Some of the links in this post are from our sponsors. We provide you with accurate, reliable information. Read our Advertising Disclosure.
Our Rating
4.5/5
The Bottom Line: eToro is a social trading and multi asset brokerage company that focuses on providing copy trading services that has registered offices in Cyprus, Israel and the United Kingdom
eToro is an easy standout from your usual crypto trading platforms. First, because it’s easily the one of best known among online brokerage firms out there.
This in no small part attributable to its constant advertising on social media. But second, because it is known as being a stock brokerage and investment website rather than a crypto exchange.
Although it’s easy to think old companies should stick to their old markets, particularly considering how much companies like JPM at one time, stood against crypto adoption.
Having trusted companies on the crypto scene is a huge plus.
Quick Summary
Minimum Deposit: $200
Fees: Low fees (depends on the trade)
Promotion: No current promos
eToro has shown to be one of the most trusted companies for investors and other crypto newbies.
It's brand recognition is instant and, although it is still new to the crypto market, many new users are attracted by the expertise in financial services and investing it displays.
What is EToro?
eToro was founded in 2006 as a brokerage company and quickly gained a following among international users. It's founders are Yoni Assia, Ronen Assia, and David Ring.
The Assia brothers were experienced in tech at the onset of their careers, mostly with the programming and project management side. As for Ring, he had prior experience as a software engineer in Israel.
Today, Yoni Assia is still eToro’s CEO, a position he has held since the platform first launched.
Operational spread and strength
eToro is a completely international company, with headquarters in London, Limassol, and Tel-Aviv, with the latter being the original headquarters.
It counts roughly five hundred employees among its three branches, with over ten million users spread throughout the globe.
eToroX, the crypto-focused arm of the exchange, offers its services to over a hundred countries, thus competing with most big crypto exchanges for territory.
However, eToroX’s list of restricted countries is also big – including countries like Japan and Canada, where cryptocurrency spread is considerable.
eToroX also doesn’t provide its service to the United States. However, US customers in 32 states can trade crypto through eToro, although with the customer authentication restrictions that applies to deposits and withdrawals.
Payment Methods and Fees
Considering eToro’s decade-plus experience with online trading, one might expect it to accept about every single payment method on earth and then some more.
After all, the platform’s reach is very wide, and convenience is extremely important.
Payment Method | Country | Time | Max Deposit | Regulatory Body |
|---|---|---|---|---|
China Union Pay | Hong Kong | Instantly | 20,000 USD | Government of Hong Kong |
Credit / Debit card | UK | Instantly | 40,000 USD | FCA |
Giropay | Germany | Up to 1 business day | 30,000 USD | BaFin |
Neteller | UK | Instantly | 10,000 USD | FCA |
PayPal | Luxemburg | Instantly | 20,000 USD | CSSF, Luxembourg |
Skrill Limited UK | UK | Instantly | 10,000 USD | FCA |
WebMoney | UK | Instantly | 50,000 USD | FCA |
Wire Transfer | All | 3-5 business days | Unlimited | Dependent on remitting Bank |
Wire | Germany | 2-3 business days | Unlimited | BaFin |
Yandex | Russia | Instantly | 5000 RUB | Central Bank of Russia |
Local Online Banking | Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam | Instantly | 10,000 USD | Enter your text here... |
ACH | US | 2 business days | 50,000 USD | FinCen |
eToro does accept a good amount of payment methods. However, the same can’t necessarily be said about eToroX.
The cryptocurrency branch is a separate entity with it's own rules and limitations, some of which play directly against itself by making processes that should be simple a little too complicated.
The fact that there are two branches to eToro, both of which you can trade cryptocurrencies looks ambiguous. However, in understanding the need to play around US SEC rules, you will appreciate the demarcation.
Rates for withdrawals and deposits
eToro doesn’t have the best rates in the market. While in some cryptocurrencies it offers competitive rates, others fall flat.
This applies to both eToro and eToroX, although it’s much more noticeable in the latter than in the former.
eToro doesn’t charge fees for deposits. For withdrawals, the set fee is $25, with a minimum withdrawal value of $50.
eToroX also doesn’t charge deposit fees. Its withdrawal fees are set depending on the cryptocurrency you’re withdrawing.
For all cryptocurrencies, the fees represent a set amount rather than a percentage. For specific information regarding withdrawal fees, you can check eToroX’s website.
Rates for buy/sell transactions
eToro’s base website doesn’t charge any transaction fees for cryptocurrencies. However, this statement is misleading – while no outright fees are spelt out, it does a spread in buy/sell values, and charges are bundled therein.
The spreads vary wildly depending on what you’re trading, and they can go from 0.75% of the token value all the way up to 3.45%.
Thus, the rates are hardly competitive, although then again, the site might not need to be competitive considering its existing user base.
eToroX does charge transaction fees instead of a spread. As many cryptocurrency brokers do, it operates using a maker/taker method along with monthly transaction amounts to calculate transaction fees.
As usual, maker fees are much lower than taker fees in all cases.
As is common in fee structures, eToroX’s preferential fees only kick in once you’ve traded a large number of cryptocurrencies in a month – in this case, from $100,000 onwards.
The best rates a user can receive can only be reached after trading the equivalent to ten million dollars in a month, meaning very few customers likely receive such rates.
Regardless, maker fees on eToroX start at 0.1% for the first tier and end up at 0.03% for the highest tier.
Taker fees on eToroX start at 0.24% for the first tier and end up at 0.12% for the last tier.
Methods of deposit
Considering the difference in rates between eToro and eToroX, it won’t surprise anyone to learn that the deposit methods are also different, depending on which side of the exchange you’re trading on.
And sadly, the advantage is better with the older exchange.
eToro’s long time in the market means it accepts a set array of payment methods – including debit cards, credit cards, Skrill, PayPal, and a handful of localized payment processors.
It’s the kind of list that would make most crypto investors run for the site. However, minimum deposits are just a little bit steep, at $10,000 and up, depending on the payment method use.
As for deposits into eToro via crypto wallet, they’re out of the question unless you manage to get an advanced verified account – something a recently registered customer is unlikely to attain.
eToroX, meanwhile, offers very few deposit methods. eToroX is a crypto-to-crypto exchange at it's core, which means you’re only allowed to deposit via crypto wallet – this time without requiring any special authorization.
Fiat deposits are not allowed… in theory.
Yes, in theory. To make an already confusing system even more convoluted, eToroX doesn’t allow fiat payments, but allows its customers to use Simplex to do exactly that.
So, while it won’t allow users to deposit fiat, it allows users to buy crypto with fiat, as long as they use a third-party method.
One that only charges in EUR and GBP so, if you have your investment money in USD, have fun paying currency conversion fees on top of it all.
The site has a very nice FAQ page that you can use.
Methods of withdrawal
eToro allows withdrawals of fiat currencies using credit cards, PayPal, and wire transfers. The system is automatic and tries to perform the deposits in your accounts on the same score.
As for crypto withdrawals, you’ll need the already mentioned special verified upgraded account (gold-rated) to be allowed to perform them, otherwise, you should not bother.
As for eToroX, withdrawals are only allowed via crypto wallet, which makes perfect sense considering nothing has made sense about this so far.
Either way, that’s the gist of it – eToro lets you withdraw fiat only, while eToroX lets you withdraw crypto only.
If you dither on this and wonder why the demarcation, remember that eToro trading benchmarks might be too high for some people, and this is where eToroX also serves as a market strategy.
Transaction completion periods
As with most online brokers, transaction times on eToro and eToroX tend to be quick, usually taking only minutes – at least for crypto-to-crypto transactions, which happen inside the exchange.
As for this, eToro is up to the standards.
Deposits also follow the set standard, with most deposit transactions taking only minutes, although depending on how congested the blockchain is -a transaction can take a few hours.
eToroX does apply a few extra internal confirmation steps, although it wouldn’t make the transaction take much longer than elsewhere.
Withdrawals is where things change. In most exchanges, withdrawals to crypto wallets take a few minutes to a few hours.
eToroX transactions take a full business day since they must be verified by humans, and then on top of that lag, you have to add the blockchain transaction time.
It’s not terrible, but it’s hardly convenient when other crypto traders can get you your cryptocurrencies within an hour.
Fiat withdrawals on eToro will depend on the method used, with credit and debit card times varying depending on your bank, PayPal being almost instantaneous, and wire transfers taking days because that’s how wire transfers work.
Operations and Dashboard
eToro’s user interface is clean and simple to use, yet it also offers more than enough information for most traders to be content with it.
While the whole deposit and withdrawal process in the platform is convoluted and messy, the UI is one of the areas where the company shines.
Buying or selling on the main platform is as simple as selecting the crypto you wish to buy or sell, then letting the system know how much you wish to trade.
Even eToroX’s interface is quite good. The dashboard offers you an instant look at the market, with vital information like pricing graphs and market depth readily available.
There’s very little eToroX might lack that other exchanges have – which should be expected, considering the company’s expertise in trading systems.
Cross-platform availability
Both eToro and eToroX have mobile clients, allowing users to trade on the go as the need arises. Having websites that are responsive and made to work in most devices is a plus.
This means that even if you can’t install the eToro App on your mobile or tablet, you might still be able to perform operations, nonetheless.
Online Wallets
eToro and eToroX both make use of a proprietary wallet, the eToro Wallet, where all users can withdraw their funds to.
Said wallet can be used to send and receive funds from third parties, giving them the same abilities other crypto wallets would have.
A word of advice here is necessary, however – when you use an exchange’s own crypto wallet for your personal transactions, you’re giving up part of your privacy as the exchange can know how much money you’re sending and to whom.
That means they’ll at the very least have a guess to the nature of your transactions.
Even if all your transactions are legal (as they should be,) on occasions, some brokers have frozen or closed customer accounts due to disagreeing with users’ choice of transactions on moral grounds.
Therefore, it’s always advised to have your own private wallet for all transactions, no matter what, and only use exchange wallets for exchange-related tasks.
Security and Customer Insurance
Both eToro and eToroX are big on security, as is necessary, considering the company itself is heavily regulated.
As such, all of the customer’s holdings are kept safe and insured, as required by law.
While many crypto exchanges are content with keeping crypto holdings in cold storage, where they can’t be hacked, eToro goes one step forward by making the wallet addresses where its holdings are kept private.
This has the downside of hindering transparency, as users can’t confirm eToro has indeed enough liquidity to carry on operations but, as per eToro’s management, with a private wallet, the risk of hacking gets minimized.
Account opening requirements
In order to open an account with eToro, you need to give up some of your personal data – including email, which is usual, but also adding your full name and phone number to boot.
This is just the basic info, as you’ll be asked to provide other data both for funding your account and proceeding with verification.
Having your account verified is mandatory to trade on eToro.
eToroX follows a similar process, asking for little data (email and country) at first, but requiring verification for any trading to be allowed.
KYC/AML requirements
It should surprise nobody that eToro and eToroX both have strong requirements for KYC/AML and verifying an account.
The exchange carries on as a regulated system, which implies that users must comply with more requirements than usual, with the upside of knowing everything should be transparent and lawful.
As such, both eToro and eToroX require extensive verification – and, in fact, the latter is much more thorough with its verification process.
While eToro only requires ID verification and proof of address, eToroX adds several extra steps, such as a financial questionnaire, to the mix.
While none of the requirements for this should be too difficult to procure, eToro and its crypto-based arm are among the stricter exchanges in the market and are places where creating an anonymous account is effectively impossible.
Verifying your account
The verification process, although somewhat lengthy, is pretty simple to go through, since it is automated – as is the standard among crypto brokers.
On both sites, you’ll be asked to verify your account as part of the initial setup process, and since there’s no way to avoid this, there’s also no way to miss it.
The number of steps you have to go through and the information you need to input will vary depending on your country and type of account.
While the verification process shouldn’t take too long, it’s always a good idea to go at a go to shorten your waiting time. Remember that with crypto and other investments, time is money.
How A Typical Transaction Works
Making a deposit
The process of making a deposit is simple. On eToro, you’ll be guided through it as part of setting up your new account.
The exchange only trades on large amounts of fiat, and in this case, the minimal transaction there is $10,000, or even higher depending on your funding source.
For eToroX, the process is even simpler. Since the exchange only officially accepts deposits from crypto wallets, it consists of copying the address you’re given and sending your funds there.
You can also purchase crypto on eToroX using debit or credit card, and the process is the same as it would for any online transactions.
How Trading Works
Trading is simple in both eToro and eToroX, with ease of use being one of the exchange’s high points.
For eToro, just choosing whichever cryptocurrency you want to buy, or sell is enough, as the system was made with investment in mind.
eToroX offers a larger array of options, but the simplicity remains if you need it: you can buy or sell by simply selecting a trading pair.
You can also set advanced options, although not all options that some people might desire– stop orders, for example, aren’t a part of the offering.
Still, using eToro for crypto trading is simple enough, and transactions happen quickly.
CopyTrading
One of the unique features of eToro is copytrading. This is essentially a clone made available by the platform’s trading committee, which depicts successful trading models used by leading traders on the platform.
With $200, you can register for copytrading using the proven model.
Closely aligned to this is the copyportfolios. These are asset blocks consisting of a few select components.
For example, you will find that a copyportfolio is made up of Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Dash and Ethereum Classic. You must have a minimum of $5,000 to invest to use the copyportfolios.
Making a withdrawal
If the deposit process was simple, the withdrawal process is even simpler.
On eToro, withdrawals methods are chosen automatically based on what your account has on file. The methods are credit/debit card, PayPal, and wire transfer. The preference goes in that order. No extra steps are needed.
For eToroX, as usual with crypto exchanges, you need to tell the system which wallet you want your crypto to be sent to, and then wait for the transaction to be processed.
It can take more than a day, since its verification system is extensive and done in person.
Customer Support
eToro’s customer service is one of its weak points. It has long been considered lacking, since its main customer support method is email.
The base site recently added a live chat but, alas, eToroX’s customer support channels are still stuck with email only.
This is problematic because email responses tend to take longer and be harder to understand and solve than when you get to directly talk to a customer service representative.
As it currently is, eToro’s customer service isn’t terrible, but it’s hardly good – and can be rated as just fair.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- eToro has an established presence in the market, making it one of the most trustable exchanges out there.
- The company’s focus on safety and legality means your funds on eToro aren’t just safe but guaranteed to remain there despite the likelihood of changing crypto laws and regulations.
- Trading on the exchange is easy. Buying crypto with fiat on the main site is particularly simple, and the amount of accepted deposit methods puts most crypto exchanges to shame.
- The withdrawal process is simple and painless for both the main site and eToroX.
Cons
- The focus on security means you need to go a somewhat lengthier verification process than you would in other exchanges. Anonymity is not a thing with eToro.
- eToro boosts a range of features any decent exchange should have, and even some that are rare- but said features are split between two sites with different limitations. Having to move your crypto from eToroX to the eToro wallet and then to eToro just so you can convert it to fiat is convoluted and tasking.
- eToro offers few cryptocurrencies and trading pairs. While it might look like a lot of crypto tokens are being offered, many of them are stable coins.
- Fees are relatively high in comparison with other crypto exchanges.
eToro
eToro is a social trading and multi asset brokerage company that focuses on providing copy trading services that has registered offices in Cyprus, Israel and the United Kingdom
Should You Use eToro?
eToro isn’t likely to go away any time soon. For all its clumsiness, the company has a huge user base and a dependable market record with it – making it a trustable ally, particularly for large investors who need assurances their money is both in safe hands and being legally handled.
At this point, one can only hope the company will continue to grow and add features, if not to eToro, then to eToroX.
This in the main to create a fully functional exchange that doesn’t feel like you need to use half-baked features that exist on its sister site.
If you’re looking for safety and legality when trading large amounts of money, eToro is likely the site for you – not so much because of the convenience, but because of the security.
But if you’re a small investor, just getting started, there are better exchanges out there for you.
Asif is a cryptocurrency enthusiast and journalist who’s been writing on the subject since 2014. He also has a keen interest in social engineering and cybersecurity. When not busy writing about cryptocurrency, he can be found reading books and listening to music. He holds an M.Sc in Life Science and an MBA in Finance & Banking.
