eToro – Everything you need to know about the Trading Platform

It presents itself as a social trading platform, with the aim of supporting users to trade nearly anything, including stocks, commodities, and currencies, and indices, as well as cryptocurrencies, through a single web-based and mobile functionality.

The first model of eToro was intended to be used as an online FX trading platform. However, in 2009, the firm created the WebTrader, a simple trading platform designed to appeal to both new and experienced traders by providing them with the right trading tools. For beginners looking for the best shares to buy in South Africa, eToro is an ideal starting point.

eToro has greatly increased crypto trading on its network since 2017.

It’s worth noting that eToro has two options for investing in crypto assets. When you acquire cryptos without using leverage, you control the underlying asset, which eToro safely stores in cold (offline) storage on your behalf. You may, however, leverage your investment in cryptos while also shorting the asset using a CFD (Contract for Difference). You won’t own the underlying asset if you choose this technique; instead, you’ll be gambling on whether its price will appreciate or depreciate.

Is eToro Legit?

Some individuals may feel that eToro is a scam since it appears different from other trading setups. But that isn’t the case–eToro is a legitimate company. They’re a Cypriot Investment Firm (CIF)-licensed brokerage (CIF). They’re also regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission in Europe and the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom. eToro was just recently licensed in the United States, and  is currently licensed in these states: Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Vermont.

eToro was temporarily unavailable to investors in the United States due to regulatory changes. However, it has since been licensed to operate in the United States, allowing investors to use some of its services. eToro’s U.S. launch, which began in July 2018, is now referred to as Phase 1 of its services to the American market. In the near future, we anticipate them to provide greater functionality and possibilities to American investors.

The technology is referred to as a Straight-Through-Processing platform by eToro. This implies that you, the investor, may use eToro’s broker license to gain direct access to investments. Of course, the site charges a commission for its services.

Features of eToro

One of the most intriguing aspects about eToro is that it isn’t only focused on long or short-term day trades. It provides both. So, if you want to make your own short-term investment trading while simultaneously investing for the long term, eToro can provide you with the tools you need.

eToro has a number of features, including:

Easy to use: The objective of eToro was to make trading more accessible to users. It began as a highly visual platform that could train even the most inexperienced investors about various investment principles. Though the platform has evolved much since then, it remains intuitive and simple to use. 

The simplicity with which users can do simple operations and complete activities, including generating watchlists and adding instruments by exploring available markets, as well as directly executing trades from each watchlist, is at the heart of the eToro platform experience. In 2021, eToro was named Best in Class in the Ease of Use category, as well as for beginners, because of these design attributes.

Social Trading: eToro is now offering something similar to a social networking platform for bitcoin dealers in non-US markets. With the CopyTrader feature, investors may even copy the trading activities of individuals they find interesting. However, in the United States, this is not yet available.

Full management: As previously said, eToro may be suitable for both day traders and those seeking a managed portfolio alternative. The CopyFunds service provides managed portfolios on a variety of subjects and risk levels.

Trading on the go: Perhaps you want to manage your own finances but can’t sit in front of your computer all day. Take a look at the eToro mobile app. On your mobile device, you may trade, copy, and follow trading social feeds.

Overall, eToro has done a fantastic job with its mobile application. eToro preserves the appearance and feel of the online version, including a dark and light theme, while testing the app on Android. Syncing watchlists, for example, helps to unify the platform experience across multiple devices.

Final Thoughts

Retail traders looking to monetize investment ideas using the magic of copy trading, as well as highly experienced active traders who want to get paid for sharing their ideas with other traders, would love eToro.

The user-friendly interface may be an extra benefit for less experienced traders who would like some assistance. However, I do not suggest eToro for aggressive or high-volume traders because the larger spreads and tiny maximum transaction sizes come with limitations.

In 2021, eToro is our top option for social copy trading and crypto trading, and it received our award for Best Trader Community.