Investors watching eToro’s post-IPO strategy learned this week that the eToro TradeZero acquisition will cost up to $231 million in cash and shares, as the social-trading platform makes its most ambitious move yet into US equities. The deal landed alongside a quarter in which crypto revenues fell sharply across every major platform that reports them.
eToro TradeZero Acquisition: What the Deal Is Worth and How It Is Structured
eToro agreed to buy US brokerage TradeZero for consideration that includes cash and up to 2.5 million newly issued Class A shares. TradeZero generated approximately $80 million in revenue in the 12 months to June, posting an 81% gross margin (the proportion of revenue left after direct costs).
The acquisition is eToro’s third signed in 2026, following completed purchases of crypto wallet firm Zengo and exchange Bit2C earlier in the year. eToro also recently obtained a US registered investment adviser licence, allowing it to offer its Smart Portfolios product in the United States. TradeZero operates across the US, Canada and international markets, adding established broker-dealer infrastructure to eToro’s network.
Daniel Pipitone, TradeZero’s co-founder and chief executive, said: ‘our broker-dealer infrastructure and proprietary trading tools strengthen an even broader investing platform.’ eToro expects the combination to be accretive to adjusted earnings per share (the profit attributed to each share, adjusted for one-off items) in the first year following completion. Regulatory approval is required and the deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027.
Jefferies acted as exclusive financial adviser to eToro, with Simpson Thacher and Bartlett LLP as lead counsel. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC advised TradeZero, with Choate, Hall and Stewart LLP as its lead counsel. eToro has traded on Nasdaq under the ticker ETOR since its IPO in May 2025.
Alongside the deal announcement, eToro reported that net contribution rose 9% year-on-year to $229 million, while net income reached $53.5 million. Net trading income from equities, commodities and currencies rose by $27.6 million to $141.6 million. The growth in non-crypto income underlines why the TradeZero deal fits eToro’s current direction.
Crypto Revenue Falls Across eToro, Robinhood and Coinbase
The TradeZero deal context makes more sense once you see the quarter eToro just had in crypto. Its cryptoasset revenue fell 30% year-on-year to $1.35 billion, and the net contribution from crypto dropped to about $12.5 million. Robinhood’s cryptocurrency transaction revenue declined 38% to $100 million, even as its total net revenue rose 32% to $1.31 billion. Coinbase reported $1.2 billion in total revenue alongside a $359 million net loss, with Bitcoin-related transactions accounting for only 12% of revenue.
The backdrop was a 12.6% fall in total crypto market capitalisation and a 27.9% drop in centralised exchange spot volume during the quarter. For retail investors holding stock in any of these platforms, the message is consistent: crypto income is volatile, and firms that built equity and derivatives businesses alongside it held up better.
Plus500 Pays Out More Than It Earned and Eyes a US Margin Target
Plus500 (LON: PLUS), a FTSE 250 constituent admitted to the London Stock Exchange on 24 July 2013, announced a $182.5 million shareholder return package comprising $100 million of buybacks and $82.5 million of dividends ($1.2001 per share). That exceeds its first-half net profit of $151.9 million, funded by a cash balance of $861.3 million with no debt. Total shareholder returns announced by the company this year have reached $370 million.
First-half revenue rose 12% to $462.9 million, but operating expenses climbed 20% to $278.5 million. EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) rose only 1% to $187.5 million, compressing the margin to 41%. The company attributed the cost increase partly to customer acquisition spending, US-related costs and the stronger Israeli shekel.
Chief Executive David Zruia said the US futures and prediction markets business is expected to reach a profit margin of 20% or more, compared with what he described as a 10% market practice figure. The unit, part of the group’s non-OTC operation, generated about $70 million in the first half. The company is targeting annualised revenue of about $140 million from the business in 2026. Zruia’s margin figure is a management expectation, not a reported result: Plus500 does not break out the US unit as a separate segment. Plus500 Investor Relations shows that full-year 2025 group revenue was $792.4 million, against which the US unit’s progress can be measured as it scales.
Swissquote, CFD Volumes and ASIC’s Regulatory Proposal
Swissquote ended the first half with client assets of CHF 96.3 billion, up 19.8% year-on-year and approaching the CHF 100 billion mark. However, crypto income fell 66.2%, prompting the company to cut its full-year guidance to approximately CHF 730 million in net revenue and CHF 365 million in pre-tax profit. Its 2028 target of CHF 500 million in pre-tax profit remains in place.
Among retail CFD brokers, monthly trading volume per active account fell at 45 of 51 brokers tracked by FM Intelligence. The median dropped 9.7% to $3.06 million, and aggregate monthly volume across the group declined 7.3% to $30.5 trillion. Active accounts held near 7.39 million.
Australia’s securities regulator proposed in consultation paper CP 363 to extend capital requirements for retail OTC derivatives issuers until October 2032, five years beyond the current October 2027 expiry. The existing test requires firms to hold the greater of AU$1 million or 10% of average revenue, split between cash equivalents and liquid assets. The consultation closes on 8 September.
The eToro TradeZero acquisition is scheduled for the first half of 2027: if the deal closes on time, the question for ETOR holders is whether equity and derivatives revenue grows fast enough by then to offset whatever crypto does next. More detail on eToro’s strategic rationale is expected when management outlines integration plans ahead of the regulatory approval process.
