EToro reiterates commitment to crypto despite falling activity in Q1

EToro (ETOR) doubled down on its commitment to crypto even as digital asset activity weakened in the first quarter and into April.

Revenue from crypto assets dropped 38% from the year-earlier quarter to $2.15 billion, the company said in its first-quarter earnings report released Tuesday. Net trading income from crypto derivatives fell 57% to $33.4 million while overall net income rose 37% to $82.4 million.

The trading platform said the crypto activity decline extended into April, with the total number of crypto trades falling 32% year-over-year and the invested amount per trade dropping 22%. Despite the downturn, CEO Yoni Assia expressed a bullish outlook.

"We do expect later this year to start seeing crypto rising back to, you know, near all-time-highs and that will drive crypto engagement," Assia told CNBC, adding that the platform’s data suggests that when the markets fall, “retail investors on eToro actually buy the dip.”

The company said it activated its BitLicense to start trading in New York, three years after it was granted, and it completed the $70 million acquisition of crypto wallet provider Zengo, closed April 30.

"The acquisition of Zengo, a leading self-custodial crypto wallet provider, meaningfully advances our strategy of bridging traditional finance with on-chain infrastructure, prediction markets, perpetuals and the broader crypto ecosystem," Assia said in the report.

Etoro shares fell 0.61% in pre-market trading on Wednesday.