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Beginners Forex Education Forex Trading Platforms

The Overview of the eToro Trading Platform

eToro was created by a group of entrepreneurs back in 2007 with the goal of making trading more accessible while reducing the reliance on financial institutions. The original vision started with a platform that focused on graphics in order to make trading easier to understand with more professional tools being added later on. In 2012, the mobile app was launched, stocks were introduced the following year, and social trading, cryptocurrency, and other features have joined the platform since. Today, eToro has come a long way and offers some useful features that help it stand out.

Features

  • 2,000+ assets including forex, stocks, crypto, and more
  • Easy to use intuitive interface
  • Each client receives a free demo account preloaded with $100,000 worth of virtual currency
  • Research Tab that includes insight from leading analysts
  • One-click trading
  • Stoploss and TakeProfit features
  • ProCharts technical analysis tool
  • Specific orders can be placed even during platform maintenance
  • Access to social trading and copy trading

eToro Conditions

In order to use the eToro trading platform, you’ll need to sign up for an account through the broker. Here are some of their conditions:

-$50 USD minimum deposit or $500 if depositing by wire

-14 available cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Dash, Ripple, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, and many others

-Spreads start at 0.75% on Bitcoin

-Minimum withdrawal requirement of $30

-0.1% conversion fee

If you’re considering opening an account, be sure to do more research about the broker’s fees and to read through their terms & conditions.

Conclusion

eToro offers traders a wide variety of trading options to choose from, including expected options like forex pairs and less common choices including 14 different cryptocurrencies. Traders certainly have the chance to diversify their portfolio through this broker and one can open an account with only $50. As for the eToro trading platform, the primary focus seems to be on offering a user-friendly interface that is learnable for beginners, along with some social features.

In other areas, the eTrader platform might be simplistic, as it doesn’t seem to support customer indicators and other advanced features we’ve seen offered elsewhere. Some traders might not notice the missing extra features and would prefer having a more navigable platform, while others might not get everything they need from this broker/platform. This comes down to each trader’s own personal needs and wants.

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Crypto Videos

eToro Platform Review Part 3 – Copy Trading Pros!

eToro platform review – part 3/3

The last part of the eToro platform review will cover the social aspect of the platform as well as deposit and withdrawal methods.

eToro usability

eToro offers some essential features that make life much easier for novice traders. The platform provides a Virtual Portfolio, which basically is a ‘demo mode’ that lets users play a game of trading without actually trading and without staking any real money. This mode allows you to buy as much ‘virtual’ Bitcoin or any other crypto as you like and watch how each cryptocurrency performs. This is also a great way to test trading strategies.

eToro also provides a feature called copy trading. This feature is excellent for traders that aren’t confident in their ability to select winning trades consistently. This feature allows you to copy the best-performing traders in any asset market. You choose the trade amount, and the platform will mirror every single action the trader takes. Users, however, can make adjustments such as copying only new trades and not all currently open positions.

The layout of eToro’s platform is user-friendly, easy to navigate, and suited for casual investors. The control panel is located on the left-hand side of the screen, while the right-hand side shows charts, data, as well as profiles you’ll need to trade properly. eToro’s also has a mobile application mobile that allows you to do everything you can do on your desktop. The platform app is available for both Android and iOS devices.

eToro social trading

eToro’s copy trading, as mentioned before, enables you to copy the actions of profitable traders of your choosing. This feature makes you trade like any seasoned trader you want. You can follow specific traders, monitor their actions as they happen, and opt-in to copy everything they do if you want.

This feature makes eToro the social media platform that bridges the gap between new and seasoned traders and their favorite markets.

eToro deposit and withdrawal methods

Users can deposit funds on eToro by transferring fiat currency into their eToro account. You can use your credit or debit cards as well as a variety of other options, such as wire transfer and PayPal. However, one thing to note is that all fiat funds held by eToro are held in US dollars. If you deposit funds in EUR or GBP, eToro will convert it to USD, which will incur a conversion fee. If we are speaking about crypto, getting funds on the platform is much simpler. eToro wallet has the option to store cryptos that will be traded on the platform, so all you need to do is send the cryptos to that wallet.

Withdrawals work almost exactly the same as deposits. To withdraw fiat currencies, you can use credit and debit cards, bank transfer, and PayPal. However, there is a flat withdrawal fee of $25 for every withdrawal. As this is a pretty steep fee, make sure to plan your withdrawals to avoid extra costs. Withdrawing cryptocurrencies is as simple as transferring them out of the eToro wallet and onto another wallet.

Final thoughts

eToro is quite a unique social investment platform that offers a diverse variety of investment products to people that want to trade on the go. Although it does have much higher fees compared to regular crypto trading services, the benefits may justify the costs. All in all, eToro is an excellent place to get used to trading and learn the basics.

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Crypto Videos

eToro Platform Review – part 2

eToro platform review – part 2/3

This part of the platform review will take a look at the fees eToro charges to its customers. It will also take a closer look at the crypto security of the platform.

eToro fees

Compared to the ‘standard’ crypto platforms (such as Coinbase or Binance), eToro’s fee structure differs a bit.
As eToro is a brokerage service rather than an exchange, it doesn’t charge trading fees the same way regular crypto exchanges do. eToro users will have to pay something called ‘spread fees‘ when selling crypto, and when buying cryptocurrencies using leverage. To sum it up, if you want to sell (or margin trade) a cryptocurrency, you will have to pay a percentage of the sale price. This percentage fee derives from the ‘spread’ of the asset itself, which constitutes the difference between its ‘buy’ and ‘sell’ price.

As an example, selling one Bitcoin at a market price of $10,000, you’ll also have to pay 0.75% of the Bitcoin’s value (0.75% being the current BTC spread value). Assuming that 1 BTC equals $10,000, you’ll have to pay $75.
Also, traders that are taking out a leveraged position on a cryptocurrency will have to pay ‘overnight fees,’ which are also referred to as ‘rollover fees.’ As the trader is borrowing money from the company to hold a trading position, eToro charges them interest.
eToro Spread/overnight fees
The table below will show the spread and overnight fees of the platform:
Cryptocurrency

eToro Spread Fee


As shown above, the overnight fees for Bitcoin are pretty steep. As a comparison, traditional crypto platforms are much cheaper. Kraken charges 0.01% every four hours of holding a leveraged BTC/EUR or BTC/USD position. So, if someone would hold a position of 1 BTC for 24 hours, they would have to pay around 0.00056 BTC on Kraken, while eToro users would pay $0.0075 BTC.

Similarly, the spread fees on eToro make it more expensive than trading on traditional exchanges and platforms. Binance and Bitstamp each charge only 0.1% for every trade a user makes. On the other hand, eToro’s spread fee of 0.75% for BTC is noticeably more expensive.
On top of all this, eToro also charges withdrawal fees as well as inactivity fees. The withdrawal fee is a flat $25, with users being allowed to withdraw amounts of $50 or more. The inactivity fee is $10 per month and is charged to users whose account hasn’t been used for 4 or 12 months, depending on whether they have deposited any funds.

Security of the platform

Unlike many centralized, traditional exchanges, eToro has experienced no significant scandals in the past. However, security isn’t eToro’s major selling point. Up until 2017 and 2018, cryptocurrencies weren’t directly traded using eToro. Instead, users held and traded a contract for difference (CFD), which allowed eToro to hold no crypto whatsoever.
There was no need for any additional security measures which competing crypto platforms had to have.

Today, when it does offer direct cryptocurrency trading, the additional security layers are unknown to the public. The website doesn’t specify the crypto security measures it uses to protect customers’ assets.
One thing to note is that the eToro wallet, just like other major exchanges, keeps your private key. This means that you have to trust the platform to protect your funds. That being said, eToro is one of the most secure platforms when it comes to general compliance with financial regulation. The platform is being regulated by CySEC in Europe, FinCEN in the US, and the FCA in the UK.

Make sure to check out the third part of our eToro platform review, where we will talk about the platform usability, social trading as well as withdrawal and deposit methods.

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Crypto Education

eToro Platform Review – Part 1

eToro platform review – part 1/3


eToro is one of the most popular trading platforms in the world. It lets users trade various assets, such as traditional stocks, shares, as well as major cryptocurrencies. When compared to other crypto trading services, it is a fully regulated exchange with a user-base of more than 10 million registered users.

eToro in a nutshell


eToro is aimed at investors who are new to the investment world, as their interface does not consist of many analysis tools. They are rather a simple platform that gives people the option to buy or sell assets on the go. It is a great one-stop-shop as it offers a variety of assets. However, advanced traders may also benefit from eToro by using margin trading. Less experienced traders have the option to use eToro’s social trading where they can follow seasoned investors, their research, as well as insights.

eToro offers various instruments, including:
16 cryptocurrencies (BTC, ETH, BCH, XRP, DASH, LTC, ETC, ADA, EOS, NEO, XLM, IOTA, TRX, ZEC, BNB. XTZ).

47 currency pairs (including EUR, USD, CAD, GBP, AUD, PLN, SGD, SEK, JPY, and many others).

13 stock index CFDs (SPX 500, UK100, NSDQ100, China50, AUS200 and others).
Over 1300 stock CFDs.
83 commodity CFDs (including oil, gold, silver, copper, natural gas, and platinum).
The U.S. customers are allowed to trade cryptocurrencies only for now.

eToro background

The company was founded in 2006 by Yoni Assia (Chief Executive Officer and Founder) and Ronen Assia (Chief Product Officer and Co-Founder). eToro can be proud to say that it has a history stretching further back than the whole crypto industry itself. It started its life as an online FOREX brokerage.

It made its first move towards crypto in January 2014, when it started to offer Bitcoin trading to their user base of three million. At the time, the crypto trading they offered was trading CFD’s, which meant that traders didn’t purchase the underlying asset. However, eToro (slowly but surely) switched to offering direct crypto trades in September 2018. When buying crypto on eToro, you actually own it as well as withdraw the cryptocurrencies you buy into your eToro wallet.
eToro boasts over ten million users today, with its growth primarily driven by the smart marketing moves and the crypto industry. On top of that, its accessibility and great customer support make eToro expand even further.
Check out part 2 of our eToro platform guide, where we will talk about the fees, spreads, and security of the platform.