Contents
eToro is an excellent brokerage for those in Thailand who want to buy Ethereum
Why do we recommend it?
- Allows you to make investments in countless of different goods
- You can trade leveraged
- Really user-friendly and straightforward
- It takes other successful investment strategies so you can replicate them
- Allows you to short sell
Homepage: www.etoro.com/ethereum
eToro is probably the best way to purchase Ethereum from Thailand.
“Social trading”, an innovative form of investing by replicating techniques and strategies from other experienced investors, has become popular because of eToro.
eToro is very useful if you don't have much experience in trading, because it automatizes your investment by repeating strategies from those who have been doing it for years and making profits. Oppositely, if you are an investor and want to share your methods with others, eToro rewards you with money.
Besides, the platform is so uncomplicated, great for a user who wants to start learning about Ethereum and trading, without stressing over lots of graphs and numbers.
About Contracts for Difference
It is possible that you have found the initials CFD all the time if you entered eToro before. We will explain its meaning now, but first, you should know that cryptocurrency trading on the platform is only CFD if you go short or leverage over x2 (and the platform does not even allow this option).
We will also refer to concepts such as leverage and “going short”, in case you are thinking about day trading cryptocurrency or more advanced practices.
The advantage of eToro is that it allows you not only to bet “in the black”, but with CFDs you can also bet “in red”. In a hypothetical case: you have the conviction that the Ethereum will go down, so the logical thing is to think “if it is going to depreciate (go down in price), I'll just wait until it does”. Nevertheless, if it really goes down, it is possible to earn some money out of that.
You can do this through what is known known as “going short” which consists in something like this:
- Someone lends you, for example, 100 units of Ethereum, with a total price of $ 5,000 (these numbers are totally made up)
- You earn $ 5,000 by selling them at their price in the market
- The price falls, as you guessed, and the unit of Ethereum goes from $ 50 to $ 30
- You obtain the 100 units again, but at their current price, $ 3,000
- Now you pay back the 100 units
- The rest is yours, so, you will have earned $ 2000
Take into account that it is much easier than it sounds: we can just say that by trading in Ethereum you can also make money if you anticipate it will go down.
What is an ETF?
What do you know about Exchange-traded funds or ETFs? They are similar to index funds and are known for merging the benefits of stocks and mutual funds: they can be exchanged at any moment in the market, but include a much wider diversity of assets and considerably lower fees.
Foreign exchange
Forex or currency trading allows obtaining profits by converting one currency for another.
If you decide to exchange EUR and USD, for example, you purchase euros and pay with dollars, with the expectation that the euro will raise its price compared to the dollar. Then, if you purchased each euro at 1.15 USD and you sell them back when they cost 1.20 USD, you'll be keeping that difference.
You may be thinking that this form of trading requires high investments, and you're right, since fluctuation in prices is never that dramatic, and if you use a lot of leverage to counter that, you will take a considerable risk. If you are just starting in trading, it is not a good idea to begin with the currency market, because it is very risky and complex.
Most currencies are available on eToro. However, consider that in Forex sales are always made through CFDs, therefore you will not be the owner of the real asset.
Equities
Stocks are the most popular financial assets. Some publicly traded enterprises divide their capital into fractions: you can be one of those shareholders, but first, you have to know where and how to make your investment.
We can group stocks into two different kinds: those of companies that distribute their earnings among the shareholders and those that don't pay regularly. But this is not to say that those of the second type have less to offer. If a company does not pay out dividends but has a lot of potential, it is also worth investing in it, since the capital gain you will get from the sale of the shares can be much greater than what you would earn through dividends.
If you invest in shares that payout, you will receive the funds into your eToro account, and you can withdraw them or invest back. Nevertheless, you can take advantage of compound interest, so we would recommend reinvesting if you don't need the money immediately.
If you invest in stocks on eToro, you can use leverage. However, we don't recommend that, since it would be a CFD and you would not get dividends. Besides, as equities tend to be long-term investments, you will have to pay commissions.
Raw materials
Most investors trade with raw materials due to their stability. While other assets tend to fluctuate more, commodity prices vary less and offer safety against inflation or market volatility. Nevertheless, prices do depend on supply and demand in the market, so if an economic situation produces greater demand for a certain good, its cost will also go up.
Take into account that raw materials don't pay dividends. So, the only potential further income would come from a sale of the asset.
Commodities are commonly classified into hard raw materials, which include precious metals, industrial metals, and oil; and soft raw materials, which are basically agricultural products, like soy, cocoa, corn, or rice, for instance.
What is an ETF?
Have you heard about Exchange-traded funds? They are similar to index funds and are known for merging the advantages of stocks and mutual funds: they can be traded regularly at market price, but include a much wider diversity of assets and considerably lower rates.
How to use eToro
We already said that one of the best features of eToro is how simple it is to use the platform. It isn't necessary to read a lot or have previous knowledge to start investing.
Everyone who has previously used social networks like Twitter or Facebook, knows enough to use eToro.
We will explain, roughly, the registration process and the different sections that you will find on eToro.
First, you will have to fill in all the information that eToro asks for: first and last name, address…
Before you end up with the sign-up process, you will also find some questions about your previous trade experience.
But don't feel like you are taking an exam. They only intend to find out about your previous experience and knowledge to know which financial instruments to recommend for you.
When you finish filling in all the requested information, the annoying “incomplete profile” bar will disappear.
Let's get to know the fundamental sections of the interface.
With the “Set Price Alerts” tool, you'll be able to program an alarm when an asset is at a certain price. Just click the tab and you will be able to set it. This is helpful in case you want to purchase an asset and you are waiting for its price to fall.
The section “News Feed” allows users to interact and share their experiences and knowledge.
“Instruments”, “People” and “CopyPortfolios” are within “Discover”. And we discussed previously in this guide the different financial instruments on eToro:
- Cryptocurrencies
- ETFs
- Stocks
- Commodities
- Currencies
- Index funds
In the tab “People” are all the profiles and historical performances of other users, and you can replicate their strategies with just one click. This is where the “social trading” concept is best applied.
You can search for those investors that best suit your interests: by risk level, types of financial assets, average earnings… You just have to choose the amount of your investment and eToro itself will replicate the movements of the investor you chose, in proportion. This means that if you have $ 1000 and the investor puts 10% of his or her balance in an asset, the platform will invest also 10% of your money (in this case $ 100) in that same asset.
Finally, you will see the popular CopyPortfolios. There are three types: Top Trader, Market, and Partner.
Sometimes it might be better to copy from CopyPortfolios than to particular users, because you avoid putting all your eggs in one basket, or in other words, risk is more diversified. The portfolios are identified so you can recognize them easily: one about gaming, another about large drone companies, another about pharmacy … Do you suspect that a certain sector will prosper anytime soon? Then look, because surely there is a CopyPortfolio about it.