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www.etoro.com *
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How to buy
For those who live in Ireland, a great way to invest in GameStop shares is, without any doubt, this popular broker.
eToro*, one of the main brokers around the world, is registered and licensed, among others, by the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
We recommend eToro because you can create an account for free with this broker, and its fees for trading online are very low. Besides, eToro is available in our language, accepts users from Ireland, it is really easy to manage, and its friendly interface is ideal for those who are starting to trade with cryptocurrencies and stocks.
How to sign up, step by step
The first thing you need to do is click here and fill in the fields on the right: enter your name, email, and set a password.
Now check your email: you should have received an email from eToro, click on the link and your account will be verified.
Once on eToro, you just have to click on “Deposit funds”, in the page menu.
There, you can choose how much money you want to add to your account (the minimum is $ 200) and the payment method:
As you can see in the image, the first deposit can be made by credit card, PayPal, or bank transfer.
If you have a choice, we do not recommend bank transfer because it takes longer, and it can be very frustrating to see the price of GameStop rising while you wait for your transfer to be done.
How to make your first purchase
When eToro has confirmed the receipt of your credit, you just have to search for “GameStop” in the search bar, click on “Invest” and choose the amount in dollars you want to invest.
*67% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money
Cryptoassets are highly volatile unregulated investment products. No EU investor protection. Your capital is at risk.
Contents
GameStop business model
GameStop Corporation is an American company founded in Dallas in 1984 specializing in the video game industry. It is one of the largest video game retailers in existence, operating more than 4,800 stores in the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe.
It went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 1988 and since then has traded on the stock market like any other company. It has had some very good years and some not so good years, which, although it cannot be said to have been completely bad, have been years of decline.
This company stayed off the radar for a long time until January 2021 when its share price skyrocketed by more than 1,500% in just 3 days, only to return to its average the following week. As you can imagine, all this movement generated huge gains for those who positioned themselves in the right direction.
GameStop, Reddit and Wall Street
Behind these absurd moves, a large number of people belonging mainly to a Reddit forum called WallStreetBets were involved. This forum, as its name suggests, is all about “Wall Street betting”, although in the case of GameStop what they were looking for was to beat the whole Wall Street game.
This is how the idea spread from WallStreetBets to other forums on Reddit, motivating more and more people to buy GameStop shares. The end result was a buying frenzy that drove the price up to the level it reached and then back down to the mean.
Upon investigation, it was learned that it was a user who had bought about $50,000 worth of Reddit stock who initiated the move after the company had a dismal outlook. Having achieved his goal, he probably withdrew by selling the shares at a very high price, taking huge profits out of the market.
But, just as there were those who gained, there were those who lost a lot because in the buying frenzy, many entered too late. And by this we mean when the share price stopped rising and started to fall.
The commotion was such that the term meme stock has been coined to describe stocks that have sharp price movements motivated by social networks.
About Contracts for Difference
You probably have found the acronym CFD more than once if you already accessed eToro. We will explain its meaning now, but you should know first that cryptocurrency operations on eToro are only CFDs if you are short-selling.
We will also explain concepts such as leverage and “going short”, in case you are considering day trading cryptocurrency or other more advanced practices.
The advantage of eToro is that it allows you to bet both “in the black” and “in red”. For instance, you believe that the GameStop will fall, so you obviously think “if it is going to depreciate or go down, I'll just wait and bet when it has gone down”. However, if it actually goes down, you can make some profits out of that.
The practice known as “going short” will allow you to do that. It functions, roughly, as it follows:
- You get from a loan 100 units of GameStop, which cost $ 5,000 (these are completely fictional figures)
- You sell the 100 units and earn $ 5,000
- The GameStop goes from $ 50 to $ 30 (as you calculated, it devaluates)
- You purchase the 100 units again, but at $ 3,000
- You give back the 100 units
- You will have made $ 2000, since you keep the difference
Take into account that it sounds much more complex than it is: we can summarize this whole operation by saying that by trading in GameStop you can also make money if you anticipate it will fall.
What's the difference between CFDs and futures?
If you want to know, here are the main differences between Futures and CFDs:
- Which are the counterparties? With Futures, the counterparty is another trader. In CDFs, it’s the brokerage, in this case eToro
- Date of expiry Futures have a determined expiration. CFDs don’t expire
- Markets available for trading: Futures include fewer options to trade. CFDs include a wide range of possibilities.
- Minimum investment amount or “trade size”: Costs for Futures are higher than costs for CFDs.
- Is it possible to leverage? with Futures, it isn’t possible; while with CFDs it is.
Trading with leverage
Have you heard the term “leverage”? Just in case, we'll define it simply: trading lets you invest even more than what you really have. For instance, if you get in with $ 100 and you choose to leverage x2, you will be really investing $ 200.
Leverage, Take Profit and Stop Loss
Let's say that you are confident that GameStop will rise, and you want to “go long”. You have $ 1,000, but you actually can invest more and make more money.
You could go to your bank, request a loan, wait for it to be accepted, wait for the money, send the money to eToro, confirm that it arrived, and then obtain GameStop… However, when you finish doing all that, probably GameStop would be already at a much higher price (if your prediction got confirmed), and it wouldn't be a good idea to invest then.
Leverage is like a loan, but it is only a few clicks away! eToro allows you to invest (and earn) much more than what you have on the platform's wallet. You will simply see the different options as in the image below:
When operating in different markets you can use even more leverage. The reason: cryptocurrencies are a value that is invested in the medium-long term. However, leverage is used primarily for day trading or short-term operations. That said, I'm going to explain better how leverage works.
You start with $ 1,000 and decide to use leverage x2, which means you would really invest $ 2,000, since eToro would put the other $ 1,000.
A couple of days later, as you thought, GameStop price raises its price by 20% and the value of your investment is now $ 2,400. But you don't want to take too much risk, so it's time to sell back.
You need to pay back the $ 1,000. You have $ 1,400 left, of which $ 1000 was yours initially, so you'll have earned $ 400.
With $ 1000 you get $ 400, in other words, 40% more. Not bad, right?
Does it sound too wonderful? The trick is that the risk of losing out also increases. If everything goes as you planned, you will earn profits in little time; but in the opposite case, you will also lose more really fast.
For example: if the price falls by 10%, you do not lose $ 10, but twice (the leverage) that figure, that would be $ 20. Therefore, when using leverage it is fundamental to take into account Take Profit and Stop Loss.
Take Profit is a limit you can set when trading: you set the platform to sell your assets once they get to a point above the entry price. For instance, you can buy GameStop shares at $ 100 and request that your position is closed automatically when it goes up to $ 120. It is very useful to avoid being blinded by enthusiasm: a 20% profit is usually pretty good, but once you see the price has risen, you might consider you can make higher profits, which is not always the case. Consequently, you might lose money if you don't close on time. So, Take Profit helps you reduce risks when trading.
Also, if you use leverage you absolutely need to place a Stop Loss order (take into account that any small loss is greater with leverage). Always remember to mark a Stop Loss more conservative than that suggested by the platform.
Trading strategies
There are many cryptotrading trategies: for instance, you can buy and hold, or you can day trade (taking advantage of price fluctuations).
If you are a beginner in the world of trading, I suggest a middle point: when you open your GameStop position, place a dynamic stop loss 15-20% under the top price, and let the magic happen.
Therefore, if for example you purchase a cryptocurrency at $ 10, it goes up to $ 20, and after that it falls to $ 12, your operation will be closed at $ 16-17 and you will have made a decent profit.
It may sound more appealing to sell when the price is at its highest, but unless you're psychic, that's impossible. The mentioned strategy is much more realistic and, well applied, it can work very well.
Sooner or later, you will be ready for applying more advanced investment strategies, like going short to profit from bear markets or using leverage.
Virtual account: How does it work?
Are you beginning as an investor? Using a demo account can be very helpful. Just make sure the virtual mode is set and you can start practicing with a “fictional” balance.
This can be a great way of gaining experience and confidence before trading with real funds. You will have an amount of $ 100.000 (“fake” or virtual, of course) to begin with, and you will be able to trade with a variety of financial instruments, not only with GameStop.
Don't worry, since if you lose all your virtual funds, you can contact support so they can add them back to your portfolio and you can try again.
But remember that you need to be prudent for trading, and using a demo account can have the reverse effect. It is not the same to risk your real savings than to operate with virtual funds which loss does not suppose any drama. Besides, using fake money can prevent you from learning to control your emotions, as a true investor should.
Evidently, the virtual mode is kind of absurd if you intend to trade in the medium or long-term (with almost guaranteed returns only by replicating an index), since you would be wasting years. Virtual accounts may be helpful for trying out before investing in the short or medium-term.
eToro Interface
We said previously that eToro is very friendly and intuitive. Anyone can start investing without having to read endless explanations.
You won't have any problems with the interface if you are familiar with any of the most common social networks, like Facebook or Instagram.
We will explain, roughly, the registration steps and the different sections that you will see.
You will have to provide some personal information (like full name or address, for instance) when registering.
Additionally, you will have to answer some questions about your experience as an investor.
But you don't need to worry: it's not about passing an exam. They are only measures to know how much knowledge you have and what type of financial instruments they can suggest. For instance, if it is your first experience in the investment world, they will not recommend that you invest in futures.
Let's see what the different sections of the platform are.
With the “Set Price Alerts” tool, you'll be able to program an alert when a security is at a certain price. Just click the tab and you will be able to set it. This is helpful in case you want to buy an asset that is falling but you believe it will decrease more to a certain point.
The section “News Feed” allows users to interact and share their experiences and knowledge.
“Discover” includes the tabs “Instruments”, “People” and “CopyPortfolios”. As we discussed previously, the financial instruments available on are:
- Cryptocurrencies
- ETFs
- Shares
- Raw materials
- Forex trading
- Index funds
The term “social trading” comes to life in the section “People”: that is where you can duplicate the movements of the users you find most inspiring. You'll be able to see all their profiles and historical performances.
Using the search box, you can find the users that you find more interesting: by risk level, types of financial assets, average earnings… You just have to type the amount of your investment and eToro will be in charge of replicating the movements of the investor you selected, in proportion. “In proportion” means that if you have $ 1000 and the investor puts 10% in an asset, eToro will invest also 10% of your funds (in this case $ 100) in that same asset.
Finally, there are three main types of CopyPortfolios: Top Trader, Market, and Partner.
The advantage of copying to CopyPortfolios instead of people is that this way you will diversify the risk. There are all kinds of portfolios that you can find easily and are divided by sectors. Therefore, in case you suspect a specific sector, such as e-commerce or healthcare, has good chances to succeed, you should probably look for that specific portfolio.
Do you know what “social trading” is?
The first platform that thought of trading as a social activity was eToro, and the idea became popular really quick. Other brokers have also adopted this concept, but eToro is still the leader.
But it wasn't just about creating yet another social network to talk about investment. The real innovation was in the possibility for users to replicate the strategies of experienced traders, and to reward the latter for their ideas and knowledge.
When you access eToro you will see in the menu on the left the options “Copy People” and “Invest in CopyPortfolios”.
CopyPortfolios
“CopyPortfolios” are kinds of exchange-traded funds or thematic index funds, a portfolio that bundles a number of assets in a certain sector. Let's say that you consider that the gaming industry is going to succeed shortly but you don't have enough information (or time) to choose stocks, you just have to invest in the CopyPortfolio “InTheGame”, which includes companies like Microsoft, Google, Tencent, NVIDIA, Logitech, Intel, AMD, Nintendo, Ubisoft, Unity, among others.
You should know that in the past twelve months, CopyPortfolio has generated returns of 100%. And you can benefit from it just by choosing a portfolio, enter your selected amount, place the stop-loss order and click on “Invest”.
Copy People
A second alternative is to directly copy users: in “Copy People” you can locate eToro users who are very successful and whose strategies you can duplicate.
In each user profile, you will see their risk profile (how much risk do they take), their performance history, and the type of assets they operate..
Replicating strategies from others can be very interesting and useful, but I also recommend taking advantage of the community to read other users and learn from their experience. If your goal is to end up living from trading, it is a great place to absorb a lot of knowledge.
Common questions
* Please note that CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Disclaimer: 67% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.