eToro has outlined a new step in its push to broaden beyond crypto by announcing plans to acquire US online brokerage TradeZero. The deal is positioned as part of the company’s expansion strategy in the United States, with closing expected in the first half of 2026.

In parallel with the acquisition announcement, eToro’s second-quarter update showed crypto trading and revenues under pressure. The company reported $1.59 billion in total revenue for the quarter, with crypto assets contributing $1.34 billion—down roughly 30% from $1.9 billion in the prior-year comparable quarter. While crypto revenue fell, eToro also reported $1.35 billion in crypto-related cost of revenue and $19.7 million in net income from crypto assets, alongside $53.4 million in total net income.

Key takeaways

• eToro plans to acquire TradeZero to accelerate its US expansion, targeting closing in the first half of 2026.
• In Q2, crypto remained the largest revenue stream for eToro at $1.34 billion, but it fell about 30% year over year.
• Crypto net income was positive at $19.7 million for the quarter, even as overall crypto trades and invested amounts declined sharply in July.
• The company reported strong cross-asset engagement: many users who traded commodities later traded equities and then crypto on eToro.
• TradeZero reportedly generated about $80 million in revenue over the last 12 months ended June 30, 2026, with 81% gross margins.

Why eToro wants TradeZero in its US strategy

The acquisition of TradeZero is framed by eToro as a practical move to become a broader multi-asset platform in the United States. The focus on US brokerage capabilities comes as the firm works to deepen trading relationships across asset classes, rather than relying solely on digital-asset activity.

eToro also previously signaled similar intent in crypto infrastructure: in April, it announced plans to acquire self-custodial wallet provider Zengo. Taken together, the company’s approach appears to combine more traditional brokerage reach (through TradeZero) with continuing investment in crypto custody and user access (through Zengo).

Crypto performance remains the swing factor

Despite the company’s ongoing multi-asset push, crypto continues to dominate the revenue mix. In its second-quarter report, eToro said total revenue came in at $1.59 billion, down from $2 billion in the comparable 2025 period. Of that amount, $1.34 billion was revenue from crypto assets, which the company said was about 30% lower than $1.9 billion in Q2 2025.

eToro reported $1.35 billion in crypto-related cost of revenue and $19.7 million in net income from crypto assets. Total net income for the quarter was $53.4 million, indicating that losses or reductions in crypto activity did not fully translate into an overall earnings collapse—though the numbers highlight how sensitive the business remains to the direction of crypto volumes and fees.

The broader trading picture also weakened after the quarter. According to eToro’s disclosures, total cryptocurrency trades on the platform fell to 1.4 million in July, representing a 73% year-on-year decline. The invested amount was down 50% over the same period, reinforcing that reduced trading activity has been affecting both the number of transactions and the size of positions.

Cross-asset engagement and the commodities-to-crypto funnel

Alongside crypto-specific declines, eToro highlighted user behavior that could support its multi-asset thesis. In commentary attributed to its financial leadership, the company said that more than 60% of users who traded commodities during Q4 2025 to Q1 2026 later traded equities in Q2 2026. It added that nearly nine in ten of those users have also traded crypto on eToro.

This matters because it suggests eToro is attempting to build a funnel where initial engagement in one asset category can lead to additional trading across other categories. If TradeZero helps expand access to US equities and other traditional brokerage products, eToro may be betting that increased equity trading will feed back into crypto usage—offsetting parts of the volatility in digital-asset demand.

eToro also reported that equities and commodities-related trading generated $141 million in net income for the platform, providing another anchor outside crypto revenue even as crypto volumes cooled.

Deal economics: TradeZero’s margins and expected earnings impact

From the perspective of deal structure, eToro provided figures intended to show that TradeZero could strengthen the business rather than dilute it. The company stated that TradeZero generated about $80 million of revenue with 81% gross margins in the last 12 months ended June 30, 2026.

Looking ahead, eToro said it expects the acquisition to be accretive to adjusted earnings per share in the first year after closing. Closing is expected in the first half of 2026, meaning the earliest period for the claimed benefit would likely follow shortly thereafter.

Market reaction to the announcement appeared cautious. eToro’s Nasdaq-traded shares were down more than 5% in pre-market activity on Tuesday, with the move expected to extend Monday’s decline according to Yahoo Finance data for ETOR.

What to watch next

Investors and users will likely focus on whether the TradeZero acquisition helps stabilize revenues as crypto volumes fluctuate, and on whether eToro can translate its reported cross-asset engagement into sustained trading activity in the US. In the meantime, July’s sharp drop in crypto trades and invested amounts remains a key signal for how quickly digital-asset performance can change the company’s quarterly outlook.

Strategy CEO Phong Le has said the company plans to increase its Bitcoin holdings again this year, even after recent sales reduced its reserve to 840,447 BTC.

Fox Business reported that Le expects Strategy to return to Bitcoin accumulation as the company builds its US dollar reserve and supports its preferred stock products.

Le’s comments place the company’s long-term buying plan alongside a capital-management program that has produced two consecutive weekly Bitcoin sales. Strategy has used the proceeds to repurchase its variable-rate preferred stock, while common-share sales have provided cash for its dollar reserve.

During an earlier Bloomberg interview in July, Le linked the next buying phase to a recovery in Strategy’s Stretch preferred stock, which trades under the ticker STRC.

“We’ll continue to build that. And yeah, when Stretch gets back to par, we’ll issue more. We’ll buy more Bitcoin,” Le said.

Strategy plans to resume Bitcoin accumulation

Strategy has not announced a date for its next purchase, and Le’s comments describe a plan for later in 2026 rather than an immediate transaction.

The company’s recent activity has focused on restoring STRC toward its $100 stated amount. Because Strategy can issue the preferred shares to raise capital, a recovery toward that level would give the company another source of funds for Bitcoin purchases.

As crypto.news reported on July 16, Le said Strategy would issue more STRC and buy more Bitcoin after the security returned to par. STRC traded near $87 at the time after falling below $75 in late June.

Strategy designed STRC with a variable dividend rate that management can adjust to encourage the shares to trade close to $100. The company kept the annualized rate at 12% for August, despite the stock ending July below $90.

Management has also been repurchasing STRC shares when they trade below the stated amount. Strategy said the purchases were intended to reduce the number of preferred shares outstanding and improve what it calls STRC’s “Bitcoin credit,” a company metric measuring Bitcoin and cash backing relative to its preferred obligations.

Le said in July that Strategy wanted STRC to trade between $99 and $100. The company has described regular repurchases below that range as part of its plan to support the security before issuing additional shares.

Bitcoin sales fund another STRC repurchase

An Aug. 10 SEC filing showed that Strategy sold 1,690 BTC between Aug. 3 and Aug. 9, receiving $108.6 million after fees and expenses.

The company sold the Bitcoin at an average price of $64,262 and used the proceeds to repurchase 1,152,020 STRC shares. Strategy paid an average of about $94.29 per preferred share, leaving approximately $785.2 million available under its STRC repurchase authorization.

Following the transaction, Strategy’s Bitcoin reserve fell from 842,138 BTC to 840,447 BTC. The remaining holdings were acquired for about $63.36 billion at an average price of $75,385 per coin, according to the company’s filing.

The transaction followed a sale of 1,638 BTC for $104.73 million during the week ending Aug. 2. Strategy used $52.4 million from that sale to pay preferred-stock dividends and directed another $52.3 million toward STRC repurchases.

As previously covered, the earlier sale occurred at an average price of $63,957 and reduced Strategy’s reported holdings to 842,138 BTC.

Across the two latest reporting periods, the company has sold 3,328 BTC for approximately $213.3 million. Strategy’s public ledger shows that its reserve has declined from 847,363 BTC on June 22 to 840,447 BTC following several sales.

The company sold 3,588 BTC for about $216 million between June 29 and July 5, before keeping its holdings unchanged for several weeks. Strategy also sold 32 BTC around the end of May, its first disclosed disposal since December 2022.

Dollar reserve reaches $4.65 billion

While reducing its Bitcoin position, Strategy has increased the amount of cash available for dividends, interest payments, and other corporate obligations.

The Aug. 10 filing showed that Strategy sold 6,585,329 shares of MSTR common stock through its at-the-market programs. The sales generated approximately $653.1 million in net proceeds.

Management placed $650 million into the company’s designated US dollar reserve and added the remaining $3.1 million to unrestricted cash. The contribution lifted the reserve from $4 billion to $4.65 billion as of Aug. 9.

In late July, Strategy had reported a reserve of $3.75 billion, which management estimated could provide about 2.1 years of coverage for preferred dividends and interest payments. A subsequent $250 million contribution raised the balance to $4 billion and extended the company’s stated coverage period to about 2.3 years.

The reserve is management-designated liquidity rather than a legally restricted account. Strategy established it in December 2025 to support payments on its preferred securities and outstanding debt, and the company can change the reserve’s size according to capital needs and market conditions.

Le told Fox Business that Strategy had been adding to its dollar holdings, making liquidity one of the company’s current priorities. During Strategy’s second-quarter earnings call, he said the company had learned the importance of holding dollars instead of relying only on Bitcoin as a liquid balance-sheet asset.

US investors retain exposure through MSTR and STRC

Strategy’s latest transactions directly affect US investors because MSTR and STRC trade on Nasdaq, and the company reports its Bitcoin, equity, and preferred-stock activity through filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

MSTR provides equity exposure to Strategy’s Bitcoin reserve, software operations, debt, and preferred-stock obligations. Its performance can therefore differ from Bitcoin’s price because changes in the company’s share count, cash reserve, and capital structure also affect shareholders.

Strategy’s Aug. 10 filing showed that adjusted shares outstanding rose to about 423.85 million after the latest common-stock sales. The company still had approximately $11.7 billion of MSTR shares available for issuance across two at-the-market programs.

STRC gives investors a different form of exposure through a variable cash dividend rather than direct ownership of Bitcoin. Strategy can change the dividend rate each month under the security’s terms, while the preferred shares have no maturity date and are not guaranteed to trade at their $100 stated amount.

After the latest repurchases, Strategy retained a separate $1 billion authorization to buy back MSTR common stock. The company had not used that authorization as of Aug. 9, according to its SEC filing.

The Coldcard hack is testing crypto investigators’ ability to measure losses from self-custody wallets, where victim reports are critical to establishing the scale of the theft.

Blockchain analytics platform CryptoQuant currently puts confirmed losses at 1,432 Bitcoin, while other analysts have traced substantially more funds to the attack.

Galaxy Research and blockchain intelligence company TRM Labs both say their analysis points to a higher toll, while distinguishing between losses directly confirmed by victims and funds attributed to the attack through onchain patterns.

That makes self-custody attacks difficult to quantify: Unlike an exchange hack, there is no complete list of affected accounts, leaving investigators to build estimates rather than pin down a definitive toll.

Galaxy traces losses beyond victim reports

Galaxy’s Alex Thorn told Cointelegraph the platform’s earlier estimate of as much as 1,816 BTC was a potential figure rather than a confirmed loss total.

As of Tuesday, Galaxy put its high-confidence minimum at 1,730 Bitcoin, with Thorn saying the figure could still increase as more victim reports corroborate attack patterns.

Source: Galaxy Research

“We have directly confirmed 450+ BTC directly from victim reports, but their reports have helped identify other, as-yet-unknown victims in more than 730 total BTC,” Thorn said. Galaxy uses those reports to corroborate broader attack patterns, while withholding funds it suspects but cannot yet sufficiently verify. “We are still withholding many more BTC we suspect but for which we lack sufficient corroboration,” Thorn said.

Related: Coldcard hackers transfer 64 BTC and 200 ETH to cryptocurrency mixers

TRM Labs said its independent tracing lands in the same range as Galaxy, while its recent analysis estimated that attackers drained about 1,816 BTC from more than 5,200 addresses across four waves. “Investigators should expect the estimate to keep moving upward before it stabilizes,” TRM’s global head of policy Ari Redbord told Cointelegraph.

CryptoQuant takes a stricter approach

CryptoQuant’s head of research, Julio Moreno, told Cointelegraph that the company starts with public reports from victims, including wallet addresses or transaction IDs, and then checks those reports against known onchain patterns from the attack.

That approach puts CryptoQuant’s confirmed tally at 1,432 BTC, which Moreno described as a floor that could rise if more victims publicly disclose their hacked addresses.

Source: CryptoQuant

Moreno said CryptoQuant is cautious about identifying victims solely from onchain patterns because doing so could produce false positives and inflate the estimate.

“Because the stolen Bitcoin belonged to individuals and not to a centralized entity, like an exchange, we can only confirm what each victim publicly discloses,” he said.

Hard number to pin down

Moreno emphasized the total will remain an estimate because investigators can only confirm what victims disclose. He said:

“Knowing the total BTC stolen is difficult, and it will always be an estimation.”

Chainalysis told Cointelegraph it has not conducted an independent tally of the losses, while blockchain investigator ZachXBT publicly said he has no plans to monitor or trace the incident.

Magazine: Do the Coldcard attacks mean all hardware wallets are now insecure?

Russia’s central bank has compiled a proposed list of crypto assets that could be admitted to public trading on exchanges under new rules approved last week.

The list includes Bitcoin, Ether and Tether’s stablecoin USDT, the Bank of Russia said Tuesday, adding that the assets meet criteria including market capitalization, average daily trading volume and at least five years of price history on overseas markets.

The proposal follows a new law, signed by President Vladimir Putin on Aug. 4, that gives the Bank of Russia authority to determine which digital currencies can be admitted to organized trading and set related rules.

Under the rules, non-qualified investors could buy up to 300,000 Russian rubles ($3,650) worth of cryptocurrency per year through each intermediary, including a broker, crypto exchange service or asset manager. Qualified investors would face no purchase limits for crypto assets traded on exchanges or over-the-counter markets.

“Before making transactions, all investors, regardless of their status, will have to pass a test and familiarize themselves with the risks of investing in crypto assets,” the Bank of Russia said.

The central bank said the restrictions are designed to protect non-qualified investors from sharp and unpredictable fluctuations in crypto prices. The regulator is accepting comments on the proposal until Aug. 24.

Related: Russia cracks down on 9 crypto exchanges in Moscow City

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