eToro Review: Easy Social Trading

eToro offers a wide range of cryptocurrencies alongside other investment products such as stocks and ETFs. It comes with a unique social trading feature that lets you copy the trades of other investors. To learn more about this exchange and see how it compares to other cryptocurrency platforms, keep reading our eToro review.

Ratings Methodology

Our Rating:

Rating image, 4.00 out of 5 stars.

4.00/5

Bottom Line

The versatile trading platform is a standout, as is the CopyTrader feature that allows you to copy your favorite investors. It has a broad range of products for investors who want to manage all their assets in one place.

Fees:

1% for trading crypto plus spread, $0 commission for stocks & ETFs

Account Minimum:

$10

Special Offer

Limited time offer: Deposit $100 and get a $10 bonus. Terms apply.

Open Account for eToro

eToro USA LLC; Investments are subject to market risk, including the possible loss of principal.

Full eToro review

This cryptocurrency exchange is a good fit for: Cryptocurrency investors and traders looking for a full-featured platform with a range of investment products

Pros

Invest in stocks, ETFs, and crypto
Users can copy trading done by other investors
User-friendly app
Free debit card deposits
Demo account

Cons

Limited selection of cryptocurrencies
Fees could be lower
Not available in every U.S. state

Top perks

CopyTrader

One of the more unique features of the eToro platform is its CopyTrader feature. Essentially, this allows eToro users to copy trading done by their favorite high-performance traders with one click. Just set the amount of money you want to use. eToro automatically allocates those funds proportionally to mirror the positions of your favorite eToro trader. And there are no management or other fees charged by this social trading platform. To use this trading tool, users can choose to copy just one successful trader or as many as 100 at the same time.

Invest in stocks, ETFs, and crypto

There are only a few places where you can trade cryptocurrencies and stocks in the same place, and those that offer both tend not to have a huge cryptocurrency selection. eToro offers one of the best selections we've seen of digital assets that can be combined in the same account as stock investing. eToro offers zero-commission stock trading with the ability to buy fractional shares. And if you're new to investing or just want to see if the platform is right for you, eToro offers a virtual brokerage account to let you test-drive it without putting real money at risk.

Free debit card deposits

Many crypto platforms charge a fee for debit card deposits, but it is free on eToro. Investors can make fee-free deposits of fiat money (traditional currencies like U.S. dollars) via bank transfer or debit card. There is a conversion fee for non-U.S. dollar transactions.

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What could be improved

Limited selection of cryptocurrencies

Compared to the best cryptocurrency exchanges, eToro doesn't have the widest selection. U.S. investors can access around 25 different cryptos while non-U.S. investors can access around 75. Other major U.S.-based exchanges offer hundreds of cryptocurrencies on their platforms. However, if you want to invest in top cryptocurrencies alongside equities and manage all your assets in one place, eToro could be right for you.

Fees could be lower

eToro charges a 1% fee on crypto transactions plus a spread. This is lower than some of its competitors, but certainly not the most competitive fee on the market. Some crypto platforms offer trading fees of 0.1% or less. If you're planning to buy a lot of digital currencies, paying more than 1% in fees every time you buy or sell can eat into your profits. If you're a buy-and-hold investor who plans to buy crypto and leave it for a long period of time, be aware that eToro charges an inactivity fee for accounts that have not been active for a year.

Not available in all U.S. states

All U.S. residents can sign up for a virtual trading account. However, residents of Hawaii, Minnesota, Nevada, and New York currently cannot buy and sell crypto on eToro's platform. The company aims to have 50-state availability eventually. Until then, some traders will have to look elsewhere.

Alternatives to consider

Offer	Kraken	Uphold
Rating	Rating image, 4.00 out of 5 stars. 4.00/5 Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor.	Rating image, 4.00 out of 5 stars. 4.00/5 Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor.
Commissions	$10 purchase minimum, other fees charged on a per-service basis. 0.0% - 0.40% maker-taker fees on Kraken Pro	0% commission, variable spread
Next Steps	Open Account for Kraken Read Full Review	Open Account for Uphold Read Full Review

How eToro works

eToro is a crypto broker, meaning it offers other investment products alongside cryptocurrencies. Investors can access over 2,500 stocks including international equities, as well as EFTs. It also allows users to buy fractional shares, so you could choose to buy $100 worth of a particular stock rather than buying a whole share. Non-U.S. investors can access advanced trading features such as margin and leverage, as well as commodities such as gold and silver.

Users deposit fiat currency, such as U.S. dollars, into their accounts (or transfer other cryptocurrencies in) to use on the platform. For seamless transfers, users can link their bank account or can choose to deposit funds via wire transfer instead. Withdrawals of U.S. dollars can be made directly to the user's bank account. Once an account is established, investors can buy or sell assets on eToro's web-based platform, or on its user-friendly app. If you don't know what to buy, you could use the CopyTrader feature to replicate the trades of one of the traders in eToro's Popular Investor program.

And if you don't want to dive right in with your hard-earned money, eToro is a great place to learn. eToro users get a demo account that is credited with $100,000 put in a "virtual portfolio." This lets you learn about and experience cryptocurrency investing and other types of trading without the risk.

Fees overview

Cryptocurrency platforms and brokerages charge several different types of fees. Investors may find they pay to deposit and withdraw funds, on top of any trading fees. Here's a summary of eToro's non-trading fees:

Transaction	Non U.S. investors	U.S. investors
Deposit via debit card or bank transfer	Free	Free
Withdrawal fee	Free	Free (Min $30 withdrawal)
Inactivity fee	$10 per month	$10 per month
Conversion fee for non-U.S. dollar deposits	Varies depending on currency	Varies depending on currency

Data source: eToro.com.

Trading fees

eToro does not charge trading fees for stocks and ETFs, but it charges a 1% fee to buy or sell cryptocurrencies. You'll also need to pay a variable spread on every trade. A spread is the difference between the offer price and the asking price on the platform. For example, to buy $100 worth of Bitcoin on eToro, you'd pay $1 in fees, plus the spread. These fees are higher than some cryptocurrency platforms, but are by no means the highest on the market.

eToro does explain its fee structure on its site, but it is far from transparent. When you make a trade, it isn't clear how much you're actually paying. Unlike other crypto platforms which clearly display the fee, on eToro it's all automatically built into the price you see on screen. You can check by comparing the price eToro gives for the asset with a crypto data site.

Cryptocurrency selection

eToro offers over 25 different cryptocurrencies for U.S. investors. While U.S investors can buy Bitcoin and Ethereum, they cannot buy many top twenty cryptos such as Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL), and Polkadot (DOT). This selection of cryptocurrencies is not as broad as you'll find on some exchanges that only sell cryptocurrencies, but it is strong in comparison with crypto brokerages that also offer equities and other assets.

READ MORE: Best places to buy Ethereum

eToro offers around 75 cryptocurrencies for non-U.S. investors. The selection for crypto investors in other countries includes almost all the top 20 cryptos by market cap. Some crypto exchanges offer 200 or more different coins and tokens, but eToro's selection is still solid. Investors can access smart contract cryptos, gaming, metaverse, and DeFi tokens. The only real gap is that stablecoins such as Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) are not available.

Is your cryptocurrency safe with eToro?

The short answer is yes, as much as cryptocurrency assets can be safe on any crypto platform. Like most major exchanges, the majority of cryptocurrencies stored on eToro's platform are kept in cold storage, meaning it is kept on servers not connected to the internet. The company maintains some crypto in "hot wallets" for liquidity purposes. eToro also has several user level protections such as Two-factor authentication (2FA) and account encryption.

eToro is regulated by various authorities around the world, including the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in the U.S. and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the U.K. Cash funds deposited by U.S. investors are protected against platform failure for up to $250,000 through FDIC insurance. Unlike some top cryptocurrency exchanges, eToro does not have third party insurance for crypto assets on its platform. Users in Europe and some other countries benefit from free insurance from Lloyd's of London on non-crypto assets, but it would be good to see this extended to crypto assets for all users worldwide.

eToro has an external crypto wallet called eToro Money for users who want to move their crypto off the platform. Some crypto investors leave their funds on the exchange where they bought them in what's called a custodial wallet. This is certainly easier, but it can be risky -- it means your funds would not be at risk if Toro collapsed or was hacked. However, using a non-custodial crypto wallet isn't for everyone. There are fees involved in moving your crypto around, depending on which crypto you move. The wallet doesn't support all the same cryptos as the exchange. It's also worth noting that once you move your funds to the eToro wallet, you cannot move them back onto the main trading platform.

eToro is right for you if:

You want a place to buy and sell a good selection of cryptocurrencies alongside other assets such as stocks and ETFs.
You enjoy social trading and want the ability to copy the moves of profitable traders who have strong track records of outperformance.
You live in one of the states where eToro is available.

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