General Information & Regulation
eToro was founded in 2007 as an online trading platform that was easy for traders, with graphical representations of different financial instruments. In 2009, eToro launched an intuitive trading platform for novice and experienced traders. eToro added a variety of stocks to its commodities, forex, and other asset trading services in 2013 and continued to expand its portfolio of cryptocurrencies in addition to bitcoin in 2017. In 2008, eToro officially entered the U.S. market, offering cryptocurrency trading services to U.S. investors. Currently, eToro subsidiaries are regulated by the following authorities: eToro (Europe) Ltd., authorised and regulated by the Cyprus Securities Exchange Commission (CySEC) under the license # 109/10; eToro (UK) Ltd, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under the license FRN 583263; eToro AUS Capital Limited authorised by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) under Australian Financial Services License 491139. eToro (Seychelles) Ltd. licenced by the Financial Services Authority Seychelles (“FSAS”) under the Securities Act 2007 License SD076.
Market Instruments
Investors can trade thousands of financial assets in multiple categories through the eToro broker, including commodities, cryptocurrencies, forex, indices, and ETFs.
Minimum Deposit of eToro
The minimum deposit to open a retail account is $200. Except for the following:
For clients in Israel is $10,000.
For clients in the US and Australia is $50.
For clients in Russia, China, Hong Kong, and Macau is $500.
For bank transfers, it is $500.
Leverage of eToro
eToro has two types of accounts for different types of investors, Retail and Pro accounts. Retail client accounts have maximum trading leverage of 1:30. Still, they can access specific protections such as compensation from the Investor Compensation Fund and assistance from the Financial Grievance Service. Additionally, they have access to negative balance protection and margin force closeout limits. Professional clients are those investors who have successfully passed the Professional Client Condition Test, which allows them to use unlimited leverage.
Spreads & Commissions of eToro
The minimum spreads start from 0.9 pips for EURUSD, 0.8 pips for GBP EUR, 1.2 pips for EUR GBP, 4.5 pips for Gold, 0.05 pips for Silver, 0.05 pips for Crude Oil, 0.01 pips for Natural Gas, 3.6 pips for the Australian 200 and 2 pips for the German 30.
Trading Platform of eToro
eToro's online trading platform and application offer a wide range of financial assets for trading and investment. Traders can gain access to more than 2,000 assets to trade through the eToro mobile or web platform, and appreciate the benefits of collective intelligence using ready-to-use CopyPortfolios™.
Deposit & Withdrawal of eToro
eToro supports VISA, MasterCard, PayPal, as well as wire transfers, NETELLER, WebMoney, Skrill, and other methods of deposit and withdrawal. Withdrawals are subject to processing fees, and any withdrawals in non-USD currencies are subject to exchange fees.
Customer Support
The help center features a live chat feature but it is a bit hidden within the FAQ section. Traders have reported that representatives are busy and no attention is available during the weekends. Theres no e-mail or phone support, as this broker relies on support tickets sent through the trading interface. The response to these tickets is sent to the e-mail inbox of each user. The response time is fast – 24 hours or less. eToro customer service is not the best, but it is sufficient to deal with basic issues.