Etoro Review

Regulation

Etoro is based in Cyprus and is therefore mainly regulated by CySEC (Cyprus Securities Exchange Commission).

Authorized as well operates under the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) which is one of the most trustable entities.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) also acts as a regulator in a couple with the Australian Securities & Exchange Commission (ASIC).

Feature	Condition
Foundation year	2007
Publicly Traded on Exchange	❌
Tier-1 Licenses	FCA,CySEC
Tier-2 Licenses	ASIC,  ESMA

Instruments

eToro allows trading 2361 instruments totally. The widely offered symbols are stocks CFD (more than 2000+) that are very popular among its clients.

Feature	Condition
Major forex pairs	✅
Minor forex pairs	✅
Exotic forex pairs	✅
Cryptocurrencies	✅
CFD
Metals	✅
Energies	✅
Agricultural	✅
Shares
UK shares	✅
US shares	✅
German shares	✅
French shares	✅

Trading platforms

eToro has decided to follow the way of providing its own trading platform and not to stick with other vendors.

The eToro platform is fairly easy to use. It is very simple in terms of executing some basic operations such as trading itself. It is also intuitive in terms of creating some watchlists, selecting available markets, and more. Their platform has been also awarded as the Best Platform by the user’s choice.

As mentioned earlier in this eToro review, the CopyPortfolios feature helps investors to create a portfolio and passively get an income. Moreover, it is possible to do not only from one but from the desired set of portfolios of other traders.

One of the main negative points is that all eToro traders have to trade on the platform manually. The broker does not offer any application programming interface (API) available for trading (only getting some quotes and basic info).

Etoro does not as well offer so popular MetaTrader terminal created by MetaQuotes which is also a strong negative part. Have a look at the list of forex brokers that may have a bigger number of platforms.

Feature	Condition
MetaTrader 4	❌
MetaTrader 5	❌
MetaTrader 4/5 iOS/Android	❌
Proprietary Mobile Application	✅
Proprietary Web Terminal	✅
cTrader	❌

Account types and conditions

eToro has decided to provide its customers with only one standard type of trading account. It is done to simplify the trading process and onboarding of the clients,

The procedure of opening a trading account is fairly simple and straightforward that doesn’t vary from other brokers.

To start live trading, the trader needs to make a deposit of $200 or equivalent in other currencies. If you want to be an Investor, you need to deposit at least $1000 either.

eToro offers a VIP club membership that has some inner specifications. There are five tiers that range from silver to diamond for traders with various account balances from $5k to $250k.

Depending on the level, features vary from an account manager that is dedicated to the trader (which is a rare practice) to some discount for withdrawals and deposits in terms of commissions. The ability to get access to some private trading signals or exclusive assets for trading is offered to VIP account holders too.

For trying the platform eToro gives an option of demo accounts. There are provided simulators of sorts that can form a decision to continue with this broker or not.

Feature	Condition
Demo account	✅
Professional account	✅
Investor account	✅
VIP account	✅

Commissions and spreads

eToro is essentially a market-maker broker and the typical variable spread for EUR/USD is 1 pip that is slightly higher than the industry average. Though it is not treated by the majority as a negative point. eToro is so popular because of its CopyTrading platform but not the trading conditions.

As mentioned earlier, trading CFD shares is one of the most valuable asset classes provided by the broker. Moreover, eToro offers a zero-dollar commission for US stock trading. But this option is not available to US customers. Fractional shares are also available.

Deposits and Withdrawals

There are several ways available for funding trading accounts at eToro so a customer will not feel a lack of any. At present, the supported methods include deposits through credit cards such as VISA and Mastercard payment systems.

Beside that, eWallets such as China UnionPay, Skrill and Neteller are provided. PayPal system (lately tending to implement crypto payments), Yandex.Money and WebMoney are also available.

For large amounts of money, bank wire transfers are available as well, though being a regular option for the major brokers.

Talking about withdrawals, its processing usually takes up to several business days (up to 3). The minimum withdrawal amount is $50.

It should be taken into account that eToro charges customers with a withdrawal fee equal to $5 for every single transaction.

Feature	Condition
Bank wire	✅
Debit/Credit cards	✅
Skrill	✅
Neteller	✅
Paypal	✅
WebMoney	✅
China UnionPay	✅

Customer Support

eToro customer service is available in more than 20 languages in total. There are two ways to contact eToro’s customer service:

• Live chat
• Ticketing system

The Live chat is pretty common and similar to the ones offered by other brokers. There you will get a response within minutes.

The ticket system is a bit different – you create a request and get an answer by email. The response is usually received within a couple of days.

The broker does not offer any phone support.

Feature	Condition
Live Chat	✅
E-mail	✅
Phone	❌

eToro Review. Key points

Eventually, eToro is good for retail traders who seek investment services. On the other hand, it is also good for successful traders who want to get additional income for sharing their profitable trading activities and copying their signals.

For algo traders, eToro is not suitable at all due to the absence of any kind of trading API.

eToro offers all the main funding methods so its customers will not fill a lack of any.