eToro Full Review: What Makes eToro the Best Digital Currency Trading Platform and Sets it Apart from the Rest
The eToro trading platform has been pioneering online investments for over 15 years, and has earned a reputation as a world class, and credible online broker. If you're interested in trading crypto or traditional assets like stocks and commodities, eToro’s platform operates as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for all these products.
Key Features of eToro’s Trading Platform
eToro social trading. eToro offers a unique social trading experience, making it the best social platform for traders. You can follow, copy, interact with your favorite traders, and create a custom news feed to keep tabs on your preferred assets and their news.
Best trading platform for learning. Plenty of educational materials, including a virtual portfolio for training.
A vast range of assets. Aside from 16 cryptocurrencies, you can also learn and trade in traditional markets like stocks, bonds, forex, ETFs, commodities, and other markets.
Excellent customer support. If there’s an issue, you can reach eToro’s team via phone, live chat, and support ticket. Besides, the platform is translated into more than 20 languages. The customer service is available Monday to Friday, 24 hours per day.
Mobile trading apps. eToro is easily accessible on the go so that you can make trades from your Android or iOS-powered phone.
eToro global trading instruments include:
- 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).
- 16 cryptocurrencies (BTC, ETH, BCH, XRP, DASH, LTC, ETC, ADA, EOS, NEO, XLM, IOTA, TRX, ZEC, BNB & XTZ).
eToro Background
Founded in 2006, eToro has a history stretching further back than Bitcoin and crypto. It started its life as an online foreign exchange brokerage. In 2010, it launched its famed copy-trading feature, which enables users to copy successful traders' investment strategies.
It made its first move into crypto in January 2014, when it began offering Bitcoin trading to the three million users it boasted at the time. At the time, these were contracts for difference (CFD) trades, which meant that the trader didn't purchase the underlying asset (e.g., bitcoin).
Instead, it constituted an agreement that he or she will either pay the difference if the asset drops in price or will receive the difference if it rises. However, eToro switched to offering direct trades in crypto in September 2018, so now you actually own and can withdraw the cryptocurrencies you buy into the eToro wallet.
Today eToro boasts over ten million users, with its growth primarily driven by the crypto boom. And for a platform of its size, its interface is streamlined and straightforward to use, while its mobile app makes managing your portfolio on the go painlessly convenient.
eToro Usability
While eToro offers a couple of essential features that make it highly suitable for starting and novice traders. It provides a Virtual Portfolio, a ‘demo mode’ that lets users trade without staking any real money. Using this mode, you can buy as much ‘virtual’ bitcoin, dash or XRP as you like and watch how each cryptocurrency performs.
eToro’s use of copy trading is excellent for traders who don’t feel confident in their ability to select winners consistently. With the CopyTrader system, eToro lets you copy the best-performing traders in various asset markets (e.g., commodities, stocks, ETFs, and crypto). You choose how much to invest, and then it mirrors every action the trader takes. Besides, users can make adjustments here and there (such as copying only new trades rather than all open positions).
The layout of the eToro trading platform is user-friendly and easy to navigate. The user has a control panel on the left-hand side of the screen. The right-hand side shows all the charts, data, and profiles you’ll need to make your investment choices. Likewise, eToro's mobile apps allow you to do pretty much everything you can do on the desktop version of the trading platform. The ability to receive notifications on the go means you’ll be able to stay on top of your trades regardless of where you are. The apps are available for both Android and iOS devices.
Invest NowSocial Trading on eToro
eToro social trading feature. Dislcaimer: Indicative prices; current market price is shown on the eToro trading platform.
eToro's copy trading enables you to copy the actions of traders of your choosing. It is like having seasoned traders from all over the globe trade on your behalf. You can follow specific traders in the social feed, monitor their actions in real-time, and opt-in to copy everything they do.
As such, eToro is the social media platform of traders that bridges the gap between you, your favorite traders, and your favorite markets.
eToro deposit and withdrawal methods
At the moment, eToro users can deposit only fiat currency into their eToro account unless you transfer cryptocurrency directly to the eToro wallet. Besides that, you can use your credit/debit cards and a variety of other options, such as wire transfer, popular e-wallets like PayPal, Skrill & Neteller, Klarna, iDEAL, and more. All fiat funds held by eToro are actually in US dollars, so if you deposit EUR or GBP into your account, eToro will convert it to USD. As such, you will incur a conversion fee. The minimum fist-time deposit ranges from USD 50 to USD 10,000 based on your jurisdiction.
Withdrawals work in much the same way, with credit/debit card, bank transfer, and PayPal options all available. However, there is a flat fee of USD 5 for every withdrawal, so make sure to plan your withdrawals to avoid extra costs. The eToro crypto wallet also allows the platform users to hold and withdraw cryptocurrencies it supports.
eToro Review: Final thoughts
eToro is a unique social trading platform with a diverse variety of investment products. Although it comes at a higher cost than regular cryptocurrency trading services, the benefits outweigh the costs as eToro offers significantly more. Overall, eToro is an excellent place to start learning about the online investment world, diversify your portfolio, connect with other investors, and build a career as a wholesome trader.
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