Mobile trading platform eToro has acquired digital wallet service provider Zengo for $70 million, the company announced on Wednesday. The development pushed eToro’s share’s to above $34 with the move seen as a boost to its services infrastructure consolidating its position in the crypto trading segment.
CEO Yoni Assia framed the move around a familiar industry idea: slower periods give companies room to build.
The transaction gives eToro access to Zengo’s self-custody wallet stack. Zengo uses multi-party computation, or MPC, with a keyless architecture that removes the standard seed phrase model. According to Bloomberg, the acquisition value was about $70 million.
Acquisition aimed at widening its crypto product stack
The eToro buy Zengo move is bigger than a wallet add-on. The company said the deal should improve its ability to support tokenized assets and decentralized trading models, including prediction markets and perpetuals. That language shows eToro is thinking beyond spot crypto access and toward a broader on-chain investing funnel.
Zengo already offers token swaps, staking, on- and off-ramp features, and access to decentralized applications. It also says it serves more than 2 million users globally. Those tools give eToro a ready-made wallet layer instead of forcing it to build each piece in-house over several product cycles.
That matters because the next phase of crypto competition may center less on simple brokerage access. Large platforms already offer price exposure. The harder task now is keeping users inside one ecosystem as they move between custody, swapping, staking, and newer tokenized products. eToro appears to want that full journey on infrastructure it can shape more directly.
The self-custody pitch could help eToro stand apart
Self-custody remains one of crypto’s sharpest product divisions. Some users prefer a regulated platform that handles the hard parts. Others want direct control over assets and access to third-party protocols. eToro is trying to address both groups without forcing a full break between them.
That hybrid model could become more important if tokenized securities gain traction. Tokenized assets need wallet rails, identity handling, and reliable asset control at the user level. A trading platform with integrated wallet technology can position itself as a bridge between traditional financial products and blockchain-based markets. eToro said that is exactly where it wants to compete.
Assia also used the announcement to stress the strength of eToro’s broader business. He said commodity trading made up 60 percent of trading commissions by asset class in the first quarter, while commodity trading volume rose nearly fourfold from a year earlier. That detail signals the company is funding its crypto expansion from a diversified trading base, not from a single-cycle crypto rebound.
Move has clear upside and execution risk
The opportunity looks real, but integration risk is just as real. A self-custody product works only if users trust it and understand it. eToro has to merge wallet functionality into a trading experience that already serves different user groups across multiple jurisdictions. Any confusing handoff between regulated services and separate wallet activity could hurt adoption.
Regulation also stays in the foreground. eToro stated that Zengo’s non-custodial wallet is separate from its regulated exchange services. It also said Web3 features such as decentralized applications, swaps, and staking are not regulated activities offered or guaranteed by an eToro-regulated entity. That disclaimer protects the company legally, but it also shows the product split users will need to understand.
There is also the question of whether wallet ownership alone creates a durable edge. Rivals across crypto and brokerage keep adding custody, staking, and on-chain access in different forms. eToro now has a stronger hand, but it still needs execution, product clarity, and sustained usage growth to justify the deal over time.
Zengo was founded in 2018, and eToro said the acquisition will support its next growth phase while expanding eToro’s own digital asset capabilities. That leaves the real test ahead: whether a large retail investing platform can turn self-custody from a separate crypto tool into a mainstream investing feature that users actually adopt at scale.