PANews reported on May 16 that according to The Block, eToro CEO Yoni Assia told CNBC in an interview on Thursday about the company's listing and past with cryptocurrencies. He said eToro was an early entrant in cryptocurrencies, having purchased Bitcoin for the company's treasury at $5, and was the first regulated institution in Europe to launch cryptocurrency trading. An early cryptocurrency investment of $50,000 had appreciated to $50 million, but the board required selling it as a non-core business.
Assia believes cryptocurrencies have become a new type of capital market, developing rapidly globally, with over 130 cryptocurrency exchanges outside the US. However, his enthusiasm for capital markets and stock markets remains undiminished. In fact, a meeting with "stock guru" Warren Buffett changed his business focus. Buffett has said he would never hold cryptocurrencies, and his former colleague Charlie Munger has also criticized Bitcoin. Assia revealed that during a dinner, Buffett convinced him to focus more on stocks and less on cryptocurrencies. He stated that last year, 25% of the company's revenue came from cryptocurrencies, while 75% came from the stock market.
