eToro CEO: We bought Bitcoin at $5 and made a $50m profit

eToro CEO Yoni Assia revealed that the company bought Bitcoin at $5 and eventually sold it for a $50 million profit, marking one of the earliest known institutional crypto bets.

Speaking to CNBC following eToro’s Nasdaq debut, Assia shared that the trading platform added Bitcoin ( BTC ) to its treasury in the early 2010s, long before crypto reached mainstream awareness.

“We were very early to crypto,” said Assia. “I started buying Bitcoin at $5 for eToro’s treasury… $5 became $50,000 and eventually $50 million before my board told me I had to sell it. It’s not our business.”

While the company has since pivoted toward traditional markets, with 75% of revenue now tied to stocks, Assia affirmed that eToro still supports over 130 crypto assets, reflecting the platform’s ongoing interest in the sector.

eToro’s approach to Bitcoin began well before major financial institutions entered the space. Assia also noted that Ethereum ( ETH ) founder Vitalik Buterin once worked out of eToro’s offices prior to launching the Ethereum network.

Despite shifting to a more stock-focused revenue model—prompted, in part, by a dinner with Warren Buffett—crypto still accounts for a quarter of eToro’s business.

 “Nobody doubts that crypto is here to stay,” Assia said.

eToro’s IPO

eToro’s public debut on Nasdaq follows an 18-year journey and a pivot to profitable growth, according to Assia. 

The company previously scrapped a SPAC merger in 2021 and instead waited for sustained profitability before going public.

The company now joins a growing list of trading platforms with deep crypto roots that have matured into broader financial service providers, even as Bitcoin continues to shape their origin stories.