Independent Reserve Review: Pros and Cons

Independent Reserve is an ideal choice for both beginners and intermediate traders who prioritise a simple, user-friendly interface and robust security measures in a cryptocurrency exchange. It caters particularly well to institutional and high net-worth investors with the availability of an over-the-counter (OTC) trading desk for high-volume orders. While Independent Reserve offers fewer coins and limited advanced features compared to other exchanges, it still provides a reliable and secure trading experience for those who value a streamlined platform.

There are several factors that make Independent Reserve a compelling option for cryptocurrency traders:

Competitive fees: Independent Reserve stands out with its simple, low fees ranging from 0.5% to 0.02% depending on the trade’s 30-day volume, making it reasonably cost-effective for both casual and frequent traders.

User-friendly interface: The platform boasts an easy-to-use interface designed to cater to users with varying levels of trading experience.

Customer service: Independent Reserve offers a wide variety of customer service options to assist users in resolving any issues they may encounter.

Educational resources: The exchange provides abundant educational resources to help users stay informed about the crypto market and make better trading decisions.

Security: With robust security measures in place and no reported hacks, Independent Reserve has established itself as a secure trading platform.

Regulation: The exchange is registered with AUSTRAC, ensuring that it adheres to stringent anti-money laundering requirements.

Deposit methods: Independent Reserve supports fast deposits through EFT, SWIFT transfers, and Osko/PayID, providing users with a range of convenient funding options.

Despite its strengths, Independent Reserve has some drawbacks that users should be aware of:

Limited coin selection: The platform currently supports only 30 tradable coins, which may be insufficient for traders interested in a more diverse range of cryptocurrencies.

Lower liquidity levels: Independent Reserve’s lower liquidity levels may impact larger traders who require higher trading volumes. However, sophisticated investors can get access to an over the counter (OTC) trade desk for larger volume trades.

Limited advanced features: The exchange lacks some advanced features that more experienced traders may desire, such as margin trading or advanced charting tools.

No crypto credit card: Unlike some other exchanges, Independent Reserve does not offer a crypto credit card to its users.

Trading Fees

Independent Reserve offers a competitive and tiered fee structure based on users’ past 30-day trading volume. The trading volume is recalculated every four hours, and order fees are determined at the time the order is placed. Existing open orders will not have their fees adjusted when the trade volume is recalculated.

The table below illustrates the tiered fee structure based on AUD trading volume:

As users increase their trading volume, they can benefit from lower fees, which makes Independent Reserve an attractive option for both casual and frequent traders.

Security

In the rapidly evolving world of cryptocurrency, security remains a paramount concern for users and investors. When choosing a cryptocurrency exchange, it is essential to assess the platform’s security measures, as inadequate safeguards can lead to devastating consequences. A prime example of the dire outcomes that can arise from weak security and poor management of user funds is the infamous FTX disaster, which resulted in the loss of billions in user funds.

Independent Reserve places a strong emphasis on security, striving to provide a trusted and secure platform for investors to buy, trade, and store cryptocurrencies. They follow a risk-averse approach to managing their business, ensuring complete segregation of customer assets, maintaining a 1:1 reserve for all client assets, and storing the majority of these assets in offline cold storage vaults. The exchange also engages external auditors to conduct annual audits of their financial statements and verify all client asset holdings, both fiat and crypto.

The platform offers a variety of account security features, including 2-Factor Authentication (2FA), the ability to change usernames and email addresses, email notifications for logins and security detail changes, and browser and address whitelisting. Users can also benefit from optional security measures such as PGP-signed emails and bot shields to protect their accounts from brute force attacks.

System security is another crucial aspect of Independent Reserve’s approach, with encryption for all personally identifiable information, secure connections, and top-tier data centres with geographically dispersed disaster recovery backup servers. Intrusion detection monitoring is employed to safeguard against unauthorised system access.

Independent Reserve also takes hot wallet security seriously, with over 97% of cryptocurrencies stored in cold storage and multi-layer encryption of hot wallet private keys. The exchange performs continuous monitoring and address reconciliation between system accounts and the blockchain to maintain the integrity of customer funds.

Cold storage security measures include multiple geographically dispersed vaults with extensive physical security, multi-signature withdrawals requiring more than one person for execution, and proprietary offline storage with multiple encryption layers and redundancies. The exchange also has survivorship procedures in place to recover cold storage funds in case of a catastrophic event.

Operational security at Independent Reserve involves regular penetration testing, bug bounty programs, tiered access for administrators, multi-level approvals for actions relating to user accounts or value transfer, and regular police checks on all administrators with system access. The platform also completed external penetration testing in November 2022. Independent Reserve’s robust security measures make it a reliable choice for cryptocurrency trading.

Related: Hardware Wallets Explained

Setting up an account with Independent Reserve is a relatively simple and quick process. Users need to provide the necessary information and identity documents in order to complete the know your customer (KYC) verification process.

Once the account is verified, users can fund it with Australian dollars or other supported fiat currencies and begin trading on the platform. Independent Reserve supports deposits using Osko via PayID, allowing for near-instant deposits of AUD to the exchange.

1. Bitcoin (BTC)
2. Ethereum (ETH)
3. Ripple (XRP)
4. Tether (USDT)
5. USD Coin (USDC)
6. Cardano (ADA)
7. Litecoin (LTC)
8. Solana (SOL)
9. Stellar (XLM)
10. Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
11. Polygon (MATIC)
12. Polkadot (DOT)
13. Dogecoin (DOGE)
14. The Graph (GRT)
15. Chainlink (LINK)
16. Perth Mint Gold Token (PMGT)
17. Dai (DAI)
18. OMG Network (OMG)
19. Ethereum Classic (ETC)
20. Maker (MKR)
21. 0x (ZRX)
22. Synthetix (SNX)
23. Compound (COMP)
24. Decentraland (MANA)
25. Uniswap (UNI)
26. Basic Attention Token (BAT)
27. The Sandbox (SAND)
28. Aave (AAVE)
29. EOS (EOS)
30. Yearn Finance (YFI)

Our methodology involved a comprehensive analysis of nearly 25 international and Australian cryptocurrency exchanges, crypto trading apps, and brokerage platforms that offer crypto trading options.

The trading fees we analysed were based on the lowest trade volume and the most basic version of the platform for each brokerage or crypto exchange.

We assessed each platform using 11 key variables to determine their overall quality:

1. Basic Trading Features: We evaluated the number of cryptocurrencies available to trade, the number of fiat currencies accepted, the exchange’s overall liquidity, and trading fees.
2. Advanced Trading Features: We examined the availability of complex trading features such as advanced order types and volume discounts for frequent trading.
3. Margin Trading: We assessed margin trading rates, if applicable.
4. Platform Availability: We analysed the degree of accessibility to different features by country.
5. Customer Service: We evaluated customer support options.
6. Educational Resources: We assessed the educational content offered by each platform.
7. Crypto Rewards Credit Card: We noted if any platforms offer crypto rewards credit cards.
8. Security and Storage: We evaluated the types of storage options, security and insurance available, and any large-scale hacks of each exchange over its lifetime.
9. Staking and Rewards: We evaluated whether some platforms allow users to stake selected cryptos and earn interest payments.
10. Crypto Lending: We evaluated if some crypto exchanges allow users to lend out their cryptocurrency.
11. Registration: We ensured that the exchanges we surveyed were registered with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) to legally provide digital asset exchange services to Australians.

We then used a weighted average of these variables to calculate each platform’s overall score. Our methodology benchmarks the features and options across the crypto exchanges and brokerages we surveyed.

The advice and information provided by ForbesAdvisor is general in nature and is not intended to replace independent financial advice. ForbesAdvisor encourages readers to seek expert advice in relation to their own financial decisions and investments.