eToro was launched in 2006 by three young professionals and has introduced a revolutionary new forex trading platform that essentially animates trades in a fun and competitive environment. eToro performs its retail forex operations under the corporate name of eToro, and the firm is headquartered in Cyprus. The U.S. branch of the firm, eToroUSA, provides an online trading platform operated by Tradonomi, LLC.
Features
Dealing at eToro features fixed dealing spreads, free advanced trading and analysis tools, no commissions or fees on transactions or withdrawals, a multi-lingual website, Islamic accounts and full leverage on funds. Also, new clients receive a cash bonus up to $1,000, depending on their initial deposit.
As of April 29th 2018 eToro has moved from trading stocks as CFD to real stocks on their platform. All the countries will now be real stocks and only the listed countries will remain CFDs: Afghanistan Angola Australia Belarus Macedonia Iraq Liberia Libya Nauru New Zealand Nigeria Sierra Leone Zimbabwe Cote d’Ivoire Congo Congo Republic Myanmar.
As of August 1st 2018 eToro is fully compliant with new ESMA rules. Read more here.
Accounts
The broker offers Demo, Standard and VIP Premium accounts, with the minimum deposit being $200, and maximum leverage of 1:30. The minimum trade size is $10,000 after leverage, with no maximum size. Premium account offer one-on-one training with a forex professional; account reviews and monitoring by a professional risk manager; and trading strategy and market analysis coaching.
Transactions
eToro offers the standard order types, including entry stop and entry limit orders. In terms of deposits, you can fund your account in USD, EUR or GBP, and you can make deposits with credit card transfers from Visa or MasterCard; funds from PayPal, WebMoney, Neteller or MoneyBookers; transfers from Western Union or MoneyGram; and wire transfers from banks. Withdrawals can be made by bank wire with 5 days standard for processing and has a $25 fee.
Platform
eToro’s trading platform comes in either downloadable or online WebTrader versions, and offers step-by-step instructions to get started. Its fun and unique graphical concept features several trading arenas such as Forex Match, Forex Marathon, Dollar Trend and Globe Trader. In addition, the platform offers a Trading Log for users to keep track of their trades, chats where users can discuss matters with friends and fellow traders, and a Championship mode where users can win money. eToro offers its clients technical analysis through its Webtrader online platform with advanced chart indicators.
Support
eToro provides answers to a good selection of common questions online, in addition to quality trading support via phone, e-mail and live chat. In addition, local telephone numbers for countries in Europe, Asia, North and South America, Australia and the Middle East gives customers phone support coverage throughout the world.
Information
eToro’s educational resources include a comprehensive forex guide for beginners as a downloadable e-book in PDF format. The guide gives users the same information base available with an expensive forex course, only for free. The online eToro homepage features the eToro platform user’s guide and links to tutorial videos. In addition, market analysis is available on eToro’s sister site, with forex market reports, opinion pieces and live forex news feeds, plus forex trading recommendations and commentaries.
Safety
eToro submits to regulation by the CySEC in Cyprus that keeps to E.U. standards. In the United States, eToro is registered with the CFTC and is also an NFA member with NFA ID#:0382918. Customer funds are securely held in a client fund by International Capital Markets, based in Sydney, Australia. Also, eToro uses standard secure socket layer (SSL) technology for data encryption to provide customers with the best e-commerce data security available.
Overall
eToro provides a unique solution in online forex trading with an extremely accessible trading platform full of educational features. The animated features of this trading interface give even the novice trader an amusingly clear idea of how currency pairs are traded in the forex market. If you would appreciate this unusual feature, then eToro may be the online forex brokers for you.
Risk Warning
All trading involves risk. Only risk capital you’re prepared to lose. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
This post is for educational purposes and should not be considered as investment advice.
Cryptocurrencies can widely fluctuate in prices and are not appropriate for all investors. Trading cryptocurrencies is not supervised by any EU regulatory framework. Your capital is at risk.