Etoro Review: Regulations, Commissions and Fees

Etoro was founded in Israel by a group of local investors, eToro is regulated by several top level regulators depending on the country you are trading from. Its financial soundness and supervision before its IPO allows us to consider it a safe broker-
 

eToro is aimed at millennials and beginners looking to access the financial markets in a simple way and has available in an app the largest number of financial products. They are also the leaders in copy-trading worldwide and have thousands of Popular Investors who are the main brand ambassadors.

Our opinion of eToro places it above average for the products it offers, but it is still behind in tools and products of world leaders such as Interactive Brokers, IG, etc. eToro has positioned itself to capture the interest of investors in crypto-assets, CFDs and recently stocks and ETFs with no commissions.

That said, spreads tend to be high compared to other specialized brokers.

Is Etoro for me?

If you are looking to have a simple broker, with the latest assets and follow the portfolios of the best non-professional investors, as well as specialized portfolios on the new megatrends, eToro is for you.

Etoro: Regulations (Is Etoro safe?)

eToro operates in Europe through its subsidiary in Cyprus which is underwritten to the €20,000 guarantee fund in case of insolvency of the entity.

In addition, the company has signed additional insurance with Lloyds which has coverage of up to EUR 1 million per client.

The positions covered by the regulator and the insurance are those opened in regulated assets, so losses from trading in crypto-assets do not fall under the umbrella of this protection.

eToro has high financial solvency according to the last accounts presented before its IPO and it is also supervised by the British and Australian regulators, so it is at the top of our security ranking.

Platforms

eToro uses proprietary technology and has only its WebTrader platform available. It also has its own app. It has no integration with other well-known platforms such as MT4, MT5, TradingView or ProRealTime.

The advantage of eToro's platform is that it is quite simple and usable for the broker's target audience.

Deposits and Withdrawals

eToro has multiple options for deposits and withdrawals to your account. Remember that withdrawals cost 5 USD; whenever you deposit or withdraw in currencies other than USD, the broker will apply a commission of 50 pips.
 

Depending on the geographical area the deposit and withdrawal methods may vary. For European clients the way to deposit money into their accounts is as follows: Bank Wire Transfer, WebMoney, Skrill Limited UK, PayPal, Neteller, Credit/Debit Card, China Union Pay, and Sofort.

Important information about deposits and withdrawals

The minimum deposit varies according to countries and the volume of account opening requests and may vary temporarily.

Products

eToro has been increasing its offer of products and markets in the last years, being quite complete. They do not offer options or futures.

In terms of markets, it offers shares in the following markets. Although it only offers the largest companies in each market.

The leverage conditions are as follows:

• 30:1 major currencies.
• 20:1 minor currencies, gold and major indices.
• 10:1 commodities other than gold and minor indices.
• 5:1 for individual stocks.
• 2:1 for cryptocurrencies/digital assets.

Forex at EToro

eToro offers the major currencies in the market but it is not their speciality so spreads are usually higher than traditional forex brokers.

It offers 49 currency pairs in total.
 

Commodities and precious metals CFDs

As for commodities, eToro gives access to CFDs on oil, gold, silver, copper, natural gas, platinum, palladium, sugar, cotton, cocoa, wheat.

The reference for these CFDs is the futures traded on the CME.

Index CFDs

eToro offers access to 13 stock indices with fairly wide spreads.
 

• AUS 200
• China
• DJ30
• IBEX 35
• Eurostoxx50
• CAC40
• DAX
• Hong Kong
• Nikkei 225
• Nasdaq 100
• Sp 500
• FTSE 100
• USD/Dollar

Etoro Account Types

There are different types of eToro accounts that you can opt for if you want to use this platform as your broker of choice. One thing you should keep in mind is that if you are just starting out or are a beginner in digital trading; you have the possibility to create an eToro demo account at no cost whatsoever.
 

eToro Retail Account

This is the base account type within eToro and to create it you will need to make a minimum deposit of 200 USD. In this CFD account, you will find over 800 assets available not to mention spreads ranging from 1 pip.

Among the different types of eToro accounts, this one stands out because users in Europe can invest in real stocks and ETFs (Non-CFD) without paying any commissions. In addition, regardless of whether you have an active live account, your demo account will remain fully available.

eToro Islamic Account (No Swap)

This type of account is specially designed for Islamic users or clients. It requires a minimum deposit of 1000 USD and the spreads will depend on the account. If the trader has chosen the eToro pro account the commission for each lot is higher (10 USD/lot).
 

eToro Professional Account

eToro account types for professional traders are available for European users or those located in Europe. Please note that you must meet at least 2 of the following 3 requirements to create an eToro Professional account

• You must have made a total of at least 10 large, leveraged trades per quarter over the past year, with a total volume of at least 500,000 Euros.
• You must have a financial portfolio of at least 500,000 Euros.
• You must have a minimum of 1 year of work experience in places that require knowledge of trading, CFD, Forex and other digital investment instruments.

Once the user creates his professional account he can opt for high leverage of up to 1:400 and protection against negative balance. On this platform, spreads do not change. The costs of transfers and deposits changes.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Etoro

Advantages

• It offers a large number of cryptocurrencies and tokens.
• Stocks and ETFs from a multitude of markets with no buy and sell fees
• Access to thousands of popular investor strategies
• CopyPortfolios specialized in megatrends
• Simple and very visual platform and app

Disadvantages

• USD only account with 50 pip conversion rates
• Customer service only online and no local phone number 
• High spreads on non-specialized products
• Withdrawal commissions of 5$
• Commission for CFDs on shares 0.09%
• Commission for CFDs on cryptocurrencies from 0.75%