eToro

Is eToro safe for crypto?

eToro is a reasonably safe place to hold mainstream crypto, with one caveat that has nothing to do with hackers. It is listed on Nasdaq, files audited accounts with the SEC, holds a MiCAMiCAThe EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, which requires crypto exchanges and other providers to be licensed and supervised.More in the glossary licence and keeps client coins in segregated wallets. We found no hack of client crypto. We score it 84/100, close to Robinhood Crypto and Coinbase, two other listed firms.

The caveat is conduct. eToro's regulators have pushed back on how it sells risky products, more than on how it stores coins.

Nasdaq listing and audited accounts

eToro Group, based in Bnei Brak, Israel, listed its Class A shares on Nasdaq in May 2025 under the ticker ETOR. That brings the disclosure we want from a crypto platform. Its 2025 annual report on Form 20-F, audited by Kost Forer Gabbay & Kasierer (a member of EY), shows net income of $216 million, up from $192 million in 2024, and $3.5 billion of user cash held in segregated accounts. Funded accounts reached 4.32 million by mid-2026.

There is no crypto proof of reservesProof of reservesA report in which a crypto exchange shows that it holds enough coins to cover all customer balances, ideally checked by an outside firm.More in the glossary in the Kraken style, but audited accounts filed with a securities regulator are a stronger check on the company as a whole. One thing to note from the latest filings is that crypto activity has dropped. Crypto trades in July 2026 were down 73% on a year earlier, though stocks and other assets now make up much of eToro's business.

How eToro holds your crypto

According to the 20-F, coins you buy sit in segregated omnibus wallets: one pool for many clients, kept apart from eToro's own money. The user agreement says you own the coins and eToro holds them only on your behalf. A significant portion sits in cold storageCold storageKeeping crypto keys on a device or medium that is not connected to the internet, which protects them from most online attacks.More in the glossary, and keys use multi-party computationMPC walletA crypto wallet that splits the private key into several shares held in different places, so no single device or company holds the whole key.More in the glossary so no single key can move funds.

eToro says it has legal opinions in every country where it provides crypto custody confirming that client coins would not form part of its estate in an insolvency. It also says plainly that there are few court precedents. That honesty is useful. It is the same uncertainty that applies at most exchanges, which is why we do not give custody a 90.

Two practical points. Crypto CFDs, leveraged or short crypto bets, are contracts with eToro, not coins, and are not covered by this custody set-up. And moving coins off the platform goes through eToro's own crypto wallet service, which charges fees and may not support every coin you can trade.

That wallet side is about to change. On 15 April 2026 eToro said it had agreed to buy Zengo, a self-custodySelf-custodyHolding crypto in a wallet where you alone control the private keys, rather than leaving it with an exchange or another company.More in the glossary wallet that splits each key between the user's phone and Zengo's server (multi-party computation). eToro said there would be no immediate impact on users and that it plans to link the two apps later. It has not said that coins held on eToro will move into Zengo wallets, so for now the custody set-up above still applies.

Licences

Entity	Regulator	What it covers
eToro (Europe) Ltd	CySEC, Cyprus	MiCAMiCAThe EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, which requires crypto exchanges and other providers to be licensed and supervised.More in the glossary licence from 16 January 2025, passported across the EEA
eToro (UK) Ltd	FCA	Cryptoasset registration under money-laundering rules
eToro USA LLC	US states, FinCEN	Money transmitter licences in about 39 states and territories
eToro NY LLC	NYDFS	BitLicenseBitLicenseNew York's licence for crypto businesses, issued by the state's financial regulator (NYDFS). It is one of the strictest crypto licences in the US.More in the glossary, not yet in use
eToro (ME) Ltd	ADGM FSRA, Abu Dhabi	Virtual asset service provider
eToro AUS Capital	AUSTRAC	Digital currency exchange registration
eToro Singapore Pte. Ltd.	MAS, Singapore	Capital Markets Services licence (CMS101824) for stocks, ETFs and commodities; the launch post does not mention crypto

The SEC and ASIC cases

In September 2024, eToro USA settled with the SEC, which found it had operated as an unregistered broker and clearing agency by offering trading in crypto assets the SEC treated as securities. It paid $1.5 million and limited US crypto trading to bitcoin, bitcoin cash and ether.

In Australia, ASIC took eToro AUS Capital to the Federal Court in 2023 in its first case under the design and distribution rules. ASIC alleged that eToro's target market for its CFD product was far too broad and its screening test easy to pass, and that almost 20,000 clients lost money on CFDs between October 2021 and June 2023. eToro's March 2026 annual report still listed the case as ongoing. Reports in October 2025 said the parties had agreed to settle, but we could not confirm the terms. In Cyprus, CySEC has also made inquiries about its CFD product governance, the 20-F says.

None of these cases involved missing or stolen client crypto. They are why legal record is eToro's weakest factor.

How to use eToro more safely

1. Check whether a position is the coin itself or a CFD before you buy. Leveraged and short positions are CFDs, and eToro itself says most retail CFD accounts lose money.
2. Use two-factor authenticationTwo-factor authenticationSigning in with a second proof of identity on top of your password, such as a code from an app, a security key or a passkey.More in the glossary with an authenticator app.
3. Be careful with copy trading: you take on the risk of the trader you copy, including their leverage.
4. For large or long-term holdings, transfer coins to a wallet you control, after checking that the coin can be transferred out and what it costs.

How we scored it

Reserves (90) and security history (88) are eToro's strongest factors: audited Nasdaq accounts and no reported crypto hack. Legal record (68) is the weakest, because of the SEC settlement and the ASIC case over CFDs. Custody (80) reflects segregated wallets with legal opinions but untested insolvency treatment. For a European crypto-only alternative, compare Bitpanda.