Trading 212

Trading 212 was co-founded by Ivan Ashminov and Borislav Nedialkov in Bulgaria in 2004, originally under the name Avus Capital. 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. Initially, the company specialised in forex trading and developed proprietary trading software. In 2017, it launched commission-free share dealing in the UK. 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. In February 2021, Trading 212 was reported to be the most downloaded mobile application in the United Kingdom. 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. 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. 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. 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. In March 2026, Trading 212 received authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority to offer self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs). == 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. 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. As of 2025, the company reports having approximately 4.5 million users with funded accounts. For the year ended 31 December 2024, Trading 212 Group generated revenue of more than £194 million and net profit of £43.8 million. Its UK operations contributed £150 million in revenue. Advertising and marketing costs exceeded £65 million, staff costs were £27.7 million, and the group had 422 employees at year-end. == Regulations ==

Trading 212 is regulated in multiple jurisdictions. It is authorised by Bulgaria's Financial Supervision Commission (FSC), the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). == 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. 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. 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. == See also ==