Independent Reserve was one of the first cryptocurrency exchanges to open in Australia in 2013. The exchange is overseen by an advisory board led by Michael Go and it is a member of the Australian Digital Commerce Association (ADCA). Independent Reserve, an Australian-based business, complies with all laws and rules that are relevant to the Australian financial sector.

Additionally, the exchange was among the first to provide cryptocurrency trading services to the Australian and New Zealand markets. Independent Reserve provides cheap fees and support for fiat currencies, which makes it a favorite among cryptocurrency traders worldwide. Independent Reserve also supports the US dollar in addition to the Australian and New Zealand dollars.

Characteristics of Independent Reserve

These include:

OTC desk

The OTC desk at Independent Reserve is a premium product that caters mostly to high institutional and net-worth customers that do significant volume trading in the top digital currencies.

Tax calculator

On the other hand, the KPMG-created Cryptocurrency Tax Estimator is one of the well-liked digital tools that connect directly to the Independent Reserve user interface and enables investors to quickly estimate tax requirements on the portfolio. Based on the buy and sell transactions on the exchange, the tax estimator is an API, or Application Programming Interface, that enables the trading platform to provide an estimate of its customers’ potential tax exposure in real-time.

Affiliate or referral program

The referral or affiliate program is another noteworthy aspect of this transaction. With the help of this scheme, existing users may get 50% of the brokerage costs that new customers pay for the first 90 days. They may invite their friends using the referral code, or they can advertise the exchange using videos, advertising, material, etc.

Independent Reserve fees

The fees charged on the Independent reserve platform are:

Trading charges

Unlike other cryptocurrency exchanges that charge a flat 0.5% trading cost for both makers and takers, Independent Reserve charges a flat fee depending on the previous 30 days’ trading volume. As the trade volume rises, the trading platform likewise lowers the trading costs to as little as 0.02%. The exchange also gives investors very high trading volume discounts. The pricing structure seems to be targeted at high-net-worth and SMSF traders who make significant financial investments to trade at a lesser cost. Beginners usually cannot afford the 0.02% trading cost.

Fees for withdrawals

Users should be aware that withdrawals in Australian dollars are free of charge. The Independent Reserve, on the other hand, levies a $20 withdrawal fee for overseas withdrawals of money. Withdrawals from SDGs cost extra, at a rate of 0.55%. The costs associated with withdrawals vary based on the kind of cryptocurrency you are withdrawing.

Deposit charges

Independent Reserve does not charge network or SWIFT payment costs for deposits to the trading platform, however, they do charge processing fees depending on the deposit method, which is shown below:

• POLi costs $3.30
• EFT costs $0.99 (free with deposits of $100 or more).
• If you deposit more than $5000, SWIFT is free.
• PayID/OSKO: $2.50 (free with a deposit of $1000 or more).

Accepted payment methods for cryptocurrency

Independent Reserve provides several deposit options. Users can start trading without having any cryptocurrencies in their retail investor accounts thanks to the ability to deposit money through wire transfer. Additionally, it enables non-Australian customers to execute SWIFT bank transfers to put money into their trades at the exchange.

Security and privacy

Legally, Independent Reserve is obligated to confirm the account holders’ identities. Depending on the account holder’s country, the exchange will ask for certain details. The submitted information will then be cross-checked against many AML and CTF databases as well as databases from the country of the account holder. Only after verification will the account be enabled to allow for trading.

The servers of Independent Reserve are housed in two secure data centers in Australia, which is good news for security. As a result, Independent Reserve can guarantee there will be no data loss since data is copied concurrently and in real time between the two sites. Additionally, a fully operational production platform is available to take over the main platform if necessary. All data is also multi-encrypted and distributed-key signed using keys from several data centers. Last but not least, the majority of Bitcoins are kept in cold storage. Independent Reserve provides 2-factor authentication as an additional security measure for clients.

Customer Assistance 

In terms of Independent Reserve’s customer support, the exchange has offered a reasonably thorough help section that will address the bulk of issues that most users may have. You may email the support staff or use the support screen to get in touch with them for more help. However, you must first connect to your account to access the support page.