In a recent internal memo to employees, Yoni Assia, the CEO and the Co-Founder of eToro, shared the company's achievements for the first half of 2023 and hinted at the forecasts for the second half.

Moreover, the company has agreed to a $120 million secondary share sale. This move allows angel investors and some of the first employees to resell their shares to newer institutional investors. As a result, this slightly lowers the market valuation of the social trading giant compared to $3.5 billion after the funding round in the first part of the year.

eToro to Sell Shares at a Discounted Valuation

According to information from CNBC, from the memo received by staff, it appears that some employees and investors were given the opportunity to sell shares. Since this is a secondary share sale, the company will not be issuing new securities and will not make any profit from the transaction.

"As a business which continues to demonstrate sustainable, profitable growth, we are considered an attractive investment opportunity by many investors," Assia commented in today's (Monday's) memo sent to employees.

This move arrived after the company raised $250 million from investors and achieved a valuation of $3.5 billion in March 2023. This is significantly less than the potential $10 billion valuation it could have achieved by going public. Such a plan seemed realistic last year and was supposed to be based on a merger with a blank-check company named, Fintech V. However, a downturn in crypto and stock markets led to a decrease in retail investor activity, and the transaction ultimately did not happen.

"This is not a primary i.e. eToro is not raising money — rather it is a moment for some long standing shareholders and employees to take some liquidity. As always, please maintain confidentiality and do not share any details of this potential transaction with anyone. Employees with eligible options will receive an email with further details," Assia added.

Recently, eToro has partnered with Twitter, now known as X. Thanks to this collaboration, users can access trading via 'cashtags' directly from the social media platform. All they need to do is add a dollar sign to the searched company or cryptocurrency symbol.

eToro's CEO Summarizes the First Half of the Year

Regarding recent company results, Assia praised the "strong business performance in the first half of the year" which saw a record EBITDA of over $50 million. The funded accounts have grown to nearly 3 million, and the assets under administration (AuA) have reached $7.8 billion. In June 2023 alone, eToro saw the highest equities trading volume since 2021.

On top of that, the Co-Founder of eToro mentioned recent new sponsorship deals, as well as regulatory actions and changes in the offer. The Bank of Spain registered eToro as the country's virtual asset exchange and electronic wallet custody services provider. Moreover, the company sponsored several new football clubs, including women's football clubs, in relation to the July Women's World Cup.

In terms of offerings, eToro has introduced the ability to trade on equity CFDs outside standard session hours. The offer provides an additional three hours of daily trading on shares of the most popular U.S. companies.