eToro is based in Cyprus with a narrow focus on copy and social trading, which has underpinned fast growth and now boasts over 10,000,000 worldwide clients. With eToro, users can trade nearly anything ranging from stocks, currencies, and commodities to cryptocurrencies through its mobile and web-based platform. eToro also offers social trading to its users, which is advantageous for those who do not have the experience or time to trade themselves.
Pros
- User-Friendly
- Innovative features for social trading
- Real-time market news and data feeds
- Offers leverage to traders
- Support for a wide range of assets
Cons
- Little customization
- No standalone version
Trust And Safety
Authorized by Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, eToro is compliant with the European Securities & Markets Authority. The broker also is licensed by the Financial Conduct Authority of the UK, which needs more detailed risks disclosures. Their security features include a standard SSL encryption and a phone-based 2-tier authentication. eToro offers additional coverage or no-guarantee stop-loss protection via private insurers. eToro takes precautions to make sure that the personal information and funds of clients remain safe.
Desktop Experience
The social trading platform of eToro is web-based. It is geared for simple use. Whether you are a seasoned trader or a lesser experienced one, you will definitely appreciate its simplicity, though it has no standalone version. eToro’s charting is fully-featured with many drawing tools and 66 indicators. The platform has performance data from CopyPortfolios and CopyTraders. The watch lists on this platform can be customized easily. Each entry in the watch list shows the client’s buying and selling percentage in real-time, enabling fast sentiment analysis.
Mobile Experience
The mobile version of eToro both for Android and iOS allows simple synchronization between platforms with a very well-organized menu. Its indicator menu is shrunk to 5 basic types while order entry system tends to be identical to its web version. The traders can set up custom pricing alerts while receiving push notifications about the account issues and market events. Its watch list doesn’t include client positioning data.
Fees
eToro offers completely free trading in Europe while it has a very low fee for non-EU clients. The fee is included by eToro in the spreads, the difference between ask and bid rates. The non-trading fee at eToro is quite high. Inactivity fees also exist, but it is fine as there are no deposit, custody and account fees.
eToro’s currency conversation and withdrawal fees are a little on the higher side. The platform charges a conversation whenever you withdraw or deposit money from the account in currencies other than USD.
Investment Products
eToro’s brokers’ products catalog is small, with 19 commodities/index CFDs and 47 currency pairs. It covers 77 cryptocurrency CFDs and 1500+ shares as well. All the instruments can be easily traded on the short or long side, but the traders should read all the fine prints carefully as every order, and venue type incurs different weekend and overnight holding cost.
Use
eToro can be utilized by anybody provided that it’s legal to do it in a specific country. eToro has a list of the countries where this platform is blocked because of changes in regulations which conflict with the trading law. This means that people from the United States, Cuba, Canada, Iran, Korea, Japan, Albania, Sudan, Serbia, Turkey, and Syria can’t use eToro legally.
Extra Trading Tools
The platform intends to educate its traders and offer them an excellent platform for investment. Unluckily, nearly all the tools are geared towards people who trade the traditional assets and not cryptocurrencies. Moreover, they can be helpful for people who wish to expand their portfolios to include everything other than cryptos. On registration, the users of eToro get a “virtual money account” with nearly $100,000 so that they can work out on skills and strategies before investing any money. The platform also offers many other helpful tools to assist with actual trading, like an economical calendar. You need to enter the time zones and dates you presser and assets you wish to trade, and the calendar would show how the events will impact your assets. eToro also offers a regular market analysis which includes quick overviews and details so that you can use the information as you wish for.
Conclusion
For those who like to invest in cryptocurrency, eToro is a very useful platform. The additional eToro’s features give it an edge over other trading platforms. These include various graphs and CopyPortfolios. eToro is highly intuitive, too, and that appeals to everyone. Though it isn’t a perfect platform if you wish to trade the lesser-known cryptos, it’s a great option for people who care about the big ones only or who wish to utilize the same platform for crypto and fiat trades. eToto has really proven themselves reliable in the industry, so you should definitely check them out once.
