eTORO Official Review 2024

26 August 2024

Summary:

  • Both real stocks/ETFs/crypto and CFDs are tradable
  • Copy trading functionality
  • Investments starting at $10
  • Ideal platform for beginners

pros Pros:

  • Real stocks/ETFs/crypto available
  • Social trading and copy trading experience
  • User-friendly platform and mobile app
  • Minimum deposit of $100 to start trading

pros Cons:

  • No customer service assistance via telephone
  • Maximum allowed leverage 1:30
  4.8
Safety:
85/100
Fees and Costs:
91/100
Products and Markets:
83/100
Trading platform:
69/100
Tax regime:
70/100
Ease of use
99/100
Overall rating
94/100
51% of CFD accounts lose money

eToro trading review: pros and cons uncovered

eToro is an Israeli online broker founded in 2006. Calling eToro just a broker is, however, an understatement, since it has been one of the leaders of the Fintech revolution. Over the years eToro has helped transform the investment world, bringing social trading to the fore and attracting millions of customers all over the world.

eToro offers a multi-asset platform that allows investments in stocks, ETFs, cryptocurrencies and CFD trading.

In this review, you will find our unbiased and in-depth review of eToro. We have tested the services offered, analyzed the costs and evaluated the platforms and trading tools.
Can trading with eToro be the right choice? Here's what we’ve discovered with our pros and cons revealed.

Safety

When we choose a broker, the first thing we should do - as responsible investors - is to ensure the intermediary's full reliability and transparency. Since it is our savings that are at stake, we would like them to be in the hands of a serious broker.

How does one evaluate the reliability of a broker? We should first make sure that the broker holds a legitimate license and that it is supervised by a rigid regulatory body.

Secondly, we should evaluate the way in which clients' funds and financial instruments are held, especially if a negative scenario occurs (for instance, if the broker defaults).

In this review, we thoroughly analyzed the legal and corporate structure of eToro to determine how safe it is. Here's what you need to know and what our views are on how safe eToro is.

UK traders who intend to open an account with eToro will use its branch eToro (UK) Ltd. It is an investment firm based in London, United Kingdom and through which eToro offers its services to UK clients.

Being based in the United Kingdom, eToro UK is authorized and supervised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under the license firm reference number (FRN) 583263.

UK-based brokers have the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) 2 directive as the regulatory reference point. MIFID entails a series of obligations, guarantees and transparency from brokers to customers. The latter are therefore offered an adequate level of protection which - in the case of eToro - we can summarize in the following points.

  • eToro adheres to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). The FSCS is the UK's compensation fund of last resort for customers of authorised financial services firms. It may pay compensation if a firm is unable, or likely to be unable, to pay claims against it. Any money deposited via eToro UK is treated as an investment for the FSCS. Thus, the maximum amount of compensation per person is £85,000.
    The Cryptoassets Trading Service applies to any cryptoasset buy transactions made under leverage 1 only, which is a non-regulated service, and when using this service you will not be eligible to apply for and/or receive compensation from the FSCS.

  • All eToro clients benefit from an additional private insurance policy. This investment insurance policy covers losses suffered due to insolvency, subject to an excess amount. The policy - provided by Lloyd's of London - protects each client up to 1 million GBP. The insurance covers cash, all CFD positions, and securities. Note that cryptoasset positions (non-CFD) are not covered by the insurance, bearing in mind that trading CFD Crypto is not available for UK/FCA users.

  • Client funds and financial instruments are separate from eToro's assets. This separation allows your assets to remain unattainable by eToro creditors, if, for example, in the unlikely event of the broker’s insolvency. The assets of eToro's customers are preserved by top-tier investment banks.

  • Each account is protected against a negative balance. It may happen that under certain market conditions, your Available Balance may become negative on your trading account. Upon the occurrence of this event, eToro undertakes absorption of this loss so that the customer cannot lose more than what he has deposited.

Pursuant to the above evaluation, eToro is a broker in possession of sufficient safety requirements and its structure guarantees a high level of protection to customers.

eToro account

eToro offers two types of accounts: a virtual account and a real account.

In both cases, you need to register on the eToro website to use the account. Both natural and legal persons can open an account.

» Account opening

eToro offers a simple and quick process to open an account. To register an account you need to perform the following steps.

  1. Click on Join Now from the eToro website and enter your personal and contact information.

  2. Upload a document of identification and a proof of residence (i.e. a copy of your bank statement or a utility bill from within the past 6 months).

  3. Complete the "Appropriateness Test", in which your financial knowledge will be established.

eToro allows you to complete your account registration within 15 days. Remember, however, that in order to withdraw from the account, the account must be verified. We therefore suggest completing all the required steps immediately, so the first withdrawal takes place efficiently.

» In which currencies can the account be opened?

The eToro account is denominated in USD only. This means that if we deposit pounds, eToro will convert from GBP to USD.
Since this conversion takes place at a higher exchange rate, we suggest you directly deposit USD into your eToro account, in order to avoid conversion costs.
The ideal method is to use a multi-currency card, such as Revolut or TransferWise.

» Deposits / Withdrawals

eToro allows you to deposit and withdraw funds extremely quickly. The accepted payment methods are:

  • Debit card

  • Wire transfer

  • Neteller

  • Skrill

  • Sofort

Deposits are credited instantly unless we use a wire transfer. In this case, the funds are usually credited within 1-2 business days.

Withdrawals are processed within 24 hours, but funds will be available on our card or bank account usually within 3-4 business days.

» eToro minimum deposit

The minimum deposit required by eToro is $100.
This amount stands below the industry average since many brokers require a minimum deposit of at least $500.

Author of the review:

Alfredo de Cristofaro author
Alfredo de Cristofaro
Founder QualeBroker.com
Graduated in Economics of Financial Intermediaries, after having worked for several years at one of the main financial brokers in Europe, he decided to make available to investors the knowledge gained over the years. On QualeBroker.com he's responsible of reviewing the stockbrokers, making sure that the highest standards of safety and transparency are guaranteed.
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