By
Mayowa Adebajo
April 5th, 2024
By acquiring Gatsby, the firm will be able to offer a more diversified range of product offerings to its customers.
Towards establishing a strong foothold in the US, social investment platform eToro is moving to acquire the options trading app, Gatsby. According to TheBlock, the firm’s spokesperson confirms that the acquisition deal is almost sealed and reportedly worth about $50 million. This represents one of many ways that eToro is looking to expand its tentacles across the country. The firm also hopes to bring the younger demographic of investors into its fold.
Speaking about the Gatsby acquisition, eToro CEO, Yoni Assia explains that options trading is usually attractive, especially in challenging markets. And that is exactly what eToro hopes to leverage upon. He said:
“Scaling our US business is a strategic focus for eToro and through Gatsby, we can provide US users with access to a safe and simple way to trade options…”
eToro to Offer a Wider Range of Opportunities
By acquiring Gatsby, the firm will be able to offer a more diversified range of product offerings to its customers. And that’s because, before now, the firm’s main focus was on crypto and stocks. But with Gatsby’s app offering commission-free options and stock trading, investment possibilities are now endless.
Interestingly, the acquisition will also see some of the top executives at Gatsby move over to eToro. They include co-founders Jeff Myers and Ryan Belanger-Saleh, president Davis Gaynes, COO Peter Quinn, the head of product Matt Morris, and the chief technology officer Jeffrey Kleiss.
To facilitate its expansion plans, eToro had previously applied with the SEC for regulatory approval. That was in December 2021. However, its latest acquisition move comes on the heels of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) giving it the nod of approval to press on with the Gatsby deal.
But this is not the first expansion attempt by the investment firm. Barely a month ago, eToro was on the verge of inking a $10.4 billion SPAC deal with blank cheque company FinTech Acquisition Corp V. However, the deal did not go as planned, even as conditions were not met as of the June 30 ultimatum.