Accepts Australian Clients. Average spread EUR/USD 1 pips on trading account with lowest minimum deposit. Max leverage 30:1. Islamic account available. Only eToro proprietary trading platform supported. eToro is regulated by CySEC, FCA, and ASIC.
Forex Australia follows a strict editorial standard in our review process. We may receive compensation when you click on links to products we review. Please read our advertising disclosure.
Summary
eToro is an ASIC, FCA and CySEC-regulated CFD broker offering multi-instrument trading on Forex, stocks, commodities, cryptocurrencies, ETFs, and indices. eToro’s main attraction is its famous crowd trading platform which encourages clients to follow expert traders or select market strategies, but its trader community is continually let down by inadequate and disinterested customer support and torturously long response times.
eToro offers a single commission-free live account with a minimum deposit requirement of 50 USD and spreads starting at 1.0 pips on the EUR/USD, which is wider than other well-regulated market makers.
Lastly, eToro provides a relatively limited selection of educational and market analysis for beginner traders and charges high deposit and withdrawal fees.
Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Israel, eToro is an international CFD broker with over 13 million clients worldwide. It is regulated by many top-tier authorities, including the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) UK, and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) Seychelles. See below for details:
eToro (Europe) Ltd., a Financial Services Company authorised and regulated by the Cyprus Securities Exchange Commission (CySEC) under the licence number: 109/10.
eToro (UK) Ltd, a Financial Services Company authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under the license FRN 583263.
eToro AUS Capital Pty Ltd. is authorised by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to provide financial services under AFSL 491139.
eToro (Seychelles) Ltd. is licenced by the Financial Services Authority Seychelles (“FSAS”) to offer broker-dealer services under the Securities Act 2007 License #SD076.
eToro has collected multiple awards for its innovative platform and has received worldwide recognition as a financial technology industry leader.
Australians will be trading under the subsidiary, eToro AUS Capital Pty Ltd, which is authorised by ASIC. As such, all client funds are held in separate, segregated accounts. This means that even in the highly unlikely event of eToro’s bankruptcy, your funds will be safe. Under ASIC regulation, Australians are also offered automatic negative balance protection. Furthermore, eToro has purchased an insurance policy from Lloyd’s of London, which covers up to 1 million EUR, GBP, or AUD.
While eToro is a well-regulated broker, clients should treat trading advice from the eToro community and the copy trading functionality with caution.
Trading Instruments
eToro offers trading on multiple assets, including over 52 Forex pairs. See below for more details:
Scroll for more details
Fx Pairs
CFD Investments
52
Commodities
Cryptocurrencies
Forex
Indicies
Equities
Trading Conditions
Fundamentally, eToro’s trading conditions are broadly similar to other traditional market makers, with a single account type, no commission, and relatively wide spreads. eToro allows hedging and copy trading, but not scalping. eToro offers a maximum leverage of up to 30:1, but USD is the only accepted base currency.
Account Types
eToro offers a demo account and a single live account – though there are reward tiers available at higher levels of equity via the eToro Club.
Live Account – On opening a live account, traders can access a free demo account, plus eToro’s exclusive promotions – generally deals and savings sent to users via email. The minimum deposit is 50 USD for Australian clients, and spreads start at 1.0 pips on the EUR/USD, wider than other market makers. Professional retail accounts are available for those who pass a knowledge test and waive certain risk protections.
eToro Club and Tiers – Though there is only a single account type, with higher levels of equity, traders gain access to the eToro Club – which operates a tier system: The higher your level of equity, the more rewards and advantages you receive. Though some of the advantages gained at higher tiers are gift items (such as sports tickets, an eToro debit card, or a Financial Times subscription), other benefits will enhance your trading experience. These include free market analysis, access to the Trading Signals platform, free withdrawals, and analyst consultations.
The minimum equity needed for access to each tier is as follows:
Silver: 5,000 USD
Gold: 10,000 USD
Platinum: 25,000 USD
Platinum+: 50,000 USD
Diamond: 250,000 USD
Demo Account – After opening an account with eToro, you will automatically receive the unlimited demo account loaded with 100,000 USD – it is highly recommended that you use this extensively until you are comfortable with the platform.
eToro spreads on the EUR/USD start at 1.0 pips, which is wider than other market makers, but spreads on most of the other major pairs are extremely wide – sometimes at 3.0 pips. eToro does not charge any commissions on trades.
Cryptocurrencies
One of the largest attractions of a broker like eToro is the extensive cryptocurrency CFD offering, and with 17 options available for traders, eToro leads the industry.
Deposits and Withdrawals
In line with Anti-Money Laundering policies, eToro operates a “return to source policy,” meaning that withdrawals can only be returned to the original funding source. eToro accepts the majority of payment options for deposits and withdrawals:
Bank transfer
Credit/Debit card
Paypal
Skrill
Neteller
Webmoney
Be aware that eToro only supports USD accounts and will charge a small conversion fee of 0.025% of the total amount for non-USD deposits and withdrawals.
eToro charges a 5 USD withdrawal fee regardless of the size of the withdrawal. Withdrawals generally take 1-2 business days but can take up to 7 business days for credit and debit cards.
Inactivity Fee
After 12 months with no login activity, a 10 USD monthly inactivity fee will be charged on any remaining available balance. No open positions will be closed to cover the fee.
eToro for Beginners
Although eToro offers a unique social trading platform to help beginner traders get started, its educational and market analysis materials are limited compared to other similar-sized market makers. Customer support operates 24/5, but chat and phone support are unavailable in lieu of a ticket system that serves their global audience.
Educational Material
eToro hosts a short course title The Complete Guide to FinTech that teaches traders the basics of trading – especially trading on the eToro platform. It is more of an overview than an in-depth course, and much of the content covers asset classes other than Forex.
eToro also hosts a blog that is updated daily with various trading tips, though these mainly focus on eToro’s platform. Webinars are held infrequently and tend to be more focused on market conditions than the rest of the educational material.
Most analytical content comes from the members of the eToro community. The news feed is a central component of eToro’s trading platform – it is an unfiltered list of trading ideas and accompanying graphs. Be aware that this analysis is community-created content and should be viewed with deep scepticism.
eToro also publishes a daily market update that briefly highlights the main fundamental factors likely to affect the coming trading day.
Since 2017, eToro’s customer service has used a ticketing system for all client support requests. Be aware that there is no phone or chat support available, and the response times are known to be painfully long, often exceeding 48 hours and even up to 14 days. Customers who deposit more than 5,000 USD will receive the services of a dedicated Customer Success Agent.
eToro hosts a great help section with answers to a large number of frequently asked questions. eToro also operates a Customer Service Wall where you can post questions or help requests while waiting for your ticket to be opened.
Trading Platform
Trading at eToro is based on social trading; traders can see the most profitable trades and follow successful traders online. The eToro platform is browser-based, though a mobile app is available, and is available in Arabic, English, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Italian, Polish, Russian and Spanish.
.
Trading the AUDUSD pair on the eToro platform
To aid traders who commonly trade the same pairs, eToro’s platform gives traders a customisable dashboard overview of different currency pairs. This customised layout offers traders a simple dashboard to see where opportunities lie.
My FX watchlist on eToro
Evaluation Method
We value transparency and openness in the way we review the partners. To bring transparency to the forefront, we have published our review process that includes a detailed breakdown of the eToro offering. Central to that process is the evaluation of the reliability of the CFD provider, the platform offering of the CFD provider, and the trading conditions offered to clients, which are summarised in this review. Each one of these is graded, and an overall score is calculated and assigned to the CFD provider.
Risk Statement
Trading Forex is risky, and each CFD provider is required to detail how risky the trading of Forex CFDs is to clients. eToro would like you to know that: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 67% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Conclusion
eToro has been widely recognised for its innovative approach to trading – especially for its pioneering work in the social trading sphere. However, it falls short when it comes to educational and market analysis materials; spreads are not competitive, and fees are much higher than other market makers, but many traders are willing to overlook these flaws for the unique trading experience offered at eToro.
Accepts Australian Clients. Average spread EUR/USD 1 pips on trading account with lowest minimum deposit. Max leverage 30:1. Islamic account available. Only eToro proprietary trading platform supported. eToro is regulated by CySEC, FCA, and ASIC.
Accepts Australian Clients. Average spread EUR/USD 1 pips on trading account with lowest minimum deposit. Max leverage 30:1. Islamic account available. Only eToro proprietary trading platform supported. eToro is regulated by CySEC, FCA, and ASIC.
eToro
Plus500
Pepperstone
