Social investing platform eToro has just published an update saying that everything is fully operational and apologized to clients who experienced issues with opening positions over the past three days. The bug was apparently minor as few users complained about such technical issues, according to the internet service tracker, DownDetector.
eToro first tweeted that users are experiencing an issue with placing new trades back on September 1. The company then outlined that it identified what was causing the issue and cooperated with senior staff at Microsoft to fix it. Today, at 13:56 UTC, eToro last updated that the incident was resolved, and functionality has been fully restored.
We're aware that some users are currently experiencing an issue with opening new positions. Our team is working to investigate and resolve this.
You can find status updates at https://t.co/ieIcXAjuOr Our apologies for the trouble. Thanks for your patience, everyone. — eToroService (@eToroService) September 1, 2020
“One advantage of being a social platform is the understanding we have of our clients and the level of engagement we have with you. I have seen the speculation that this is an issue around trading volumes and I want to address this directly,” said Tuval Chomut, Chief Solutions Officer at eToro.
Chomut is the man in charge for overseeing product, technology, and business solutions at eToro. He joined the firm in 2019 with diverse global experience in leading software companies, such as ITG, which he co-founded, Clicktale and more.
Furthermore, Tuval assured clients that eToro platforms can handle volumes at current activity levels, and they are working hard to minimize the risk of an issue like this from happening again. He added that they will continue to improve systems so that it can handle volumes up to 100x current levels as eToro continues to add more assets.
“My role as eToro’s Chief Solutions Officer is to bring that experience to bear as eToro continues to scale in size and in offering. My top priority is to bring our clients the most reliable, efficient and secure trading and investing experience. As a business we are investing millions of dollars and hours of manpower to ensure that we not only meet but surpass client expectations,” he added.
eToro Competes with US Established Players and High-Flying Apps
This clarification was important as outages at other platforms, such as Robinhood, was attributed to stress on the app’s infrastructure, high trading volumes and a record number of sign-ups.
Indeed, many retail platforms faced heavy scrutiny as there have been problems and outages in every month since March. US regulators received more than 700 complaints against major brokers in the first half of 2020.
Many of the complaints were regarding failure to provide a swift resolution, which resulted in some investors losing money after being unable to reach their accounts amid market routs and rallies.
Earlier this week, users of Robinhood, Vanguard, E-Trade and other brokerages reported problems on Monday as investors were hoping to get a piece of Apple or Tesla's newly split stock.
eToro is now competing with these firms in the US after it secured the membership of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA). Additionally, it allowed US customers to trade stocks at no cost in July, ramping up the intensity of the brokers’ fight to eliminate trading commissions.
In eToro’s existing markets, the company’s 13 million-plus users are able to trade and hold more than 1,500 different asset classes and markets, including stocks, bonds, Cryptocurrencies , Forex , commodities and more.
