When trying to choose a trading platform, both beginner and advanced traders go online to find out the best trading platforms to use. This is why you will find a lot of eToro reviews online because of the many features that make it stand out.
eToro is a trading platform that has been around for a while. It offers forex trading, and it later added cryptocurrency trading capabilities as well. For those outside of the US, you can also trade stock and contracts for differences. It is a well-regulated trading platform, which is why you know you can trust it.
eToro is an excellent platform for beginners, as it is incredibly easy to use and features non-confusing options. eToro aims to make forex trading easy for beginners. Generally, putting your money into eToro can be considered a low-risk investment due to its stability, regulation, and trustworthiness.
Features of eToro
Minimum trade
eToro’s minimum trade amount is $20, and the minimum deposit amount is $50 if done by debit card or bank account connection.
Trading and transaction fees
EToro charges its trading fees through spreads that may rise and fall with market conditions. Unlike some other providers, eToro charges round-turn — one spread for both buying and selling crypto assets. Spreads ranged from 0.75% for Bitcoin trades to 5% for trading Tezos. Most cryptocurrency spreads range between 1.9% and 2.9%.
Number of cryptocurrencies
There are 17 cryptocurrencies available to trade on eToro.
Crypto-to-crypto trading pairs
Direct crypto-to-crypto trading isn’t available to U.S. users. However, there is a crypto-to-crypto conversion option similar to Coinbase’s offering, available for Bitcoin, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Stellar.
Digital wallet options and security
EToro provides a free digital wallet to store cryptocurrency, known as eToro wallet, available in iOS and Android. The cost to convert crypto into fiat currency (which is to say, U.S. dollars) and vice versa is 5%, which some users may find a costly bite into any potential profits. The minimum transaction is $125 and the maximum is $10,000.
Users can transfer cryptocurrency from the eToro platform to their own digital wallet, but eToro notes coin transfers are one-way — which means any coins transferred can’t be transferred back to the eToro trading platform.
Mobile app
eToro’s app is available for iOS and Android, and has received mostly positive reviews.
Customer support options
eToro’s customer support is limited, offering only email contact or a support ticket option. For an additional cost, “Club Members” can receive customer support via live chat.
Social trading
EToro’s CopyTrader allows you to copy and trade automatically based on the moves of other traders. How it works: You choose an investor you want to copy, and with a click of a button, you can begin mirroring their positions automatically (with the option of a stop-loss level to limit potential losses).
The minimum amount to copy a user is $200, and the maximum amount is $500,000. Users can copy up to 100 traders simultaneously. Even without using CopyTrader, users can view millions of other traders’ portfolios, stats and risk scores. (While they have full access to all public profiles worldwide, U.S. clients can copy only other U.S. users).
Should You Trade Crypto on eToro?
Why should you do your cryptocurrency trading on eToro? The broker offers a number of benefits to traders, including:
- Virtual trading practice: A constantly moving market means you want to practice your cryptocurrency trading strategy before you place your first buy order. eToro is one of the only cryptocurrency brokers we’ve seen to offer virtual trading practice accounts for cryptocurrencies.
- CopyTrader feature for insider trading info: eToro’s unique CopyTrader function allows you to “copy” the buy and sell orders placed by professional cryptocurrency investors. This provides a win-win opportunity for both copiers and professionals. Followed users earn a commission when copied, which incentivizes users to make profitable trades. New investors receive a higher level of guidance when placing their first orders.
- Single payment spread pricing: eToro’s unique spread pricing allows you to pay a single, low-priced percentage commission on your trade. You can even get a return for a percentage of your commission if you lose a significant amount of money on a trade. You only get charged commissions once — when you buy. This can be very helpful for high-volume traders.
Like many cryptocurrency trading platforms, eToro charges a spread between the bid and the ask prices when you trade. A spread is a fee collected by the broker in exchange for executing your trade. eToro charges you a percentage spread based on the crypto that you’re trading, and you don’t need to pay any type of commission beyond the spread.
You’ll also only pay a single percentage spread when you buy the asset, which is then adjusted when you sell. This means that if you lose a significant amount of money on your trade, you’ll be refunded a percentage of your spread, which is a feature we haven’t seen with any other cryptocurrency broker.
eToro charges a percentage spread that varies by cryptocurrency. Typically, the spread is between 0.75% and 2.5%, depending on the cryptocurrency you choose to invest in.
eToro offers investors access to 29 of the most commonly traded coins and tokens. Here are some of the most popular cryptocurrencies on the platform:
- Aave (AAVE)
- Algorand (ALGO)
- Basic Attention Token (BAT)
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
- Chainlink (LINK)
- Compound (COMP)
- Dash (DASH)
- Decentraland (MANA)
- Dogecoin (DOGE)
- Enjin (ENJ)
- EOS (EOS)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Ethereum Classic (ETC)
- Litecoin (LTC)
- IOTA (MIOTA)
- Polygon (MATIC)
- MakerDAO (MKR)
- NEO (NEO)
- Ripple (XRP)
- Stellar Lumens (XLM)
- Tezos (XTZ)
- TRON (TRX)
- Uniswap (UNI)
- Yearn.Finance (YFI)
Though eToro does offer a solid repertoire of cryptocurrencies, it isn’t the most comprehensive place to buy and sell coins and tokens. Alternative exchanges like Coinbase and Binance have continued to expand their coin and token offerings, adding several dozen coins over the last year.
For most investors, however, eToro has plenty of cryptocurrencies to invest in. If you’re looking to invest in a specific altcoin, make sure that eToro supports the asset before making an account.
Finally
Users on eToro are allowed to begin trading cryptocurrency for as little as $50, and its innovative trading platform lets investors mirror select traders with successful track records, move-by-move. But consider the risks inherent in trading these highly speculative assets.