TRADE THE FUTURE, TODAY WITH FUTURES

Futures are exchange-traded contracts where two parties agree to buy or sell an asset, such as oil, gold or a stock index, at a predetermined price on a future date. While some futures involve physical delivery, all contracts on eToro are cash-settled. The cost of carry (interest, dividends, etc.) is already priced into standard futures.

Futures trading allows participants to buy or sell contracts on popular assets at a predetermined price on a future date. If you think the price of the asset will go up, you may buy a futures contract; if you think it will go down, you can sell one. Your potential profit or loss is the difference between the buy and the sell price, minus any trading costs.

Trading on a regulated exchange means that, when a futures contract is bought or sold, the exchange becomes the buyer to every seller and the seller to every buyer. This creates a transparent marketplace.

Futures trading involves contracts with a set expiry date, at which time all trades must be settled. Futures trades can be manually closed up to eToro’s last trading day, which may occur on or before the expiry date, depending on the settlement type.

• For contracts with cash settlement, users can hold the positions until the expiry date, at which point eToro will automatically close the trades with the official exchange settlement rate.
  • Any remaining open cash-settled client positions held until expiry will not close immediately. Instead positions will be closed and locked until the final settlement price is confirmed by the exchange. This process can take up to one trading day after the expiry date. Once the settlement price becomes available, the positions will be manually processed and closed by our Back Office. Terms and Conditions apply.

• For contracts with physical settlement, all trades will be closed on eToro’s last trading day, which is also visible on the trade screen and typically one day before the “First Notice Day”, which is defined by the exchange. eToro does not support holding physical settlement contracts until the settlement date, as users will not receive the underlying assets physically.
  • Any remaining open positions will be automatically liquidated on this early expiry date. Liquidation will occur on that trading date, typically between 7:00 and 13:00 ET.
  • eToro will liquidate the open position by sending offsetting trades for execution in the market on behalf of the client.

Please note: eToro may charge fees on positions left open for expiry. eToro reserves the right to stop trading on any future that is traded around or below a price of $1, due to negative price risk considerations.

eToro displays a single all-inclusive commission per contract. This flat fee covers all required third-party costs, including:

• Exchange execution fees (e.g. CME)
• Clearing fees
• Regulatory fees (e.g. NFA or SEC, if applicable)
• Routing and infrastructure costs

From this total, $0.75 per contract is retained by eToro as a service fee. The rest is used to cover external costs.

SQFs are a new kind of exchange-traded futures contract from CME Group, designed for active traders. Unlike micro futures, SQFs are traded at the current market or spot price rather than the futures price and don’t require monthly or quarterly rollovers.

SQFs are exchange-traded futures that follow the real-time spot price of the underlying asset. Instead of being priced based on forward curves, they include a daily adjustment that keeps the contract closely aligned with the current market or spot price.

Same-day SQF trade (Example)

Let’s say a trader buys and sells a Spot-Quoted Futures (SQF) contract on the S&P 500 on the same day.

• Buy: 1 contract at 5,840.00 in the morning
• Sell: 1 contract at 5,855.00 later that day
• Daily adjustment (ADJ): –9.00 index points (applied to both buy and sell)

Final calculation:

• Buy entry adjusted to: 5,840.00 – 9.00 = 5,831.00
• Sell exit adjusted to: 5,855.00 – 9.00 = 5,846.00
• Profit: 5,846.00 – 5,831.00 = 15 points = $15 profit

Result: $15 profit from a same-day trade, after accounting for the daily adjustment.

SQF trade held overnight (Example)

Now let’s say a trader opens a position one day and closes it the next.

• Buy: 1 contract at 5,840.00 on Day 1
• Sell: 1 contract at 5,855.00 on Day 2
• ADJ on Day 1: –9.00
• ADJ on Day 2: –9.50

Final calculation:

• Buy entry adjusted to: 5,840.00 – 9.00 = 5,831.00
• Sell exit adjusted to: 5,855.00 – 9.50 = 5,845.50
• Profit: 5,845.50 – 5,831.00 = 14.5 points = $14.50 profit

Result: $14.50 profit after holding the trade overnight and applying two daily adjustments.

The examples above are provided for illustrative purposes and do not consider the eToro Holding Rate. This does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation. Other fees apply.

SQFs were designed to offer a more accessible futures experience for modern, self-directed traders. They feature smaller contract sizes, longer-dated expiries (up to one year) and spot-based pricing—eliminating the need to roll contracts monthly.

Micro futures are priced based on forward curves and often require monthly rollovers. SQFs track the spot market more closely and apply a daily adjustment instead of building costs into the price upfront. They also use smaller contract sizes and have a one-year expiry, making them easier to manage.

Rollover fees apply when a contract approaches expiry and is manually or automatically extended. SQFs don’t require monthly rollovers. Instead a daily adjustment (ADJ) is applied automatically, reflecting market-based factors like interest, dividends or funding costs, and appears as a transparent overnight fee.

The daily adjustment (overnight fee/refund) reflects the cumulative effect of factors like interest rates, dividends and funding costs. It’s calculated once per day and may be either positive or negative, depending on market conditions and your position.

SQFs typically expire once a year. At expiry, any open position will be settled at the final settlement price of the contract, just like standard futures. You can close your position at any time before expiry.

No special setup is required. If you have access to futures trading on eToro, you can trade SQFs just like any other listed futures product.

Yes. You can open and close SQF positions at any time during market hours, just like with other futures contracts. You don’t need to hold them until expiry.

Yes. Although SQFs have a one-year expiry, their spot-based pricing and flexibility make them suitable for both short and medium-term strategies with high risk tolerance.

If you hold positions with multiple contracts, you can close one or more contracts that are part of your position while keeping other contracts in the position open. This gives you flexibility to adjust your exposure based on market conditions or your trading strategy. Please note that the contracts themselves cannot be partially closed.

At this time, CopyTrader does not support futures trading.