During a recent interview with CNBC, eToro CEO Yoni Assia revealed that it started buying Bitcoin for the treasury when the original cryptocurrency was trading at just $5.
The Israeli trading and investment company generated a whopping $50 million in Bitcoin profits with an initial investment of just $50,000.
Assia said that the board eventually told him to sell the BTC holdings since it was not the company's core business.
He also recalled that Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin had visited the company's offices even before the launch of the leading altcoin.
Assia claims that it has been "an amazing experience" seeing crypto surge from where it was to where it is today.
"Nobody doubts that crypto is here to stay. It's a new type of capital market thriving around the world."
That said, the eToro CEO revealed that legendary investor Warren Buffett convinced him to focus more on stocks instead of crypto during dinner. Buffett, who recently announced that he was stepping down as the CEO of conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, is, of course, known as one of the most vocal Bitcoin skeptics, who famously slammed the cryptocurrency as "rat poison squared" back in 2018.
Crypto accounts for only a fourth of the company's total revenue, according to Assia.
eToro, which was launched in 2007, originally started operating a visual FX platform.
It appeared in the spotlight earlier this month after going public in the U.S. on the Nasdaq exchange.
The company started offering cryptocurrency trading to retail clients all the way back in 2013 (when it was still a relatively niche field). eToro has been gradually expanding its crypto offering. In September 2024, it rolled out crypto trading for clients in Germany.
Vladislav Sopov
Dan Burgin