eToro Announce Major 2018 Move Into US Crypto Market  

The catchphrase on their app says “Take The Bull By The Horns”, and social trading platform eToro are doing just that with their announcement on Thursday (May 16) that they will be expanding their cryptocurrency operation into the massive US market later this year. In tandem, it will also be launching its own cryptocurrency exchange desk and a dedicated mobile wallet to store crypto-assets.

The Smartest Way To Invest In Cryptocurrency?

It is an ambitious move by this relatively young company, and comes fresh off eToro’s $100 million raising venture round. In March, the Israeli company raised $100 million in private financing, plus a further $62 million raised publicly. eToro – which has been valued at $800 million – stated its intention of using these newly raised funds to expand into new markets, while continuing its blockchain research and the development of its cryptocurrency market.

As eToro CEO and co-founder Yoni Assia said:

“Consumers all over the world should have access to the tools they need to participate in cryptocurrency markets, regardless of their expertise. We’re excited to make our platform available to US users. Within the platform, our US users will find rich knowledge and insights into how to effectively trade and invest in cryptocurrencies.”

Who Are eToro?

eToro is a social trading and multi asset brokerage company founded by brothers Yoni and Ronen Assia, along with David Ring in Tel Aviv, Israel in 2006. In 2010 the eToro social investment platform was launched, primarily for trading fiat currencies. The eToro OpenBook has a unique feature in its “Copy-Trading” option, which allows even the greenest newcomer to trading access to the markets and methods used by the platform’s top traders. In 2010 eToro showed its intent on also establishing itself as a mobile platform by launching its Android and Apple apps.

In 2013 eToro began offering stocks to trade, and by 2014 eToro users had access to the FTSE 100 Index, plus all of Europe’s top markets, with the US NSDQ100 Index following in 2015. From 2014 eToro also started to introduce cryptocurrency to its platform, beginning with Bitcoin, and it now features all major digital currencies.

eToro is recognized as the world's largest investment network, with over 8 million users in 140 countries and thousands of new accounts opened each day. While eToro’s main research and development offices remain in Tel Aviv, the company now has additional offices in the UK and Cyprus, with a US branch penciled in for later this year.

eToro Look Set To Shake Up The Crypto Exchange Market

Like the proverbial “Bull in a China Shop”, expect eToro to seriously shake things up when they invade the US digital currency market later this year. Unlike many crypto-only trading sites, eToro come with a big name and a well-established reputation, both in cryptocurrency but also in the money exchange and stocks & shares markets, so there’s no reason why they can’t do the same in the US digital currency market. Both their website and their app is state-of-the-art, and completely geared toward the mobile experience, so they are gunning for the younger end of the market as well as mature, investor sector.

eToro’s eventual rivals in the US will be well established crypto trader sites such as Binance, Bitfinex (both Hong Kong), Bitstamp (UK), Kraken and Bittrex (both US). It will take a couple of years before eToro will be rubbing shoulders with those sites, but meantime, if eToro can keep its fees relatively low, it won’t take long to establish a foothold – make that hoofhold – in the US crypto trading market.