Trading 212
European fintech broker
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Trading 212 is a European fintech brokerage group founded in Bulgaria in 2004 and headquartered in London, United Kingdom.
| |
| Company type | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial services |
| Predecessor | Avus Capital Group |
| Founded | 2004 in Sofia, Bulgaria |
| Founders | Ivan Ashminov and Borislav Nedialkov |
| Headquarters | , |
| Products | Forex, Stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), CFDs |
| Services | Stockbroker, Electronic trading platform |
| Revenue |  £194.140 million (2024)[2] |
| £48.618 million (2024)[2] | |
| £42.965 million (2024)[2] | |
| AUM | £25 billion |
| Total assets | £249.545 million (2024)[2] |
| Total equity | £205.203 million (2024)[2] |
Number of employees | 422[3] (2025) |
| Website | www |
The group operates an electronic trading platform that offers commission-free investing in listed equities and ETFs, alongside contracts for difference (CFDs). In 2024 the company introduced a debit card product.
Trading 212 serves clients worldwide, with operations across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific region.
History
Trading 212 was co-founded by Ivan Ashminov and Borislav Nedialkov in Bulgaria in 2004, originally under the name Avus Capital.[4][5][6] As recalled by Ashminov, he purchased the domain name Trading 212 for £10 and himself wrote the code for the first version of their investing platform.[7]
Initially, the company specialised in forex trading and developed proprietary trading software.[5] Trading 212 UK Limited has been authorised by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).[8]
In 2017, it launched commission-free share dealing in the UK.[9][10]
In late 2020 – early 2021, Trading 212's platforms experienced several outages due to DDoS attacks. In January 2021, it temporarily halted the on-boarding of new clients during GameStop short squeeze.[11]
In February 2021, Trading 212 was reported to be the most downloaded mobile application in the United Kingdom.[12]
In 2021, following Brexit, Trading 212 announced plans to reorganise client accounts. This reorganisation involved transferring certain EU clients from its UK entity to a newly established Cyprus entity, while the Bulgarian entity also planned transfers to either the Cyprus or UK entity.[4][13]
In February 2023, the Group reported a 473% growth in pre-tax profit for the 2021 FY, as well as over 11.2% year-over-year total revenue increase, reaching £138.7 million.[14] However, already in November 2023 the figures revealed a major decline of more than 50%, reporting a pre-tax profit of £40.5 mln down from the previous year's £86 mln. Both the Cypriot and Bulgarian branches ended the year with losses of more than £10 mln.[15]
In 2024, the company introduced a multi-currency payment card for UK customers. In addition, in the same year Trading 212 acquired FXFlat Bank GmbH, a German financial services provider licensed by BaFin, for €4 million.[16][17][18]
Business model
Trading 212 operates a commission-free model for its stock trading services, meaning that clients are not charged commissions or custody fees for holding assets on the platform.[19] The company derives revenue primarily through currency conversion fees when transactions are conducted in a currency different from the account's base currency, and through participation in a collateralised stock lending programme.[16]
In 2021, Trading 212 changed how it hedged risk on its CFD business, moving from an internal back-to-back arrangement to hedging exposures with external counterparties.[20]
As of 2025, the company reports having approximately 4.5 million users with funded accounts.[21]
For the year ended 31 December 2024, Trading 212 Group generated revenue of more than £194 million and net profit of £43.8 million. Advertising and marketing costs exceeded £65 million, staff costs were £27.7 million, and the group had 422 staff at year-end 2024.[3]
Regulations
Trading 212 is regulated in multiple jurisdictions. It is authorised by Bulgaria's Financial Supervision Commission (FSC),[22] the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA),[5] the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin),[23] the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC),[24] and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).[16]
Controversies
During the GameStop short squeeze in January 2021, Trading 212 temporarily restricted some customers from placing buy orders in certain stocks; the UK's Financial Ombudsman Service later published decisions relating to complaints about the restrictions.[25]
In October 2025, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) lifted its ban on retail access to certain crypto exchange-traded notes (cETNs) and said firms should ensure they had the correct permissions before offering such products to consumers.[26] The Financial Times reported that Trading 212 allowed UK retail customers to buy crypto ETNs between October 2025 and January 2026 before obtaining the relevant permission; it later applied for permission after being contacted by the FCA and its status on the FCA register was updated in January 2026.[27]