eToro: the Israeli platform that pioneered social trading

Finance has evolved tremendously over the last couple of months. With the Covid-19 pandemic, many people had a lot of spare time and began dabbling into user-friendly trading platforms like eToro. This interest has transformed the world of investment from a closed market into something where anyone can try and turn out a profit.

Launched in 2007, eToro is an Israeli trading website that has created social trading features. As such, users can follow other traders and check out their performances over time. If they find their strategy interesting, they can also copy them and add them to their own portfolio. The most copied eToro investors are then rewarded with perks and a monthly payment of up to 2.5% of the yearly average amount of money invested by those who mimicked their strategies.

In the UK, Jay Edward Smith is the most followed investor. Prior to his career in the trading world, he was a professional gamer and esport organiser. According to him, his experience in competitive video games has allowed him to understand risk management. He now uses Twitch to share his knowledge with others. As more people are getting interested in investing via platforms like eToro, it can be argued that this shift has enabled the democratisation of finance.

Photo credit: voytek pavlik on Wikimedia/CC0 1.0

picture of someone giving away a bitcoin

eToro is a platform that is making retail trading more accessible

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