Exclusive: eToro after system reboot ups min first deposit to $1K, min copy value $500
FNG Exclusive… FNG has learned that Retail FX and CFDs broker eToro has issued a statement to clients after successfully getting its systems back up today, indicating that it will be increasing the minimum first time deposit for new clients to $1,000, and also upping the minimum copy value to $500.
The statement (see full text below), signed by eToro Chief Solutions Officer Tuval Chomut, first apologizes for the “severe service disruption” the company experienced starting mid afternoon GMT time Tuesday, extending into most of Wednesday morning. After the full eToro system crash the company said that its platform is back up and running, with the company reassuring its clients that its systems (and client data) were not compromised in any way.
eToro said that the reason for the service disruption was a technical issue that affected its Microsoft database, forcing the company to move the platform into maintenance mode.
FNG spoke with an eToro spokesperson, who noted that these are “unprecedented times” both in terms of market conditions and eToro’s growth. To date in 2021, eToro said it has added over 2 million new registered users to the platform. The spokesperson said that eToro is seeing more and more new users coming to the platform each day, a huge increase in trading volumes and strong growth in user engagement with the feed and other aspects of its social investment community.
The full text of the statement which eToro sent today to clients reads as follows:
For Your Attention – Service disruption on the eToro platform
We want to apologize for the severe service disruption on the eToro platform from 3pm GMT on Tuesday 23 February.
Our platform is back up and running and we want to reassure our clients that our systems were not compromised in any way. This was not a breach or an attack on our systems and we have not experienced any data loss of any kind.
The reason for the service disruption was a technical issue that affected our Microsoft database and we were forced to move the platform into maintenance mode. We worked hand in hand with senior engineers at Microsoft to identify and resolve the issue, but this took longer than any of us would have wanted.
As soon as we entered maintenance mode, we deployed our Offline Trader Tool which can be accessed via the platform login screen or at offlinemode.etoro.com.
This tool is a key element of our business continuity infrastructure as it allows our customers to view all open positions and to request to close open trades even when our main platform is not available.
We have decided to introduce a number of temporary changes to the platform in light of the huge demand we are seeing for our services. These changes will help to ensure that we can provide the best possible service to all of our customers – both new and old.
We will be raising the minimum first time deposit amount to $1,000 effective immediately and increasing the minimum copy value to $500. We will also be temporarily removing the option to request future market entry orders.
These are unprecedented times both in terms of the market conditions and eToro’s growth. We have more and more new users coming to the platform each day, a huge increase in trading volumes and strong growth in our users’ engagement with the feed and other aspects of our social investment community.
This means that when things go wrong more people are affected and we take this responsibility very seriously. We want to assure you that providing a frictionless trading and investing experience is our highest priority.
We would like to apologize once again for the disruption to our service and to assure you that we are continuing to invest heavily in our systems and our support teams.
Our customer service teams will be working round the clock to respond to each and every client ticket about this incident.
We appreciate your understanding and thank you for your continued support. We will continue to keep you informed of any changes to the platform and on our measures to provide you with the best possible investment experience.
Yours sincerely,
Tuval Chomut
Chief Solutions Officer, eToro