One thing that makes eToroX stand out is that it allows you to customize how your screen will look. You can move around the positioning of the different elements found in the screen after you click the menu button on the left and unlock it..

Fiat Gateway

eToro

After completing your KYC, eToro allows you to deposit money into your account in different ways. They have made it very convenient working with different payment partners. You can transfer in your local currency and it will be converted into USD. Here are the following ways you can deposit money into your account:

• Local Online Banking
• Credit and Debit Card
• Paypal
• Skrill
• Wire Transfer
• Neteller
• Unionpay

eToroX

eToroX has partnered with Simplex to allow users to buy crypto with their credit or debit cards. Go to the wallet section, click on the buy crypto button and select the cryptocurrency you would like to buy. You will then be led into a Simplex webpage where you simply enter your payment details. Simplex charges a 4% fee while eToroX adds an additional 1% fee to the transaction. Simplex is used by many top exchanges and is therefore very reliable.

Wallet – Simplex: FAQ

Fees

eToro

eToro does not charge deposit fees or clearing fees. However, eToro does charge a flat $5 fee on all withdrawals with a minimum withdrawal amount of $50.

eToro does not charge any trading fees, be it maker or taker fees. Their revenue comes from the spreads between the ask and bid price of the asset.

eToroX

eToroX does not charge any fees for deposits.

As for trading fees, eToroX offers a tiered fees system. The more volume you trade over a monthly period, the lower your fees will be. eToroX starts off with a maker and taker fee of 0.1% and 0.24% respectively. This is higher than other top tier exchanges.

Maker fees are also usually lower than taker fees.The difference between the two is the taker fee is taking liquidity from the exchange while the maker fee is providing and adding liquidity. If you place an order and it is filled instantly, you are on the taker side. If you place an order and it floats on the exchange, it means you’re on the maker side. The full tiered fees system is seen as follows:

KYC

https://www.etoro.com/customer-service/account-verification/

User verification and KYC are mandatory before you can start trading on eToro. It is a regulatory requirement that eToro strictly adheres to. They will be requiring proofs of identity through ID pictures, as well as proof of address and a tax ID. You will also go through a questionnaire that determines your knowledge of financial markets. eToro is stricter than other exchanges given that they also offer products from traditional markets like stocks and ETFs.

eToro Mobile App and API

eToro offers their mobile app both on iOS and Android. The user experience and interface are both very similar, if not identical. This offers users who are always on the move a chance to get updated on the markets as well as their trade positions even while they are on the go.

As of this writing, eToroX does not yet offer a mobile version of their app. However, eToro has a wallet that is designed for mobile apps called eToro wallet. This uses the same login credentials as the one you use on their main website. Unlike most 3rd party crypto wallets, eToro’s wallet is not non-custodial which means that you will not be holding your private keys. It is also available on both Android and iOS. In order to use it, you will first have to complete the entire verification process.

eToro Customer Support

eToro offers two basic ways to help you with your issues. The first is through their help center and FAQ. It covers all the most common questions. And second, If you have any specific problem, you can submit support tickets and the team will respond to you within a few hours to days.

Operation Security

Like most companies offering financial services and products, security is one of eToro’s top priorities. Here are some of the ways they ensure safety of users’ funds.

2FA – This has been a standard form of account protection for most crypto exchanges. This involves using a separate device that generates a unique code or combination every few seconds. You will be asked to enter this code upon signing in.

Email verifications – Whenever you would like to withdraw funds, an email will be sent to your email address for you to confirm if this transaction is legitimate.

Hot and Cold Wallets – This is a standard procedure that separates revolving funds (hot wallet) and most user funds (cold wallet). The cold wallet is disconnected from the internet so it is less likely to be hacked. It is akin to banks not having all of their money locked in a giant safe. They only hold what they expect to be transacted that day.

Conclusion

eToro is an example of a company that started off offering traditional financial markets like stocks and ETFs that recognizes crypto and has started offering crypto trading pairs as well. They have a robust platform that is used and trusted by millions of people all around the world already. They have also aligned their company more into the social trading aspect which is a good draw especially for beginners that want to learn and be part of a bigger community. On the downside, the list of features is quite limited. They have limited functionalities compared to other crypto exchanges. Liquidity is also low especially on eToroX but this is forgivable since it’s still a relatively new platform. They also require a lot more verification compared to other exchanges. On the upside, no other crypto exchange offers traditional markets like eToro. eToro is perfect for beginners starting out and also for stock traders that want to try trading crypto using a platform they already trust. Copy Trading and the social platform is also something unique to eToro.