eToro Review

Why would you reinvent the wheel? We don’t mean to get too philosophical here and we certainly don’t mean this literally, but why would you, and how could you actually reinvent something that works? Well, this would’ve been the challenge that eToro faced when the company was founded way back in 2007.

Forex trading had been available online for almost a decade by this point. It was a growing market, and eToro’s founders certainly saw that the way to differentiate their product from numerous other Forex brokers was to innovate. This led to the integration of Forex trading with social media to create a unique blend of trading and community. We suspect that the timing to incorporate social media was also great due to the growing popularity of a little known site called Facebook (Facebook opened its doors to the public in 2006). We’ve seen the popularity and interest in social trading grow immensely since 2007, with some brok

ers now offering social trading platforms alongside their standard platform.

For those in the know however, eToro remain the pioneer and the home of social trading.
eToro proudly state “We’re more than just the world’s largest investment network: we’re your investment network”. This motto has clearly worked. Since their conception, eToro’s popularity has grown exponentially. They now boast a customer base currently exceeding over 3 million traders from over 140 countries , and this is growing. The company has also matured from a small team of eager employees to a highly capable international team located at offices in Israel, the UK, China, Russia, Cyprus and Australia. eToro continues to innovate. Jump ahead and check out the eToro Platform Here

Regulatory Information

eToro accepts traders from around the world, making this a truly international broker. They are currently authorised and regulated by the following regulatory bodies:
Europe: The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and the Financial Service Authority (UK). eToro also operates under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), and offers cross border services to all member states of the European Union.

Social Trading

Social trading is a huge selling point for eToro. It allows eToro’s clients to see the progress of other traders and copy successful trading strategies with the click of a 

button.
With the help of eToro’s slick and intuitive interface, you can connect with the global eToro network in real-time and access a range of useful information. It is presented in the familiar social media format and eToro encourages traders to interact therefore it provides discussion walls, personal messages and various feeds.

The platform also allows you to search for successful investors according to a wide range of criteria (which you can set yourself or simply use a selection of presets), view their performance statistics and then add traders to your Watch List to receive the latest updates on their activity, or better yet copy successful trades with the click of a button. This transparency on successful traders and their strategies will appeal to traders with little or no experience.

Once you’ve copied a trader, your account will automatically mirror any trade they make. You can copy as many traders as you want and manage your copies like you would manage a fantasy football team – keep the winners, and cut the ones that under perform. You can also manage your copy risks by setting Stop Loss orders on your copies just like you would on regular trades.

eToro’s social trading model  also rewards more experienced traders as having their trades copied elevates traders to “Popular Investor” status and earns them additional cash rewards.
It is a fun alternative to a more traditional isolated trading experience.

Platforms and Features

We spoke about “reinventing the wheel” at the beginning of this review. As you’d expect from this pioneer in social trading, the platforms offered are proprietary technology and exclusive to eToro.

eToro provide its customer with two platforms to invest in Forex and CFD’s which integrate both the social and the traditional modes of trading that eToro offers. These are the eToro Web App and the eToro Mobile Trader. Put together, these platforms provide traders with a complete investment solution, whether you’re trading at home or on the go

Both the Web and the Mobile platforms offer all-in-one portfolio management solutions. They has a number of options including those that allow you to trade and manage your manual and copy portfolios.

eToro’s Web platform uses a sleek and simple interface to display live rates, comprehensive charts, open positions and orders. It gives traders easy access to a diverse array of financial markets, including Forex, Commodities, Indices, Stocks, ETF’s and even Bitcoin. It allows traders to easily edit Stop Losses and Take Profit orders, or manage their Copy Trading activity and is compatible with both Mac and PC based devices.

eToro Mobile Trader– eToro provides free trading apps compatible with Android and IOS mobile devices. These can be found at Google Play or in the Apple App store respectively. The apps are a fully functional, yet scaled-down version of the eToro platform. App users can view the latest discussions, news and market pages. They can also manage their trading portfolios by accessing live rates, charts and viewing open and closed positions (copy and manual) or even editing stops and much more. These truly allow traders a fantastic way of staying connected with the eToro trading network.

Support Services

As with most brokers of this pedigree, customer support is a priority. The eToro support team can be reached via telephone, chat, email and offer various methods of on-platform online support. We highly recommend that you check out the extensive FAQ section for any straightforward queries. eToro present a huge amount of highly useful information in there and most concerns can be dealt with yourself in minutes. If the FAQ section doesn’t help, the telephone support team are available to assist you 24hrs a day, on weekdays.

You will have to sign up to access the online support services. Once you are a registered client, the Livechat support services are available 24hrs a day from Monday to Friday. This is an incredible resource for new traders. Online support such as the “Customer Service Wall” is available 24hrs a day, 7 days a week and provides clients with prompt responses. Email support is offered via their online form and is available to both registered and unregistered customers. Simply fill out the online form and the support team will reply within 48 business hours.

We actually tested the various support methods, even at weekends when trading was closed, and still received prompt responses. They are clearly a knowledgeable team that is keen to help their clients.

Banking Options

The eToro platform only allows trading in US Dollars because a unified currency is required to provide transparency to their global network. You may deposit from multiple currencies, but your deposit will be converted into USD before trading.

The minimum deposit amount is $50 for Credit and Debit Cards, PayPal, Neteller, Union Pay, Skrill, GiroPay, WebMoney, Yandex and more. The minimum deposit for Wire Transfer is $500. Please note that most electronic payment methods, including the hugely popular PayPal, will allow traders to credit their account and trade within minutes but Wire Transfers can take up to seven working days.

As always, we recommend you verify your account on sign up to avoid delays on withdrawals. Once your account is funded and verified, simply trade as normal. When you’re ready to make withdrawals, the process couldn’t be easier: Click on the “Withdrawal” tab on the platform, enter the amount to withdraw (in USD), and click “Submit”. This will complete the electronic withdrawal procedure and notify you via email once processed. Traders are subject to withdrawal fees. They will charge a maximum fee of $25 (for withdrawals over $500), and your withdrawal will be completed within five business days.

Why Trade Forex and CFD’s at eToro?

Are you new to trading and seeking the best point of entry into this area? Alternatively, are you an experienced trader looking for a more interaction, more recognition and higher rewards of your trading skills? This is where eToro comes in.

New traders should think of eToro as an access point to the world of online financial trading. The demo account feature, low deposit amount, social network of expert traders and the “CopyTrader” function alone make your entry into the lucrative world of financial trading as easy as possible. If you are a more experienced trader, why not get recognition AND get paid for your experience and skill? Create an account, build a social following and encourage novice traders to copy you. Once you are a Popular Investor and have a number of qualified copiers, you start earning monthly rewards, and even start your own online financial business! Please read the FAQ section on the eToro website for more information on the perks of being an experienced trader with them.

eToro was the first global marketplace for people to combine trading and social media. No matter what type of account you open at eToro you will always get access to industry leading customer support, rapid payouts and of course, their award winning platform. It’s our pleasure to confirm that eToro have met with our strict criteria and have earned their status as an “Approved Traders Asset Broker”. We encourage you to try them out for yourself. Enter eToro and get start trading.