For individual investors considering options for crypto trading, there are important differences to understand between eToro and Gemini, two of the largest online trading platforms.
At a Glance: eToro vs Gemini
Although eToro and Gemini are both good trading platforms for investors interested in crypto trading, eToro offers features, pricing and a more user-friendly platform that makes it overall a better choice. The unique features offered by eToro, including risk-free trading practices to learn about crypto and CopyTrader to follow other users’ investment strategies, give the platform an advantage. The trading platform also offers a comprehensive resource center for investors to use and it’s designed to encourage more engagement and socialization among users who want to share their insights and experiences.
Gemini has its advantages and offers features that some investors may find more attractive. Some of the more advanced tools and features targeting more experienced users will be discussed in more detail. And there are some situations where Gemini may be the only option for some users.
When an investor chooses a trading platform, they want to know what they are receiving for their money and what makes one platform better than the others. Depending on an investor’s experience level and tolerance for fees paid for transactions, there are pros and cons about eToro and Gemini that must be considered. Here are some basic points about both eToro and Gemini, and how the two platforms compete when it comes to certain features.
eToro Overview
Established in 2007 in Israel, eToro offers crypto trading services in most of the U.S. and comprehensive brokerage services in other parts of the world. The eToro trading platform gives traders access to 27 cryptocurrencies with a clear list of fees for its millions of users in more than 140 countries. An active community of users engage with social features, such as a chat platform and social feeds that allow traders to share their insights and experience in trading.
Next: Our complete eToro review
eToro Pros and Cons
A leading feature that gives eToro’s trading platform a key advantage is its broad community of investors. This platform creates a communal experience that can be helpful for many traders, particularly beginners who are curious about cryptocurrency. The eToro platform also offers an abundance of educational resources to help investors with their research and trading. The site also allows its users to copy the crypto trading strategies of more experienced traders. Of course, with any reward a user might expect by copying the trades of more experienced users, they also must accept the risk when those trades don’t turn out as planned. The eToro platform also offers users a paper trading option to test investment strategies risk free and without using their own money.
The disadvantages of eToro’s platform include limited customer service options, with a premium membership required for access to customer service through online chat. Most users are able to access customer service through email. There also are a few states in the U.S. where eToro trading is not supported, including New York, Nevada and Tennessee, although the service is regularly expanding. Another con about the eToro platform involves the use of cryptocurrency once it is transferred to the site’s crypto wallet. Users cannot move it back onto the trading platform once it is transferred to the eToro wallet for external use.
Next: eToro vs eTorox
Gemini Overview
Gemini is an online trading platform that boasts more than 50 cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and Ethereum. The site offers various levels of engagement in its platform based on a trader’s experience, from a novice investor to a serious, experienced user. Gemini also offers a portal for peer-to-peer trading, and an easy account setup process. Although its fees are generally higher than other platforms, Gemini offers web and mobile apps, and unique security features that other platforms do not provide.
Gemini’s Pros and Cons
The larger selection of cryptocurrencies is one advantage of Gemini, offering traders more options for investing. Gemini also provides users a way to buy and sell directly to each other through its Gemini Clearing portal.The site also offers different interfaces for users based on their level of experience. For example, the Gemini Basic is a simple desktop platform that allows beginners to purchase cryptocurrency using either the total amount of crypto or the total amount they want to spend. Gemini’s ActiveTrader platform offers the veteran trader more advanced functions, such as charting, multiple order tracking and block trading for those who may deal in high-volume transactions. Gemini, which was developed in the U.S., is also available in all 50 states.
The main disadvantage of Gemini is what users pay for the service. With more features and investment options offered by Gemini come higher fees than what is typically charged by other trading platforms. Gemini also charges both a commission and a convenience fee on trades when users buy and sell crypto on their desktop or mobile app. While offering services through a basic interface for beginners, the Gemini platform is geared more toward advanced users with its more sophisticated features. Although there are more tools available for investment analysis and user-to-user trading options, traders who do not have the extensive experience of more seasoned investors are paying higher fees for more investment options and more advanced features that would likely be of little use to them.
Copy Trading Feature: eToro vs Gemini
Trading in cryptocurrency can be intimidating without the help of a trained advisor, particularly for novice investors. One feature eToro offers is a copy trading function that allows users to follow veteran investors. The CopyTrader feature, part of eToro’s focus on a more social platform, allows traders to directly copy the trades of others. Of course, this doesn’t guarantee investment success and comes with its own risk. The copy feature allows users to imitate the strategies of other investors, and experience gains or losses in those trades just as the initial investor would based on the size of the investment. This is a great feature for a novice trying to learn more about the basics of crypto trading. Although Gemini offers more advanced features for the seasoned trader and a basic interface for beginners, it does not offer a copy trading feature similar to eToro’s.
The winner of the copy trading feature: eToro.
Risk-free Trading Practice: eToro vs Gemini
One way to learn about crypto trading is to practice investing in it, but that can be difficult when money is involved. An inexperienced investor who does not understand the crypto market could easily become overwhelmed by the choices. A tool offered by eToro provides risk-free trading at no charge for those who want to learn more about investing without spending their own money. This free paper trading account available to all users allows novice investors to learn about crypto trading without actually buying with their own money or selling it. Gemini offers a simple trading interface designed for beginners that provides the basics for buying and selling crypto, but traders must pay for the experience of learning about trades by using money in their accounts. Gemini does not offer the powerful learning tool of risk-free trading practice for its users.
The winner of the risk-free trading practice feature: eToro.
Platform Security Features: eToro vs Gemini
Crypto traders seek security when navigating investment opportunities online. Both the eToro and Gemini trading platforms offer users security for their accounts and crypto wallets, but they include different features. The security for eToro accounts features 2-factor authentication, a feature that users can manually enable on their accounts. The 2-factor authentication is not automatically enabled for eToro users. The eToro security features also include standard SSL encryption to protect customer data. Funds are secured by eToro through deposits in Tier 1 banks as an added layer of protection.
Gemini offers a unique security feature, known as hot wallets, that allows the platform’s users to keep their crypto in accounts that are insured in case of a hack. Gemini also maintains most of its investors’ holdings in these wallets through a cold storage feature that helps further protect the accounts and hinder efforts by hackers who may try to access them. While eToro offers significant security features on its platform for users, the platform does not offer a similar hot wallet feature.
The winner of the hot wallet security feature: Gemini.
The Overall Winner: eToro vs Gemini
While both trading platforms offer features and tools that serve just about any crypto trader regardless of their experience level, eToro offers an easy, affordable, secure, interactive way for investors to buy and sell. With significant features that help beginning investors learn more about crypto and a platform designed to foster engagement within its investment community, eToro stands out as the best option for traders searching for an online platform they can trust. More experienced traders will also benefit from eToro’s straightforward and transparent fee structure that is more affordable than Gemini’s fee structure.
To be sure, Gemini and eToro are both great cryptocurrency trading platforms. When it comes to novice investors or those not yet advanced enough to trade confidently on their own without more insight and guidance, eToro is a better choice. It stands out because of its fee structure, risk-free trade practice feature, online social platforms to engage other investors, and its CopyTrader option that allows users to copy trades of more experienced investors.
When it comes to experienced investors who are more comfortable trading crypto on their own and who are in search of tools to support their independent efforts, Gemini is a good option.The platform’s larger crypto offering for investors, advanced tools for investment charting and analysis in ActiveTrader, and a special block trading tool that is better suited for high volume transactions are all features designed to serve the more seasoned investor. With so many advanced tools that can help inform their trading activities, veteran investors may not mind the higher fees they will pay for the service.
Sign Up Now
Join more than 20 million investors around the world who have already become eToro users. The platform offers an easy registration process online that requires a user’s email, a username and a password. Once an account is created, eToro verifies information about users and then provides information about funding investment accounts.
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