eToro – the World’s Most Popular Trading Platform

eToro is a well-known name among Forex traders due to its numerous successful advertisement campaigns. The large fintech company has been featured in TechCrunch, The Telegraph, CNN, and more publications. 

The company now boasts of over 10 years of experience in trading and investing as it was founded in 2007. Its three founders had the goal of causing major disruptions in the world of trading. eToro now has offices in various locations, including China, Australia, Israel, UK, and Cyprus. 

You can use the platform to trade contracts of differences, which entails speculating on the price movements of various financial instruments. They also run a cryptocurrency exchange that goes by the name eToroX. Users can purchase and store their digital currencies using the eToroX Wallet.

eToro is also open to investors looking to purchase various stocks from the top companies around the world. Their main selling feature is that they provide access to US, Asian, and European stock markets. Investors get to receive their dividends payouts. You don’t pay any commission or management fees. However, clients of eToro Australia are only exempt from paying commission when purchasing US-based company stocks. 

Another advantage is that you can use a very small amount of money such as $50 to purchase stocks where one share may be worth $1,000. When purchasing stocks, it’s not possible to use leverage. It’s only offered when trading contracts of differences.

With the inherent risk of trading and investing, eToro offers certain risk management tools such as negative balance protection, and they perform margin calls. Traders can also set stop losses or take profit orders in a seamless way.

eToro Quick Summary Table

eToro Login & Creating a Demo Account 

You will love the ease of using eToro in your day-to-day trading and investing. Getting started is also simple:

Step 1: Create an Account 

If you need an account, creating one is very simple, and you can even sign in using your Gmail account. After creating the eToro login and completing the signup form, you just need to verify your email address. 

There is no need to add a payment option or complete your profile information right away. You can start using the demo to get acquainted with the trading environment.

Step 2: Switching to a Virtual Portfolio (eToro Demo)

After creating an account, you will need to switch to the demo account. Unless you’re an experienced trader, it’s not recommended starting by trading with real money as you need some time to get used to the platform.

The instructions for switching to a virtual portfolio are pretty clear. Under the Complete Profile Button, change the account from Real to Virtual. If you decide to deposit real money here you can read what is the minimum deposit on the eToro platform

Step 3: Selecting the Trade Markets

Accessing various financial instruments and trading markets in eToro is also very straightforward, ensuring a stress-free user experience. You can even search for markets or companies directly from the search bar.

Step 4: Opening and Closing a Trade on eToro

Once you have nailed down the financial market you want to trade, you will have three main tabs at your disposal: 

• News Feed: You can post items of discussion as well as view what other people are talking about in real-time. Established traders will have a feed verified badge.

• Stats: It overcomes the challenge of getting a clear overview of a particular asset’s historical data, which is usually challenging when just relying on the price chart. The clear visualization offered will help traders deduce trends easily. 

• Chart: The chart tracks the instrument’s price movement, and the default view is candlesticks (but you can change the chart type). There is an extensive collection of technical analysis tools and on-chart plotting tools. You can launch ProCharts, which allows you to view multiple charts simultaneously. Users can also access saved layouts on ProCharts. 

Other Top Features of eToro

Here is an overview of the features that place this platform among the top trading choices.

1. eToro Copy Systems

The platform’s popularity is banked on its powerful social trading capabilities. eToro Copy Systems enables traders to replicate trades made by established traders drawn from the extensive user pool of over 10 million people. Since they developed this technology earlier than most platforms, they have added great copy options such as the ability to: 

• Copy only new trades the copied trader makes during a certain duration;
• Add stop loss or take profit orders on a copied trade for better risk management;
• Pause the copying of new trades without closing open positions;
• And more. 

eToro Copy Portfolios is a premium option that offers an enhanced way for users to copy-trade. They can copy portfolios created by eToro’s partners, such as Tipranks (3). They can also copy market portfolios that bundle together similar companies or financial instruments (2). Portfolios can also be aggregates of multiple top-performing traders on the platform (1).

2. eToro Mobile App 

The app was launched in 2012, and it supports Android and iOS devices. It’s user-friendly and offers a convenient way to access updates of financial instruments, stocks, or markets that are part of the user’s watch list. 

Benefits Vs. Cons of eToro

The benefits of using eToro include: 

• One-on-one eToro contact customer support available 24/5 during normal trading days (Monday to Friday).
• Intuitive and simple interface that’s perfect for beginners.
• Daily market review and financial market news.
• Access to a wide range of currencies, stocks, commodities, indexes, ETFs, etc. 
• Up to 1:30 leverage on CFDs in accordance with ESMA regulations for retail traders. Elective professional clients may opt-out of this restriction.
• Low forex spreads starting at 1 Pip for certain pairs such as the EUR/USD.
• Powerful copy trading options with support for portfolio copy-trading. 

Cons of eToro Trading Platform

• The platform operates only in one base currency (USD) and only accepts deposits in 9 other currencies.
• You can only use Open Book, which may feel unfamiliar if you’re moving away from Metatrader used by most brokers.
• eToro may support fewer market options than some brokers, for instance, they don’t support structured products. 
• They don’t offer the cheapest rates in the market. 
• You must be aware of other fees paid by traders, such as withdrawal, currency conversion, or inactivity fees. 

Additional Questions

If you have still got some questions, check out the below FAQs. Most likely, you will find responses there.

1. Which Learning Opportunities Does Etoro Provide? 

Online weekly webinars, day-long in-person classes in London, and basic getting started videos & guides. 

2. Can I Use eToro’s Trading Platform in Canada? 

You can’t use it in Canada as well as in Japan, Syria, Sudan, North Korea, Iran, and Cuba. In the United States, the platform has been gradually rolling out and may not support all states. You can stay up-to-date with the rollout here.

3. Where Can I Find More Information About eToro Fees? 

For detailed information, visit the “Our Fees” page.

4. Is eToro Regulated? 

It’s regulated in Europe (CYSEC), the USA (FinCEN), UK (FCA), and Australia (AFSL). 

5. How Much Is the Withdrawal Fee? 

 eToro revised its previously high withdrawal fee from $20 to just $5.