Meme stock craze is back! eToro considers riding the wave with an IPO.

According to a report from the Financial Times, the fintech trading platform eToro is considering an initial public offering (IPO) in New York or London. Retail trading activity on the platform has surged to its highest levels since the meme stock frenzy of 2021.

Last year, SoftBank invested in eToro with a valuation of $3.5 billion

eToro is a fintech startup from Israel that offers social trading services and a wide range of trading instruments, attracting young investors from around the world to its platform. According to its website, the platform offers over 5,000 assets with a user base of 30 million. eToro also obtained a New York BitLicense and a money transfer license in February last year.

According to the Financial Times, about 70% of eToro's revenue comes from Europe. However, going public in the U.S. would allow the company to access a broader investor base than the UK market, which is why eToro has not yet decided where to list. In its previous funding round a year ago, eToro raised $250 million from investors such as SoftBank and market data company Ion at a valuation of $3.5 billion.

Is the recent surge in retail trading a good time to go public?

In 2021, eToro attempted to go public through a blank-check company but terminated the deal in 2022. Yoni Assia, the founder and CEO of eToro, stated that he is exploring the "right timing" for eToro's public listing. With U.S. and European stock markets, as well as Bitcoin prices, hitting historical highs in recent weeks, the brokerage is benefiting from the surge in retail trading activity.

Assia said:

We are seeing activity levels we have not seen since 2021. The market is at historic highs, and we see a significant increase in participation in stock trading.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, retail traders caused a frenzy in the stock market by heavily buying GameStop, leading to an epic showdown with Wall Street hedge funds and catapulting the U.S. brokerage Robinhood into the spotlight. Robinhood took advantage of the trading frenzy to go public in New York and offered retail investors the opportunity to participate in its IPO. Social media platform Reddit also allows some users to invest in IPOs and has filed for an IPO with the SEC in February. However, eToro is not sure if it will follow suit with its competitors and allow customers to invest directly in its IPO.

Reddit applies for IPO, holds BTC, ETH, and Sam Altman is also an investor