World-leading social trading network and cryptocurrency exchange eToro, headquartered in Tel-Aviv, Limassol and London, plans to compete with U.S. trading platforms in the second half of this year, eToro Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Yoni Assia announced on Tuesday. eToro’s U.S. headquarters will be based in New Jersey - the company is already registered with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network as a money transmitter.
“eToro will continue to focus on simplicity and user-friendliness so that more diverse groups will feel welcomed into the global crypto community,” Assia said.
The company will initially offer 10 cryptocurrencies – Bitcoin (Bitcoin), Bitcoin Cash (Bitcoin.Cash), Ethereum (ETH/USD), Ethereum Classic (ETC/USD), Litecoin (LTC/USD), Ripple (XRP/USD), Dash (DASH/USD), NEO (NEO/USD) , EOS (EOS/USD) and Stellar – to be traded with each other or in pairs with USD.
According to Assia, eToro’s primary focus will be on individual investors. With a minimum investment of $25, eToro will accept debit cards and ACH following the launch, introducing credit card payments at a later date. All client assets will be stored in its own so-called cold storage solution, which allows to take crypto keys offline. eToro also plans to roll out a digital asset wallet for users to send and receive cryptocurrencies.
The platform is famous for its copy trading opportunity, launched in 2010, it is allowing users to follow and copy positions opened and managed by eToro’s top-performing investors.
eToro currently has over 10 million users in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, and has raised more than $162 million in funding, with $100 million coming from a recent investment round led by China Minsheng Financial, with support from SBI Group and Korea Investment Partners.
By Nadya Astam