Four years after contemplating going public via a special-purpose acquisition company, the trading platform eToro debuted on the Nasdaq on Wednesday. eToro CEO Yoni Assia joined CNBC Thursday morning to discuss the company’s debut and its history with cryptocurrency.
“We were very early on to crypto,” Assia said. “I started buying bitcoin at $5 for eToro’s treasury. We were the first regulated company in Europe to launch cryptocurrency trading.”
Assia said that $50,000 became $50 million before his board said they “have to sell it, it’s not our business.” When asked if he fired those board members for recommending that, Assia chuckled and quietly said, “maybe.”
Last September, eToro agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle SEC charges that it illegally operated as a broker and clearing agency in its crypto business. Without admitting or denying the findings, eToro also agreed to limit trading to select cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ether, and to sell off its remaining crypto assets
eToro reported net income of $192 million in 2024, with $12 million in revenue from crypto assets, according to regulatory filings. A quarter of the firm’s net trading came from cryptocurrency, up 1o% year-over-year.
Assia said Thursday it has been “amazing” to witness how far crypto has come.
“I think nobody doubts that crypto is here to stay,” Assia continued. “It’s a new type of capital market thriving around the world. Outside the U.S., we have more than 130 different crypto assets trading, but nonetheless, we are passionate about capital markets and the stock markets.”
Dinner Buffett: Serve up more equities
In fact, it was a meeting with arguably the most legendary investor of all time that moved Assia away from cryptocurrency. The founder of Berkshire Hathaway has said he will never own crypto, while his former colleague Charlie Munger infamously referred to Bitcoin as “rat poison.”
“At a dinner with Warren Buffett, he actually convinced me to focus more on stocks and less on crypto, but we love both,” Assia said on CNBC. “Last year, 25% of our revenues were crypto and 75% were stock markets…our customers buying [from] more than 20 different stock markets.”
eToro confidentially filed in January for an initial public offering, seeking a $5 billion valuation. The company had targeted an IPO price range of $46 to $50 per share, but upsized its offering earlier this week to $52 a share. The stock popped nearly 30% to close its first day of trading at around $67 per share.
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