eToro Review Australia 2026

Is eToro safe? ASIC AFSL 491139

Yes, eToro is ASIC-regulated, with eToro AUS Capital Limited holding ASIC AFSL 491139, current since 4 September 2017.

eToro ASIC licence

Licence records sit with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, and the register records it as current. In August 2023 ASIC commenced Federal Court proceedings against eToro AUS Capital Limited in its first design and distribution obligations action. ASIC alleges breaches of the design and distribution obligations and of eToro’s licence obligation to act efficiently, honestly and fairly. It alleges the target market for eToro’s CFD product was far too broad for a high-risk, volatile product, and that its screening test was wholly inadequate to assess whether a retail client was likely to be in the target market. ASIC also alleges that between 5 October 2021 and 14 June 2023 almost 20,000 of eToro’s clients lost money trading CFDs. ASIC is seeking declarations and pecuniary penalties. In its Form 20-F filed with the US SEC on 2 March 2026, eToro Group Ltd says the proceedings are ongoing and could have adverse impacts on its financial position and reputation in Australia. As at 1 October 2026, ASIC’s editor’s note lists the hearing to continue on 27 and 28 April 2026, and ASIC had published no judgment or outcome. Because the proceeding is live and contested, and under our method a live, contested proceeding counts for less than a proven finding, eToro’s Trust sub-score carries a one-point deduction, which I see as a fair weighting while the allegations remain unproven.

The Australian offering runs through two regulated entities. eToro AUS Capital Limited (AFSL 491139) issues the CFD products, which covers anything leveraged or short. Non-leveraged real-share buys are issued by eToro Asset Management Limited as Responsible Entity of a registered managed investment scheme (ARSN 637 489 466), so real shares sit outside the AUS Capital CFD licence. Under Chapter 5C of the Corporations Act the responsible entity holds the scheme property and each member holds an interest in the scheme, so an eToro real-share position is a beneficial interest rather than a direct holding entered on the company’s share register in the client’s own name.

The eToro group holds three licences beyond Australia:

• FCA, UK
• CySEC, Cyprus
• FSAS, Seychelles (offshore entity closed to Australian residents)

eToro USA Securities Inc is a separate US broker-dealer registered with FINRA and the SEC, but if you are an Australian resident, your account sits exclusively with eToro AUS Capital Limited, a distinction I would want clear before comparing the group licences.

Before depositing, confirm eToro holds AFSL 491139 using the site's guide to checking a broker on ASIC's register.

Is eToro legal in Australia?

Yes, eToro is legal in Australia, accepting local residents through eToro AUS Capital Limited, licensed by ASIC under AFSL 491139.

Court proceedings involving eToro

The Federal Court of Australia is hearing a proceeding brought by ASIC against eToro AUS Capital Limited. ASIC commenced the action in August 2023, announcing it in media release 23-204MR as its first design and distribution obligations action. ASIC alleges eToro breached its design and distribution obligations and its licence obligation to act efficiently, honestly and fairly. ASIC states that the target market for eToro's CFD product was far too broad for a high-risk, volatile product, and that the screening test was wholly inadequate to assess whether a retail client was likely to be in the target market, since clients could amend their answers without limitation and were prompted when an answer could make them fail. ASIC alleges that between 5 October 2021 and 14 June 2023 almost 20,000 of eToro's clients lost money trading CFDs. These are allegations, not findings.

ASIC is seeking declarations and pecuniary penalties. eToro Group Ltd, in its Form 20-F filed with the US SEC on 2 March 2026, says the proceedings are ongoing and the outcome could have adverse impacts on its financial position and reputation in Australia. When we read the status on 1 October 2026, ASIC's latest editor's note on 23-204MR listed the hearing to continue on 27 and 28 April 2026, and ASIC had published no judgment or outcome as at that date.

Sources: ASIC media release 23-204MR, 3 August 2023, with editor's notes, read 1 October 2026; eToro Group Ltd Form 20-F for FY2025, filed with the US SEC on 2 March 2026

eToro client money protection and Nasdaq-listed ownership

Your client money sits segregated at an Approved Australian Bank under AFCA membership, and the Nasdaq-listed parent eToro Group has traded under the ticker ETOR since 2025.

eToro client money and negative balance protection

Segregation keeps retail client money apart from company funds, but it’s narrower than it sounds. eToro’s Australian Combined PDS states that money paid into the client moneys trust account may be withdrawn to pay eToro Australia amounts to which it is entitled, which covers realised losses as well as fees, charges and costs (eToro AUS Combined PDS, issued 4 August 2026, accessed 11 October 2026). So segregation protects the balance sitting in trust rather than every dollar committed to an open position. ASIC requires negative balance protection on retail CFD accounts, so your retail account cannot lose more than the money in it. AFCA hears claims up to A$1,263,000 and awards compensation up to A$631,500, while the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort pays at most A$150,000 and only for personal advice, securities dealing and credit, not forex or CFD trading. Managed investment schemes sit outside the scheme too. The retail standard is set out in the guide to negative balance protection rules.

All Australian eToro CFD accounts keep negative balance protection, the ASIC leverage limits and the margin close-out, because eToro AUS Capital Limited offers no Professional status to Australian clients. Every protection above attaches to the CFD account issued by eToro AUS Capital Limited, while non-leveraged real shares sit in the managed investment scheme run by eToro Asset Management Limited, a different structure with a different risk profile.

eToro’s AFCA member is eToro AUS Capital Limited, and AFCA’s Datacube, read on 27 September 2026, records 63 complaints received against it in 2025-26 and 47 in 2024-25, as the table that follows sets out.

• AFCA business size: Very small
• Not adjusted for client numbers
• AFCA listing threshold: Financial firms that received four or more complaints during the selected period appear in the AFCA Datacube.
• Middle of the field: 23 AFCA firms listed for 01/07/2025 - 30/06/2026 among the brokers this site covers, each firm counted once
• Source: AFCA Datacube, complaints by firm, read 27 September 2026

eToro history and ownership

The company’s story starts in Tel Aviv in 2007, founded by brothers Yoni Assia and Ronen Assia. I find the SPAC chapter instructive: a merger with FinTech Acquisition Corp V was agreed in 2021 and abandoned in 2022. eToro Group Ltd then listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on 14 May 2025 under the ticker ETOR, pricing its IPO at US$52.00 a share and raising about US$310 million at a valuation near US$4.2 billion. The reported global user base runs above 30 million clients across more than 100 countries.

eToro Trustpilot rating

eToro holds a Trustpilot rating of 4.0 out of 5 from 32,300 reviews, which Trustpilot labels great, captured November 2026. The profile has been claimed by the broker since July 2016.

How popular is eToro in Australia?

Australians made 10,990 branded searches for eToro in September 2026, placing it 4th of the 33 brokers we review. Search interest measures attention, not quality; the score above is the review verdict.

4of 33Search interest rank

10,990

Brand searches, September 2026

-17.5%

vs August 2026

2,540

Login searches

7.3%

Share of all broker searches

Source: Google search volume, Australia, September 2026. How this is measured

What traders say about eToro

Public ratings of eToro from the rating sites that list it, showing the number of reviews or ratings behind each score and the month it was captured.

Rating site	Rating	Based on	Who rated	Captured
Trustpilot	4.0 out of 5	32,300 reviews	Worldwide	November 2026

Each row above is a public rating of eToro taken from a rating site, dated to the month its figure was captured. A Trustpilot figure counts reviews and a TradingView figure counts ratings from anywhere in the world. The app store ratings for eToro sit in the apps section of this review, with the store screenshots. A site with no row has no rating for eToro, withholds it, cannot be matched to eToro with confidence, or we have not captured it yet.

This company may be associated with high-risk investments.

This company may be associated with high-risk investments like crypto assets and cryptocurrencies (e.g. Bitcoin).

Be sure to research a wide range of sources when considering these investments, as their value can go up and down significantly without warning.

eToro key facts

eToro AUS Capital Limited holds ASIC AFSL 491139, current since 2017, and runs one proprietary platform on a US$50 minimum deposit. The table below summarises 18 key facts covering the Australian entity, the regulators, the platform and the fee schedule.

Those 18 rows set up the cost detail below, where the advertised spread carries the entire forex cost.

eToro advertised spreads, standard account

eToro advertises EUR/USD from 1.0 pips on its standard account, with no forex commission. Your whole forex cost sits inside the quoted spread.

Forex spreads

eToro’s forex pricing runs on what I would call a markup model, adding a fixed pip-equivalent on top of the underlying market rather than billing you a separate commission line.

eToro sits in neither of our measured league tables, because our spread captures run on MetaTrader and cTrader and eToro offers neither, and it runs no raw-spread account either. The figure this review works from is the advertised 1.0 pips on EUR/USD, and the lowest spread brokers in Australia guide lists eToro among the brokers with no capture.

A one-lot EUR/USD position costs around US$10 in spread at eToro. Multiply that across a year of active trading, and you’ll see why eToro scores poorly on cost.

What it costs to trade with eToro

Your real share trades cost US$2 per trade, and withdrawals from your USD account cost US$5 each. No commission applies on forex or ETF positions, and no inactivity fee applies at all since 28 May 2026.

Share investing costs

eToro charges you a flat US$2 commission on every real-share trade, introduced on 11 August 2024 and calculated in USD whatever currency the stock trades in. The rate covers US, UK, EU and ASX-listed shares. ETFs stay at 0% commission, and the US$2 charge skips CopyTrader positions, Smart Portfolios and the opening side of Recurring Investments. The rate still undercuts traditional ASX brokerage, which typically starts above A$11 per trade.

Currency conversion on the USD default

For Australian forex CFD traders, eToro’s conversion charge is noteworthy because it applies to the whole amount converted when funding or withdrawing from a USD account. Other brokers charge for converting realised trading profit or loss, or other trading cash flows. These charges have different bases, so comparing their percentages alone can be misleading.

Published information checked 6 October 2026. eToro states that pip charges may be adjusted to align with its percentage charges; 150 pips should therefore not be presented as a fixed effective percentage.

If you buy ASX shares on the USD default, the AUD-quoted price converts into the USD account balance at the point of trade, so the conversion, not the US$2 commission, is the real cost on every Australian stock trade. US shares skip that step, because the underlying currency is already USD.

Other fees to check

• Withdrawal fee of US$0 from an AUD local-currency account, or US$5 from the USD account on a US$30 minimum withdrawal
• No inactivity fee. eToro abolished it on 28 May 2026
• Overnight fee on leveraged CFD positions held past 5 PM New York, direction-dependent
• Minimum trade size of US$10 on most instruments, and US$1,000 on shorting CFDs

How eToro compares to Pepperstone and IC Markets

eToro advertises EUR/USD at 1.0 pips on its standard account, while our October 2026 capture put Pepperstone’s Razor account at an average of 0.10 pips and IC Markets’ Raw Spread account at an average of 0.10 pips, both raw spreads before each broker’s commission. The eToro figure is advertised and the rival figures are measured, so treat them as different kinds of number.

If you want raw-spread pricing with commission, the Pepperstone review sets out how the cost sits outside the spread as a round-turn commission rather than inside it as a markup. eToro carries no commission line on forex at all, so the whole cost sits in the quoted spread.

eToro account types and minimum deposit

Australian clients get one account, the Standard account, with a US$50 minimum deposit required in USD. There is no Professional account at eToro Australia, so the ASIC retail terms apply to every CFD account.

eToro account options

I consider the one-account structure a simplification: eToro runs no separate Standard and Raw variants, unlike most CFD brokers on this site. One retail account type carries the same spread-based pricing across every instrument, and the retail account defaults to USD, so every deposit and withdrawal converts and a conversion fee applies each way, which compounds if you fund regularly on the default. The eToro SMSF account is an Australia-specific option for trustees holding eToro investments inside a self-managed superannuation fund.

Professional status and its higher leverage exist only at eToro’s UK and EU entities, not at eToro AUS Capital Limited, so an Australian client cannot qualify. Every Australian eToro account keeps negative balance protection, the ASIC leverage limits and the 50% close-out.

eToro minimum deposit

eToro’s minimum first deposit for users residing in Australia is US$50, and every bank-transfer deposit must be at least US$500, according to the help centre we read on 18 September 2026. Australian clients get one account, the Standard account, which keeps the choice simple. eToro’s fees page, read 1 October 2026, says any registered user receives a US$100,000 demo account free, and we compare the demo in our demo trading accounts in Australia guide.

eToro funding methods and withdrawal times

eToro charges no fee on deposits, but an AUD deposit into the USD account converts, and our A$200 card deposit on 2 September 2026 credited US$139.97, a 2.0% gap. Withdrawals take one to two business days to a card and two to five by bank transfer, with a US$5 fee applying only from the USD account.

eToro deposit methods

The Fee column shows what eToro itself charges, not the total cost of the deposit. The FX conversion column marks the conversion that applies on the USD default account, which is where our funding test landed. The table covers deposits into the USD investment account, while the AUD local-currency account is funded by regular bank transfer or Easy Bank Transfer only, with every bank-transfer deposit at least US$500, per the help centre we read on 18 September 2026.

The deposit form takes an amount in Australian dollars against the USD default account and shows the conversion at 0.6998. Noam Korbl funded the account with A$200 by card on 2 September 2026. eToro charged A$200 to the card and credited US$139.97, and the wallet then valued that balance at A$196.01, a gap of A$3.99, or 2.0% of the deposit. The confirmation itemised no fee, so the gap is the cost of converting an Australian-dollar deposit into the USD account. On the same screen, the wallet offered an AUD account that deposits, holds and trades in Aussie dollars. I rate the currency conversion as the main drawback of an otherwise tidy funding run.

eToro withdrawal times and fees

Which account you hold decides the cost, and I think the distinction matters. A withdrawal from an AUD local-currency account, provided by eToro AUS Capital Limited, is free with no minimum. A withdrawal from the USD investment account costs a fixed US$5 and carries a US$30 minimum. Withdrawals return to the deposit source wherever anti-money-laundering rules allow, and processing runs one to two business days on card refunds and two to five business days on bank transfers, which varies with the receiving Australian bank (eToro fees, checked 29 July 2026).

eToro account opening time and checks

eToro opens Australian accounts under eToro AUS Capital Limited, the ASIC licensee holding AFSL 491139. Noam Korbl’s application ran as a guided profile with a percentage counter, identity verified electronically on passport, driver licence or Medicare details with no document or proof-of-address upload, and the account was funded by card on 2 September 2026. No frame times the approval.

Registration at “Join eToro” runs through Google or an email address, a username and a password, with two tick boxes for the ASIC Regulated product terms and the privacy and cookie policies. A slider challenge can appear when eToro flags unusual activity from your device or network; it is a security check, one small extra step. The platform then opens on your real Main Account before the profile is finished, the sidebar reading “Anonymous” and “20% Complete”. You enter your legal name as on your state ID or passport, gender and date of birth, then your home address with a birthplace and citizenship box and a declaration that you are not a US Person. The verification method comes next, chosen from passport, driver licence or Medicare, and the screen warns that “In some instances manual verification may be required”.

After the document details, the questionnaire asks why you are here. You select your interests, state your primary purpose, and estimate how much you will deposit this year in USD. You declare whether you or an immediate family member is a director or 10% shareholder of a listed company, employed by a brokerage or exchange, or a public official, and where your investment money comes from. A five-digit SMS code verifies your mobile, with a phone-call fallback, before the tax step records your Australian residency and TFN. The W-8BEN then arrives pre-populated with your name, address, date of birth and tax number. No frame shows the verification result or how long it took. The next frame is the verified account at A$0.00 with a Bronze club tier, and a home screen calling the deposit the last step.

Noam’s notes call this one of the simpler flows he has tested, praise the Medicare option as a useful third digital ID beyond the two documents most brokers rely on, and read the questionnaire as investment-platform focused rather than CFD-only, with funding available straight away. I agree with that reading; the flow asks about your goals and deposits rather than leverage appetite alone. What you can actually trade on that account is the next question.

eToro trading platforms

eToro gives you one platform, the proprietary eToro stack running on web, desktop and mobile. The stack carries no MetaTrader 4, no MetaTrader 5, no cTrader and no TradingView execution.

eToro web platform

The platform shows you forex, shares, ETFs, crypto and indices under a single account view, built for traders watching a portfolio rather than a chart. Charting on the eToro stack runs on ProCharts, powered by TradingView, with more than 100 technical indicators and more than 50 drawing tools. Those charts are TradingView-grade, and the missing piece is TradingView execution, because no TradingView account connects through to an eToro order.

What I like about eToro is the social feed: every instrument carries a feed of what other users post about it, and any user profile opens onto a portfolio, a performance history and a copy button.

eToro app

eToro publishes its own app for mobile. From a phone you trade the broker’s single proprietary platform.

Because the app runs the same proprietary eToro stack as the web and desktop versions, your account view carries over between devices. No third-party app is needed for another platform, since eToro runs no MetaTrader 4, no MetaTrader 5, no cTrader and no TradingView execution. The app is compared with other mobile trading apps in Australia in a separate guide on this site.

• App Store: Australian storefront, exact figures from Apple's iTunes Search API
• Google Play: worldwide counts, not comparable with the App Store counts
• Third-party MetaTrader, TradingView and cTrader Ltd apps not listed

eToro Money

eToro Money runs as a separate app from the trading platform, and its Australian position comes from eToro’s availability page, which we read on 18 September 2026. The eToro Crypto Wallet, deposits with crypto and the eToro Local Currency Account are available in Australia. The eToro debit card is not available in Australia, as it is offered to Club members only, in the UK and a list of European countries.

eToro CopyTrader and Smart Portfolios

The copy feature lets you mirror another user’s positions from a minimum allocation of US$200 per copied trader, at no separate copy fee, and Smart Portfolios bundle themed baskets into one position.

CopyTrader

CopyTrader mirrors the trades of any other eToro user. You select a trader, allocate part of your account balance from a US$200 minimum per copied trader and across up to 100 traders, and your account then opens and closes the same positions in proportion, with copying stopped at any time. Each copy relationship carries a Copy Stop-Loss, set at 40% by default and adjustable between 5% and 95%, which ends the copy once losses reach that share of the allocated amount.

eToro publishes performance data on every user available to copy:

• Annual return for each of the past several years
• Maximum drawdown
• Win rate
• Average position duration
• Risk score, an internal 1 to 10 measure based on volatility
• Number of current copiers and assets under copy

The copied trader earns a Popular Investor commission directly from eToro. Past performance still carries no guarantee of future results. Social discovery earns eToro the copy-trading slot in the beginner forex brokers in Australia rankings.

Smart Portfolios

Smart Portfolios are eToro-curated thematic baskets held as a single position, covering themes such as BigTech, RenewableEnergy and CryptoEqual, and eToro rebalances them periodically. The minimum investment is US$500 per portfolio and no management fee applies, which I would call reasonable for a managed basket.

eToro leverage and margin under ASIC rules

The maximum retail leverage at eToro under ASIC rules is 30:1 on major forex pairs. It then steps down on indices, commodities, minor pairs and cryptocurrency.

• No professional (wholesale) account for Australian clients
• Source: ASIC product intervention order (retail); eToro and its Australian support, read 30 September 2026 (professional)

How leverage works for you at eToro depends on the product, not the account type. Real share and real crypto positions are unleveraged holdings outside the CFD caps, and every leveraged position is a CFD under the rules below.

I will summarise the ASIC caps: retail CFD leverage is limited to 30:1 on major forex pairs, 20:1 on minor pairs, gold and major indices, 10:1 on commodities other than gold, 5:1 on share CFDs and 2:1 on crypto assets. Those caps come from a product intervention order extended to 23 May 2027, so they apply at every ASIC broker rather than at eToro alone. The eToro leverage tiers behind the 30:1 cap are explained in the guide to margin and leverage basics.

There is no wholesale or Professional route for Australian clients at eToro: eToro AUS Capital Limited (AFSL 491139) grants no Professional status, and per eToro’s help centre Australian residents cannot open an account with the Seychelles entity. The ASIC retail limits are therefore the ceiling on every Australian eToro account.

Once your account equity falls below 50 per cent of the total initial margin on all open positions, ASIC requires the CFD issuer to close them out. Positions cannot be netted against each other to reduce that figure, and a gapping market can close a position below the 50 per cent level. eToro stop-loss orders are not guaranteed either, so a fast market fills below the requested level.

eToro markets and instrument counts

I will not quote a single instrument total for eToro, because the broker carries several different totals across its own pages at the same time. The range spans six asset classes, with forex the narrowest line at 66 pairs on eToro’s markets page viewed in our account on 1 October 2026.

Most of the range is available two ways: you can own the real asset outright or trade it as a CFD with leverage. The ownership route is the reason to be here. Forex is the thin line, covering the AUD majors and the minor crosses.

Indices number 59 markets including the ASX 200, and commodities 82 including gold, silver, oil and gas, with that commodity total covering expiring futures, per eToro’s markets pages on 1 October 2026. In my view that range serves you well if you are building a share portfolio and want index and commodity exposure beside it, though it falls short of the multi-asset CFD houses. No fixed-income or treasuries coverage runs at the depth of CMC Markets or IG Markets.

eToro real share investing and crypto

eToro covers US, Australian, UK and EU exchanges on its real share investing side at a flat US$2 a trade for Australian-resident clients, charged on both the buy and the sell since 11 August 2024, with 0% commission on ETFs.

I like this side of the broker. The rate is set by country of residence rather than by exchange: Australia and New Zealand are the only two countries eToro charges US$2 across both exchange groups, and UK residents pay nothing.

Ownership is the differentiator I keep coming back to in this cohort: more than 3,000 real shares across NYSE, NASDAQ, LSE, Frankfurt, Paris and the ASX, bought unleveraged and held through a registered managed investment scheme rather than in the client’s own name. Those instruments trade as CFDs once leverage or a short position enters. eToro Asset Management Limited issues the real-share buys as Responsible Entity and holds the scheme property, leaving you with a beneficial interest, while the leveraged version comes from eToro AUS Capital Limited under the CFD licence. That ownership distinction runs through the share CFDs and real share trading comparison.

Crypto trading

eToro crypto splits the same way as shares, so an unleveraged buy is a real-crypto position and a leveraged position is a CFD under the ASIC 2:1 retail cap. More than 70 crypto assets are listed, including BTC, ETH, ADA, SOL and XRP. Real crypto is not an ASIC-regulated financial product in Australia, so the protections covering the CFD do not cover the coin. Staking on eligible coins pays up to 12% APY at eToro, with the revenue share set by eToro Club tier.

eToro customer support

eToro customer support runs two channels, live chat staffed Sunday 13:00 to Friday 23:00 GMT and a ticket form, with no email channel and no retail phone line, per its help centre read 2 October 2026. Because our team has not tested eToro’s support and holds no chat transcript or ticket record, this review states no response time.

eToro research, tools and education

eToro publishes beginner courses, webinars, weekly market commentary, a glossary, analyst ratings, TipRanks integration, an economic calendar and a news feed. The team’s evidence here is Noam Korbl’s account application and his A$200 card deposit on 2 September 2026; the courses, webinars, weekly commentary and research tools sit outside what we tested.

Should you open an eToro account?

I would recommend eToro for copy traders and multi-asset beginners who want real shares at US$2 per trade alongside CFD exposure. An eToro account gains little for traders who want MetaTrader, tight forex pricing or an AUD base currency.

For a copy trader or a first multi-asset account, the strong side is CopyTrader and the US$2 real-share rate from a US$50 minimum deposit. An active forex trader lands on the weak side, because 1.0 pips advertised on EUR/USD, no MetaTrader and a USD default account that converts every AUD deposit all point at a raw-spread broker instead.

The eToro case for a long-term ASX investor sits between the two: the shares are real and the commission is low, and the conversion on every AUD trade is the cost to weigh against a domestic stockbroker. A free eToro demo carries a US$100,000 virtual portfolio across the whole platform, so you can test CopyTrader before any funding. Copy trading is the one category eToro leads among the best forex brokers in Australia.

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