Twitter, the social media giant that was acquired by Elon Musk last year, has announced a new feature that will let its users access stocks, cryptocurrencies and other financial assets through a partnership with eToro, a social trading company.
Starting Thursday, Twitter users will be able to view market charts on an expanded range of financial instruments and buy and sell stocks and other assets from eToro, the company told CNBC exclusively. Currently, it’s already possible to view real-time trading data from TradingView on index funds like the S&P 500 and shares of some companies such as Tesla. That can be done using Twitter’s “cashtags” feature — you search for a ticker symbol and insert dollar sign in front of it, after which the app will show you price information from TradingView using an API (application programming interface).
With the eToro partnership, Twitter cashtags will be expanded to cover far more instruments and asset classes, an eToro spokesperson told CNBC. You’ll also be able to click a button that says “view on eToro,” which takes you through to eToro’s site, and then buy and sell assets on its platform. EToro uses TradingView as its market data partner.
“As we’ve grown over the past three years immensely, we’ve seen more and more of our users interact on Twitter [and] educate themselves about the markets,” Yoni Assia, eToro’s CEO, told CNBC in an interview. “There is very high quality content, real-time content on financial analysis of companies and what’s happening around the world. We believe this partnership will enable us to reach those new audiences [and] connect better the brands of Twitter and eToro.”
The partnership marks a rare and noteworthy business deal for Twitter since Elon Musk took the reins as CEO after buying the platform for $44 billion last year. Founded in Israel in 2007, eToro is an online brokerage that lets users buy and sell stocks, cryptocurrencies and index funds. Among its most popular features is a function that allows people to mimic the trading strategies of other users. The company has more than 32 million registered users across Europe, Asia and the United States, Assia said.
Under Musk’s time as CEO, Twitter has cut staffing sharply, taking its headcount down from 8,000 to 1,500 when he took over, in a bid to reduce costs and reach profitability. Musk has made it his mission to turn Twitter into a so-called “super app” that offers users financial services on top of social media. Elon Musk told a Morgan Stanley conference last month he wants Twitter to become “the biggest financial institution in the world.”
The move comes as Twitter faces increasing competition from other platforms such as Facebook, TikTok and Clubhouse that have been expanding their offerings and user bases. Twitter has also been experimenting with new features such as Spaces, a live audio chat service similar to Clubhouse; Tip Jar, a way for users to send money to each other; and Super Follows, a subscription service that lets users charge for exclusive content.
EToro, meanwhile, has been growing rapidly amid the surge in popularity of online trading and investing during the pandemic. The company reported $1.1 billion in revenue in 2022, up 147% from the previous year. It also announced plans to go public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) called FinTech Acquisition Corp. V at a valuation of $10.4 billion.
The partnership with Twitter is not eToro’s first foray into social media integration. The company already allows users to link their accounts with Facebook and share their trades and portfolios with their friends. It also has a feature called CopyPortfolios that lets users invest in thematic portfolios based on topics such as cannabis, gaming or renewable energy.
EToro claims that its social trading model offers users more transparency, education and engagement than traditional brokers. It also says that it democratizes access to financial markets by offering commission-free trading on stocks and ETFs, low fees on crypto and other assets, and a minimum deposit of $200.
Twitter users who want to trade with eToro will need to sign up for an account with the company and verify their identity and location. EToro is regulated by authorities in the U.K., Europe, Australia and the U.S., where it operates under different entities depending on the state. EToro says it complies with all relevant laws and regulations regarding anti-money laundering (AML),