UPDATE 09.25 GMT: The eToro platform is up and running once again. eToro published the following statement.

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 https://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. We will also be increasing the minimum copy value to $500.

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.

———————

eToro, the Israeli-based broker, is experiencing technical difficulties due to a Microsoft database software failure. The technical difficulties have shut eToro’s trading platform down for more than four hours at the time of press.

Whilst the crypto markets are experiencing their worst day of 2021, the Microsoft failure has left eToro traders high and dry. Traders have found themselves unable to log in to their eToro accounts from just after 3 pm GMT.

According to status updates on https://status.etoro.com/, “The root cause of the issue has been identified and our developers are working to fix it. Additional information will be provided as soon as possible.” (UPDATE 09.25 GMT: eToro confirmed that the shutdown was due to “a technical issue that affected our Microsoft database” that “forced [eToro] to move the platform into maintenance mode.”)

However, despite a constant stream of messages reading “Update – We are continuing to work on a fix for this issue.” the popular trading platform planning for an initial public offering (IPO) next year, with a valuation of $5 billion, remains down with its traders unable to log in.

The eToro platform is currently experiencing disrupted service. Our technical teams are working to fix this.

If you're unable to login to manage your positions please use https://t.co/ydRIghscm7

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Keep updated on our status here: https://t.co/ieIcXAjuOr

Thank you

— eToroService (@eToroService) February 23, 2021

The https://offlinemode.etoro.co/ site given by eToro support was also down at the time of writing.

Tuesday’s elongated outage comes as the crypto markets plummeted, losing more than $200 billion in value within just 24 hours. Nearly all cryptocurrencies are still in a sea of red with heavy losses: Bitcoin – down 15%, Ethereum – down 16%, Bitcoin Cash -down 21%, and XRP – down more than 23%.

However, this is not the first time that eToro has experienced outages in highly volatile market conditions with eToro’s services heavily disrupted at the end of January as eToro and other online trading apps struggled to cope with surging demand from retail investors. Although, the cause of this particular outage has been determined as a problem with Microsoft, which may have been out of eToro’s control.

eToro Traders Vent Anger as Outage Drags On

Still, as the eToro outage continued, a number of frustrated traders took to Twitter to vent their anger:

@eToroFr @eToro @eToroService

Platform down for almost 4h in a day as red as today???
With this much volatility on the market, how can a broker be down for this much hour because of a « technical issue »? Second time in less than a month, that’s not acceptable.

— The Walker 🚶🏼‍♂️ (@by_niiiico) February 23, 2021

I will bet you they will not recover from this downtime till tomorrow, accounts showing 0 will take some serious testing before going live again #etoro #etorodown

— Robin And The Dog ⌘ (@RobinAndTheDog) February 23, 2021

No official explanation has been provided by eToro and at this stage (UPDATE 09.25 GMT: a statement was provided; see the top of this page), it is not clear just how many accounts are affected, where the technical difficulties are being experienced, and how long eToro is going to be down.

The official response given to Finance Magnates’ requests for further information was: “We are currently experiencing disrupted service. We are working hard to resolve this as quickly as we can.”
“We apologise to any clients impacted by this disrupted service.”

*UPDATE – eToro has contacted Finance Magnates to inform us that the backup trader is now operational. A spokesperson said: “Our backup trader (offline mode) is fully functional and a vital tool for people to see their positions and be reassured that the platform has not been compromised.”
“We are working closely with senior executives at Microsoft to resolve the issue.”

A spokesperson from eToro told Finance Magnates that the platform has registered more than two million new users so far this year.