Is closing a trade the same as selling an asset on etoro?

When trading on etoro, it's important to be familiar with key trading terms, as they are used on the etoro platform.

• Position – the individual investment in your Portfolio. You can hold multiple positions on a single asset, each opened at a different time and at a different rate.
• Order – the instruction an investor gives to a broker to open, edit or close a position on an asset.
• Buy position – a trade that aims to profit when the asset’s price rises, also known as 'going long'. On etoro, this means buying the asset and selling it later by closing the position.
• Short position – a trade that aims to profit when the asset’s price falls. This is also known as a 'sell trade' because you sell the asset when you open the position and buy it back when you close it. Any short position on the etoro platform is executed as a CFD.
• Closing a position – this ends your investment and realises any profit or loss, whether it is a buy position or a short position.

Important: Selling an asset is not the same as opening a short position.

If you want to sell an asset you bought, go to your Portfolio, find the position, and select Close Trade. This will close your existing position and realise any profit or loss.

If you want to short an asset, select Short in the 'open trade' screen, choose your parameters for the trade, and press Short at the bottom of the screen.

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