Independent Reserve Review 2023

Let’s dive into the details about Independent Reserve so I can show you exactly what this platform offers to Aussie traders.

Website	Independentreserve.com
Country	Australia, Singapore, New Zealand
Mobile app	Yes
Deposit Methods	PayID, OSKO,SWIFT, EFT.
Trading Fees	0.5% to 0.02% trading fees
Fiat Currencies	AUD, USD, NZD, SGD
Cryptocurrencies	Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA), Ripple (XRP), Aave (AAVE), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Eos (EOS), and a few dozen additional coins.

Pros

• Great liquidity levels for supported coins.
• Reasonable fees.
• Does have a market interface besides the instant trading feature.
• Beginner-friendly.
• AUSTRAC-regulated.

Cons

• Very limited selection of coins and tokens.
• Lacks advanced trading features.

What Is Independent Reserve?

Independent Reserve is a native Australian cryptocurrency exchange platform launched back in 2013 in Sydney, but it has soon expanded to New Zealand and Singapore. The platform is fully regulated by AUSTRAC and other Australian financial authorities, which means that it complies with all anti-money laundering policies and uses a Know Your Customer (KYC) protocol to identify each platform customer. I always like it when a platform is fully regulated because it means I’m legally protected in case of platform bankruptcy or hacks.

The platform enables users to invest fiat currency in some of the most popular cryptos on the market, but it lacks access to many popular coins. This might be explained by the fact that Independent Reserve complies with all laws and regulations in the regions where it operates, so obtaining licences for each crypto might be difficult.

Nevertheless, Independent Reserve is a great platform for instant trading features, which is a huge plus compared to some other exchanges where the instant trading feature takes ages and isn’t very “instant.” I think that this is the key feature that makes Independent reserve a very good choice for beginners looking for easy access to the crypto market.

Another advantage of the platform is its low fees for active traders and very user-friendly mobile app, making Independent Reserve a great choice for crypto beginners with no experience in cryptocurrency trading. Additionally, the platform offers advanced financial services such as over-the-counter (OTC) brokerage services.

Which Fiat and Cryptocurrencies Are Supported?

When Independent Reserve was launched, it only supported Australian dollars, but the company soon expanded its services to support GBP, USD, and SGD.

As far as digital currencies are concerned, Independent Reserve doesn’t support many of them, but it still offers the leading market cryptos such as BTC, ETH, Ripple (XRP), Tether (USDT), Cardano (ADA), Aave (AAVE), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Dai (DAI), Polkadot (DOT), Litecoin (LTC), and 20+ trending altcoins. 

This crypto selection is far less than what I expect from a reputable crypto exchange, but they somewhat compensate for the poor crypto selection with their support for multiple fiat currencies. I think this is an aspect of the platform that could definitely use some improvement.

Supported Countries

Independent Reserve offers services legally in Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore, while users may also create platform accounts in various other global regions, but that doesn’t mean that the platform is licensed to operate in those countries. 

Key Features & Advantages of Independent Reserve

Let’s take a closer look at some of the key platform features I liked the most.

AutoTrader

The AutoTrader feature is great for both beginners and users who want to automate their portfolio-building strategies. For example, I can easily set a recurring buy order and buy the same amount of BTC every week or every month in case I wish to implement a dollar-cost averaging (strategy). 

The same can be done with Independent Reserve crypto baskets through the Auto Basket feature, which lets me select a certain basket of cryptos (e.g., by market capitalisation) and create an automated, recurring purchase order for that basket of cryptos. You can also specify the percentage of your total deposit you wish to spend on a certain basket. For example, I chose to deposit 100 USD regularly and spend 50% on BTC, 25% on ETH, and another 25% on ADA.

Premium Accounts with Crypto Insurance

One of the unique features that make Independent Reserve a great platform for large-scale investors is its premium account features that come with various advantages compared to competitor exchanges.

Unlike competitor platforms, Independent Reserve provides crypto insurance for user accounts in case of cyber hacks and other unpleasant events that might endanger user funds.

Cryptocurrency Wallet

Every Independent Reserve user gets access to a free cryptocurrency wallet within their platform account. These wallets are multi-currency crypto storage that relies on company cold storage devices that keep more than 90% of digital assets offline. I really liked the fact that most of the funds are kept in cold storage, which is much safer than keeping assets online.

Independent Reserve automatically generates public addresses for all the cryptos supported by the platform, which means that you can securely store all of the coins you’re trading within your Independent Reserve wallet, additionally protecting them with a strong password and two-factor authentication (2FA).

Independent Reserve Mobile App

The platform has a very well-designed mobile app for iOS and Android devices. I found the app easier to navigate than the browser version, but generally, both versions are quite intuitive, and you shouldn’t have any problems buying and selling crypto with them.

Independent Reserve Trading View

The trading view on Independent Reserve is a bit different compared to classic trading interfaces on most competitor platforms. When you select a specific asset, let’s say BTC, you’ll be taken to the BTC trading view.

At the top of the screen, you’ll see a detailed price chart for Bitcoin and loads of technical analysis tools at the edge of the price chart. These tools are great for advanced users who want to analyse price change patterns and possibly anticipate the future movement of the selected asset’s price.

If you scroll down, you’ll see the order book for the selected asset pair, such as BTC/AUD, on the left side, while the right side is reserved for a list of recent trades.

Finally, at the bottom of the screen, there’s a cumulative market depth chart for the selected asset. Personally, I found the trading view very well designed and easy to navigate. I think that even beginners can get around without a problem.

Trading Platform

Independent Reserve has multiple types of trading orders for beginners and more experienced users alike. Let me show you which orders are available on the platform.

Order Types

• Market buy and market sell are used to buy or sell a specific crypto at the dominant market price on Independent Reserve. These orders are usually used by crypto beginners and traders who wish to quickly finish their trading deals.
• Limit buy and limit sell orders require a certain price range to be met before they get fulfilled. When you place one of these orders, you’re actually waiting for the market conditions to be met and for the crypto in question to reach a specific price or price range.
• Stop limit buy and stop limit sell orders are only triggered if the best possible price for taking profits is reached according to the initial order specifications.

Independent Reserve Fees

Independent Reserve has quite reasonable fees that are around the industry average.

Deposit & Withdrawal Fees

There aren’t any crypto withdrawal or deposit fees on Independent Reserve. However, you’ll always need to pay a standard blockchain processing fee for the digital currency you’re transferring.

I also found the deposit fees quite fair. Fiat ones such as EFT, PayID, and OSKO deposits are free of charge for sums over 100 AUD. Deposits under 100 AUD incur a modest 0.99 AUD fee. SWIFT bank transfers are free for transactions above 5,000 AUD, while transactions below this value incur a 15 AUD fee.

Fiat withdrawals are free when it comes to bank account withdrawals and EFT transfers, while PayID AUD withdrawals incur a 1.5 AUD fee.

Low Trading Fees

The Independent Reserve trading fees aren’t the lowest in the industry, but I found them much more acceptable compared to platforms like Coinbase, which charges hefty fees. 

Just like many popular cryptocurrency exchanges, Independent Reserve also uses a tiered-base fee mode, except that it doesn’t have different fees for market makers and market takers. The highest fee is 0.5% for traders with a 30-day trading volume below 100,000 AUD. The fee gradually drops as your trading volume goes up, but honestly, most beginners and average crypto traders fall into the sub-100,000 AUD category, so it’s safe to say that 0.5% is the average fee.

For large-scale investors with increased trading volumes, the fees can go as low as 0.02% if they have a monthly trading volume of at least 20 million AUD.

The average 0.5% fee is quite reasonable, especially since it’s the same for both instant trading and market orders.

Security Features

Security is one of the aspects of Independent Reserve that I liked the most. The platform has never been hacked, even though it’s nearly ten years old, which is something many crypto veteran platforms can’t pride themselves on. 

Most of the platform assets are kept offline in cold storage, and all the data is encrypted. Additionally, the user accounts and Independent Reserve account wallets are all protected with passwords and two-factor authentication (2FA), so users have to confirm each transaction twice to verify it’s not some third-party hacker who’s trying to facilitate a transaction.

24/7 Customer Support

I really loved Independent Reserve’s great customer support despite the fact that they don’t have any live chat support option. You can contact them either by email or through a support ticket. The thing is that the support team is super fast when it comes to responding to customer support tickets.

Social Media Platforms

Independent Reserve maintains an active presence across various social media platforms, including Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, and Facebook. It isn’t uncommon for platform customers to ask support questions on Independent Reserve social media platforms and get answered immediately by company representatives.

Which Payment Methods Are Accepted?

Independent Reserve accepts a variety of payment methods. For Aussie traders, PayID, SWIFT, OSKO, and EFT are all viable payment options. However, credit cards and debit cards aren’t among the supported payment methods. 

You can also deposit crypto from a third-party wallet and use it for trading on the platform.

Creating an Account With Independent Reserve

Let me show you the account creation procedure.

Create an Account

• Go to the registration section of the Independent Reserve website.
• Provide a username and password for logging into your account.
• Enter a referral code if you have one and check the box to confirm that you’re not a robot.
• Now, create your platform account.

Account Verification

• The next step is account verification. You need to verify your account as part of the Know Your Customer (KYC) procedure of the platform.
• Enter and verify your email address, as well as your personal phone number.

Enter Personal Details

• In the next step, you’ll need to provide your personal details and information regarding your identity.
• Once you’ve provided the information and submitted a copy of a government-issued identification document, you’re ready to move to the next step.
• Finally, submit the account for verification. It should take less than 10 minutes, and you’ll receive positive confirmation.

Funding Your Account

• You’re ready to fund your account with fiat currency either through PayID, OSKO, SWIFT, or EFT.
• All deposit type details are accessible through the Accounts tab, where you’ll see the exact instructions for each deposit method.

Alternatives

Swyftx vs Independent Reserve

Swyftx has a much broader selection of cryptos compared to Independent Reserve, but the platform’s flat fee is also considerably higher (0.6%) compared to Independent Reserve’s (0.5%-0.02%). 

Binance Australia vs Independent Reserve

Binance Australia has a larger number of trading features and cryptos available for trading compared to Independent Reserve, which lacks many basic coins and tokens and advanced trading options, such as margin trading, futures contracts, or asset staking.

Coinbase vs Independent Reserve

Coinbase has support for much more cryptos than Independent Reserve, but it also has some of the highest trading fees on the market. Additionally, Coinbase doesn’t support AUD, which is a huge entry barrier for Aussie traders.

CoinSpot vs Independent Reserve

CoinSpot is another good alternative to Independent Reserve if you’re looking for a crypto exchange with a broad selection of coins and a more simple user experience fit for beginners.

Frequently Asked Questions

Let’s have a look at some popular FAQs.

Who owns Independent Reserve?

Independent Reserve is owned by founder and CEO Adrian Przelozny, a longtime crypto enthusiast.

How do I withdraw from Independent Reserve?

You can easily withdraw assets from Independent Reserve by navigating to your desired account wallet, such as your Ethereum (ETH) wallet, and selecting the withdraw option, which will allow you to send your ETH to another public address. With fiat withdrawals, the procedure is the same, you just need to specify a bank account to which you wish to withdraw the money and verify that bank account in advance.

Can I buy Bitcoin from Independent Reserve?

Sure you can. Bitcoin is among the 30 digital currencies you can buy from Independent Reserve directly with fiat money.

Is Independent Reserve regulated?

Yes, Independent Reserve is a fully regulated Aussie exchange registered with AUSTRAC.

Conclusion

I definitely have to say that Independent Reserve is a very reliable, veteran Aussie platform that really works like a charm, except that it lacks numerous popular cryptocurrencies, which is a huge minus when you compare it to other local platforms. However, the coins that are available truly represent a strong selection of leading crypto projects, the fees are reasonable, and the platform supports multiple fiat currencies. 

I’d recommend Independent Reserve for Aussie crypto heads who are just starting to trade crypto, but for more advanced users, there are definitely some better-developed platforms on the market.