The trading platform eToro has filed confidential documents with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to prepare for an IPO in New York, which could value the company at over $5 billion. The planned listing, which could occur as early as the second quarter of this year, signals eToro's strategic decision to leverage the liquidity and investor interest of the US market.

Although the UK is eToro's largest market, the company decided against a listing in London. CEO and founder Yoni Assia explained that a US IPO would provide access to a broader circle of investors. "Very few of our global customers trade UK stocks," Assia previously told the Financial Times. The US market offers deeper liquidity and greater attention for listed assets.

EToro was founded in 2007 and allows customers to trade stocks, cryptocurrencies, and other assets. With managed client funds amounting to 11.3 billion dollars across 3 million accounts (as of March 2023), the company has established itself as a significant player. An earlier attempt to go public in 2021 through a SPAC deal worth 10.4 billion dollars failed when the market for such transactions cooled.

After a 2023 funding round in which eToro raised $250 million at a valuation of $3.5 billion, the company is now back on an expansion course. According to insiders, banks such as Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, and UBS are working on IPO plans.

The confidential submission to the SEC allows eToro to discreetly prepare for the IPO before the documents are made public. This strategy offers flexibility while assessing market conditions.

eToro's decision to go public in New York instead of London is another signal of the challenges facing the UK market in attracting significant IPOs.