eToro is an international broker that positions itself as a "social network for traders." The platform allows for independent trading or copying of other participants' trades. Any client can create a public portfolio and earn by having other users copy their actions.

This eToro broker review will discuss the platform's pros and cons and explore the company's trading instruments and fees.

eToro Broker Overview

In 2007, several Israeli financiers founded the brokerage firm RetailFX. Initially, it focused solely on the Forex market and targeted beginner traders. To become more accessible to novices, the company invested heavily in developing a user-friendly trading platform. RetailFX introduced its web terminal and the Visual FX visual trading service.

By 2010, the company's owners noticed that RetailFX clients were actively discussing stock trading on social networks and internet forums. The partners decided to use this to expand their business — thus, the eToro social trading platform was born.

The platform's main feature became the CopyTrader system — copying other traders' trades. Similar functionality existed with other brokers, but eToro created a full-fledged social network for stock speculators. Every trader got their news feed and the ability to leave comments and like posts — in short, the broker offered a convenient platform for sharing experiences.

In 2013, eToro clients gained access to stocks and ETFs; in 2017, cryptocurrencies were added to the list of tradable assets. The company attracted interest from major investors — including the Russian 'Sberbank.' In 2016, the bank officially announced the start of cooperation with eToro. Later, other well-known corporations joined as investors — for example, Japan's SBI Group.

eToro Review Summary

The ratings in this review are based on our broker evaluation methodology. Continue reading the review to get a complete picture of the eToro broker and make an informed decision about choosing a platform for your investments.

The operations of eToro are licensed in several countries.

Legal Entity	Regulator
eToro (Seychelles) Limited eToro (Seychelles) Limited	SFSA SFSA
eToro (UK) Ltd eToro (UK) Ltd	FCA FCA
Etoro (Europe) Ltd Etoro (Europe) Ltd	CySEC CySEC
eToro AUS Capital Limited eToro AUS Capital Limited	ASIC ASIC
eToro USA Securities Inc. eToro USA Securities Inc.	SEC SEC

eToro operates under the supervision of several prominent and respected regulators, which set strict requirements for operations and client protection.

Additionally, eToro has an office in the USA. The company even obtained an American license, which only applies to cryptocurrency trading.

Opening an account with eToro is pretty standard and understandable for most investors. The broker needs to verify your identity and comply with all laws related to anti-money laundering, which justifies the need to provide all required documents and information.

The registration speed typically depends on the time it takes to verify the submitted documents, and the stated period of 3 days seems reasonable.

However, it is worth noting the high minimum deposit for residents of certain countries

Official Website

eToro.com is a global online brokerage service that allows users to trade various financial instruments, including stocks, ETFs, indices, currency pairs, commodities, and cryptocurrencies, in the form of CFDs (Contracts for Difference).

The presence of an intuitive mobile platform along with social trading features has led to its prosperity and popularity worldwide.

Platform representatives claim to have more than five million users in over 170 countries worldwide, collectively executing 250 million transactions.

The eToro website operates in 19 languages.

Registration

To open an account with eToro, go to the registration page. You can create a new account or sign in with your Google account here. Only those who are 18 years of age or older can trade with eToro.

To start trading, you must provide your details and verify your account. Click "Complete Profile" in the eToro client's area to do this.

You must provide accurate information, as the broker will require you to upload scans or photographs of supporting documents upon completion.

The application form requires you to:

• specify your residential or registered address;
• fill out forms regarding your trading and investment experience in financial markets;
• indicate your financial education;
• undergo an assessment of your trading knowledge;
• select the instruments you wish to invest in;
• list your trading objectives;
• disclose your financial status.

When you need to indicate your trading experience, you can slightly "embellish" the answers — they will not be checked, but this will provide you with the broadest trading opportunities.

After completing the application form, you can fund your account, but you cannot trade until full verification is completed.

Verification

The final step is verifying your phone, identity, and address.

Phone verification is done via SMS.

For identity and address verification, clear scans or photos of two documents are required:

1. For identity confirmation — a national ID card or (preferably) an international passport;
2. A bank statement with the account owner's address (preferably in English) is required for address verification. Unfortunately, the registration page in the passport will not suffice for address confirmation.

After the document verification, the account will be ready for operation. Usually, this takes no more than 3 days. If additional information is needed, eToro will send you a message.

eToro Personal Dashboard Overview

In addition to filling out your profile and verification in the eToro personal dashboard, you can:

• deposit and withdraw funds;
• use a demo account (virtual funds);
• trade CFDs, stocks, ETFs, cryptocurrencies, and build an asset portfolio;
• copy trades and portfolios of successful traders;
• study the markets based on the eToro community feed, asset charts, and statistics;
• create a watchlist of assets and enable price alerts;
• join the eToro Club;
• participate in the eToro referral program.

Minimum Deposit

The minimum deposit amount depends on the user's country of residence.

The amount for subsequent deposits for all countries starts from 50 USD.

The minimum amount for account funding via bank transfer is 500 USD.

When registering a corporate account, the minimum initial deposit amount is 10000 USD.

eToro offers various account types - standard trading account, demo account, and Islamic account, providing some flexibility and catering to the needs of different kinds of traders.

However, the variety of accounts on eToro is limited. There is no choice of fixed spread accounts, which may be attractive for traders who prefer to know their trading costs in advance. In addition, there are no cent accounts, preferable for beginners wishing to start with a small deposit, and ECN accounts, which offer direct access to the interbank market for experienced traders.

Trading Account

The eToro trading account suits traders of all levels - from beginners to more experienced. Beginners will appreciate the platform's ease of use, while professional traders will value the wide range of assets available for trading.

Demo Account

After registration, clients have access to an eToro demo account. It is unnecessary to fill out a profile or verify identity. The demo account allows trading with virtual money with a starting balance of 100,000 USD. Switching between the virtual and real accounts can be done through the personal account in the left column.

From our experience, the virtual balance is not replenished immediately after registration but after some time - approximately a couple of hours.

Islamic Account

For those who follow the principles of Islamic banking and Sharia laws, eToro offers a particular type of account - the Islamic Account. This account ensures the ability to trade without violating Islamic principles related to Riba (prohibition of interest).

The main conditions for trading on an Islamic Account include immediate purchase and sale without delays, currency transfer from the seller's account to the buyer's account and back, payment for the cost of the transaction without delays, and the absence of interest on transactions. If any interest charges arise, the contract will be deemed invalid.

How to open an Islamic Account on eToro?

1. Open an actual account on the platform.
2. Fund it (minimum amount - $1000).
3. Contact customer support.

CopyTrader Trade Copying

The CopyTrader tool allows users to copy the trades of other eToro users automatically. To do this, subscribe to a trader and specify the amount you want to invest in their portfolio.

There are no commissions for copying trades. The subscriber only pays the spread between the bids and asks when executing trades, as if they were trading independently. This is the main advantage of CopyTrader compared to other copy-trading services that charge a commission on turnover.

Another advantage of the platform is the transparency of investments. If a trader has opened their trades for subscription, their portfolio becomes public, meaning anyone can view the list of open positions. Of course, detailed profitability statistics for the entire trading period are also available.

Finally, the social aspect of eToro is most vividly expressed in the CopyTrader service. Each trader runs a blog where they can explain their trading decisions, share experiences, and communicate with subscribers. Like Twitter, the eToro platform collects all the messages from your friends into a single feed, allowing you to leave a comment or share a post immediately.

CopyTrader is used not only by novices but also by quite famous traders. Many popular bloggers also have public accounts on etoro.com.

How can a trader earn with CopyTrader?

Any eToro member can open their trades for copying — even an absolute beginner. But this step alone will not generate any profit. To earn on CopyTrader, a trader needs to be covered by The Popular Investor program, which provides rewards every month.

eToro identifies several criteria by which users are awarded rewards:

• trader's equity;
• assets under management — that is, the total amount of money allocated by all subscribers for copy trading;
• number of subscribers;
• account age — takes into account the number of consecutive months in which at least one trade was executed;
• additional conditions, such as trading experience.

All traders are divided into four levels, with only three included in The Popular Investor program. The conditions for achieving each level and the reward amounts are provided in the table.

* An increased reward is paid out if the asset under management growth for the previous month was at least 1%.

It should be noted that moving up to a new level always provides several additional benefits. For example, the Cadet status allows for more effective promotion of one's account among eToro clients, while the Champion title exempts from withdrawal commission fees.

CopyPortfolios — Bulk Copy Trading of Multiple Traders

If CopyTrader copies the trades of specific individuals, then CopyPortfolios allows you to subscribe to a whole group of traders with one click. This allows for diversification of investment without researching each account individually.

CopyPortfolios automatically groups traders based on one of two criteria:

1. By financial performance — for example, "highest profit" or "most stable investments."
2. By strategy — for example, "online shopping platform stocks" or "cryptocurrency basket."

Statistics, asset allocation information, and other parameters for analysis are available for each portfolio. As with CopyTrader, there is no commission fee for using the service.

All clients are subject to the uniform eToro rate. The company proudly talks about zero commission per trade on its website, but in practice, it is still charged — just in an implicit form.

There is indeed no direct commission for a transaction on eToro. However, when opening a position, a trader encounters a spread (the difference between the bid and ask prices). The size of the spread essentially acts as a commission for the transaction. Below are the eToro spreads and swaps for major currency pairs.

Compared to other Forex brokers, eToro has low spreads and average swaps.

eToro offers various payment systems for account funding and withdrawal, but some include fees. There is a fixed commission for withdrawal, which can disadvantage those who perform many small transactions. Transaction time, in most cases, depends on the payment system. It is also necessary to consider additional costs for currency conversion.

Methods of Account Funding

There is no commission for account funding for several payment systems.

Payment System	Currencies	Deposit Fee	Operation Limit
PayPal	USDEURGBP. . .show all		from 50 to 10000 USD
Neteller	USDEURGBP		from 50 to 10000 USD
Skrill	USDEURGBP		from 50 to 10000 USD
Klarna	EUR		from 50 to 30000 EUR
Rapid Transfer	USDEURGBP		from 50 to 5500 USD
Sofort	EUR		from 50 to 30000 EUR
Swift	USDEURGBP		from 500 USD
Visa	USDEURGBP. . .show all		from 50 to 40000 USD
Mastercard	USDEURGBP. . .show all		from 50 to 40000 USD
Trustly	EURGBPPLN. . .show all		from 50 to 40000 EUR
POLi	AUD		from 50 to 25000 AUD

Methods of Withdrawal

The minimum withdrawal amount on eToro is 30 USD. A fixed commission of 5 USD will be charged per transaction.

Payment System	Currencies	Withdrawal Fee	Operation Limit
PayPal	USDEURGBP. . .show all	0%	from 30 USD
Klarna	EUR	0%	from 30 EUR
Neteller	USDEURGBP	0%	from 30 USD
Skrill	USDEURGBP	2.99% limitscommission limits	from 30 USD
Sofort	EUR	0.9% limitscommission limits	from 30 EUR
Swift	USDEURGBP	0% limitscommission limits	from 30 USD
Visa	USDEURGBP. . .show all	2.54% limitscommission limits	from 30 USD
Mastercard	USDEURGBP. . .show all	2.64% limitscommission limits	from 30 USD
POLi	AUD	1% limitscommission limits	from 30 AUD

The following rules apply to withdrawal methods:

• profits (i.e., income from trading results) can be withdrawn by any method — the list of payment systems is the same as for deposits;
• the initial deposit (or its part) can only be withdrawn using the method with which the client funded the account.

Important nuance: if the account was initially funded in US dollars, the funds can only be withdrawn in USD — for example, to a currency account or card. eToro will charge an additional commission for conversion from dollars to rubles, displayed when creating a request. According to user reviews, the overpayment can be significant.

Taxes on Transactions in eToro

Broker eToro does not pay taxes on behalf of clients. When withdrawing funds, you will receive all profits minus any commission. To pay taxes, you must fill out a tax return, independently indicating the amount and source of the taxable income.

eToro does not report clients' income information to tax authorities. In theory, the broker can do this upon a separate request from authorities by FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) requirements and CRS (Common Reporting Standard).

eToro Club

Clients with large deposits are assigned special statuses in the eToro Club program. Depending on their rank, users receive additional privileges — for example, zero commission on fund withdrawals. The criteria for assigning statuses and the main bonuses in eToro Club are presented in the table.

eToro offers access to a wide range of financial instruments, including stocks, ETFs, forex, CFDs, and cryptocurrencies, but does not provide full transparency for some operations.

What markets are available?

Stock and ETF trading is not entirely transparent. In its rules, the broker states that some stocks are acquired on the exchange in the client's name (if leverage is not used) while others are traded via CFDs. For reference, CFDs are contracts for difference, most commonly found with forex brokers, and do not imply physical ownership of the security. The CFD price follows the underlying asset's price but may differ slightly at certain moments in time.

The problem is that the eToro trading platform does not allow distinguishing between buying real stocks and CFDs. Moreover, in all cases, the client will deal with a spread: the broker independently sets the Bid and Ask quotes, not allowing one to place an order at one's price.

A similar scheme for handling orders also applies to other instruments — currencies, commodity CFDs, and cryptocurrencies. All this makes eToro more akin to Forex bucket shops rather than stock market brokers.

Trading in futures and options is not provided. eToro also does not offer investments in IPOs.

Any asset can be purchased in fractional shares. This is another distinction of eToro from stock market brokers, which only allow trading in whole numbers of securities or lots.

Stocks and ETFs

More than 2500 stocks and 250 ETFs are available for trading on the eToro platform.

You can filter by categories and exchanges to view and search for stocks.

Commissions on Stocks and ETFs

Orders for short selling and leveraged stock positions are executed in CFD contracts and, therefore, are subject to commissions.

Additionally, there are several restrictions on commission-free stock purchases.

Zero commission is available to clients of the following companies

• eToro (Europe) Ltd
• eToro (UK) Ltd
• eToro AUS Capital Limited

Transactions on the following exchanges are executed in the form of CFDs

• Milan
• Helsinki
• Copenhagen
• Oslo

Does eToro Pay Dividends?

Yes. If dividends are paid on stocks, eToro credits them to the account or reflects them in the current profit of an open position.

Note that dividends also work in reverse, that is, when trading short. On the designated day, the total amount of the dividend payment is debited from short sellers.

Margin Trading

Margin trading is available for all asset categories.

The maximum leverage size depends on the specific instrument:

The charge for using leverage is specified at the time of the transaction.

eToro offers only its proprietary trading platform, which is available in two versions:

1. in the personal account area;
2. as a mobile application for Android and iOS.

Personal Account Area

The eToro personal account area combines all the platform's features: account management, independent trading, and copy trading. eToro does not offer a separate terminal like MetaTrader.

The following tools are available for each trading asset:

• chart review with indicators and technical analysis patterns drawing;
• buying or selling (including short selling);
• choosing leverage;
• creating pending orders;
• setting stop-loss, take-profit levels, and trailing stop.

It should be noted that chart viewing is not without serious drawbacks. Firstly, the set of indicators is limited to just a few popular options. But most importantly, under each chart, eToro reminds us that "market price data is presented for informational purposes only." In practice, this means that if there is a discrepancy between the actual quotes and the values on the chart, the client will not be able to prove anything to the broker.

Mobile Application

The eToro app for Android and iOS fully replicates the capabilities of the personal account. It offers account funding and withdrawal, trading and candlestick charts, copy trading, and communication with other participants.

Credit must be given to the eToro developers: according to reviews, all functions work as intended. In Google Play, the app has earned a 4.2-star rating. eToro for iOS scores only 3.5 points — however, users usually complain not about the app itself but their experience with the broker.

eToro's analytics hold a middle ground between basic and advanced tools. An interactive chart, built-in trading ideas, and analyst recommendations make it user-friendly. However, comprehensive fundamental data and timely news are lacking.

Trading Recommendations

Analyst recommendations, target prices, hedge fund opinions, and information about insider trades accompany some popular stocks. Analyst reports are available for a limited number of stocks.

Fundamental Indicators

Some fundamental stock data is available, including company profiles and key metrics and ratios such as P/E, EPS, dividend yield, and beta. Fundamental data is missing for other asset classes.

News Feed

The news feed resembles a Twitter stream with thematic posts from eToro users and analysts, adding a social networking aspect to trading. Despite this, it does not offer official news updates.

Thus, eToro's analytics may be helpful for beginners and traders who prefer technical analysis but may not satisfy the needs of traders seeking in-depth fundamental analysis.

eToro's website features an excellent educational section covering the general principles of financial markets and the nuances of working with the platform.

The Education section of the eToro website is divided into several categories:

• news and analytics;
• podcasts;
• video tutorials;
• daily market review;
• "Trading School" — series of free webinars;
• "Comprehensive Guide to the Fintech Industry" is a highly detailed series of articles about the operation of modern financial markets.

You can contact eToro customer support in only two ways:

1. through the feedback form on the broker's website;
2. through private messages on social media.

According to client reviews, eToro's customer support operates quite poorly. Messages sent through the contact form often receive no response at all. Support can be nudged via direct messages on social media, but resolving issues is not always successful.

eToro Pros and Cons

Advantages

1. Tight spreads.
2. A social network for traders.
3. A vast selection of trading instruments.
4. Fractional share purchasing.
5. Ability to earn by making your portfolio available for copying.
6. Simple interface for the terminal, applications, and personal account.

Disadvantages

1. Only one type of trading account is available.
2. There is a proprietary trading platform, but no alternative to it.
3. Poor customer support.
4. Delays and hidden commissions on withdrawals.

Conclusion

eToro stands out from other brokers due to its unique combination of trading services and social features, making it particularly attractive to traders interested in innovative approaches to investing. Narrow spreads and the ability to buy securities in fractions simplify access to different assets, while the social network allows users to share strategies and copy trades of successful traders, which is a big plus for beginners and those looking for new investment ideas. The simple and intuitive interface makes the platform accessible even for those who are just starting their trading journey.

eToro is best suited for beginner traders who are looking to capitalize on the social aspects of trading and do not require complex individual trading account settings. The platform is also ideal for those looking for an active community to share ideas and strategies.