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Independent Reserve: Value is where the crowd isn’t
Independent Reserve Referral Code: RCZSEV
Independent Reserve is an Australian crypto exchange that stayed fairly low-profile in the industry ever since the platform was founded in 2013.
It is not even a popular crypto platform on Reddit, probably because its old trading interface absolutely could not compare to places like Bitfinex:
As of October 2020, Independent Reserve finally caved and announced they are building a professional charting engine with Tradingview charts. This will get on par with Bitfinex.
Luckily, in this particular comparison, they are not trying to imitate the state of Bitfinex’s banking too.
- Independent Reserve is open to Australian as well as international users
- There is no policy specific to US traders. Traders are KYC’s individually, on a case by case basis, and USD deposits are available.
- The multiple bank connections at Independent Reserve (AUD, NZD, SGP, USD) have been stable since the founding of the exchange in 2013
- OTC desk for higher volumes is readily available upon verification
- As a regulated financial business, Independent Reserve offers financial advisory upon request
- Asset insurance available for a yearly fee
- Support desk is well staffed and super responsive even to basic account holders
The drawback here are the trading fees which are higher than the standard, but as long as you are not day trading there, it is not a serious drawback.
Trading fees at Independent Reserve do get lower with higher traded volume.
Trading at Independent Reserve Review
This Australian crypto exchange is not the best place for day traders. They are reliable in the legal sense of the word, but they have neither the trading interface nor the server capacity to support daytrading FOMO waves.
There is no leveraged trading or derivatives either, and you get strictly fiat-crypto pairs only. This is an exchange for entering the crypto market and exiting it.
On days where bitcoin, as the highest volume crypto asset on Independent Reserve, makes an abrupt price swing, you can bet the website will be down at least for a bit during the day.
Independent Reserve does have a REST API. You will get better availability there, but sadly the API is not listed in multi-exchange and arbitrage tools like Coinigy.
Another advantage is that Independent Reserve is based in Australia, and although they accept users from all around the world, most of their user base is from Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia. What that means is their high traffic periods may happen during your night, if you are in North America.
To put it simply, their availability in high traffic is as bad as Kraken’s, but the high load happens at different times of the day.
Independent Reserve Referral Code: RCZSEV
Independent Reserve is best for DCA and long-term traders
You will be happy at Independent Reserve if you are looking for a reliable place to DCA. This is the place where you can automate your DCA in as well as out at no additional cost.
Independent Reserve is a great platform for any kind of long-term investing and long-term holding. The exchange offers a premium subscription plan that insures your assets held at the exchange and may even provide tax services or financial advice.
But even for a basic account, making the purchase of cryptoassets easy is one of the things that Independent Reserve really excels at. And not just for Bitcoin.
Independent Reserve Supported Currencies
Independent Reserve lets you trade BTC, ETH, USDt, Polkadot, XRP, LTC, EOS, LINK, MKR, DAI, and many DeFi tokens. The carefully vetted selection of DeFi trading markets was first added in September 2020.
- Note: If you’re looking for the DOGE, they don’t have the DOGE. You’ll find it on Bitfinex or Phemex.
All cryptocurrencies are available in pairs with fiat currencies only (Independent Reserve is an exchange for buying): AUD, NZD, SGP, USD. Deposits for the respective fiat currencies are available internationally at no fee for over 5000 USD worth.
TIP: Independent Reserve runs a regular trading fee promo for the first two weeks of trading whenever they add a new pair. Subscribe to our Airdrops and Deals email where we alert you on these promo offers.
All markets available on Independent Reserve as of Mar 14, 2021. Hi-res here
Independent Reserve Trading Fees
Independent Reserve is not the best fit for short term traders. There is no difference between maker and taker fees.
Fee discounts at Independent Reserve come with monthly traded volume. The volume counts as rolling for the past 30 days and updates every 4 hours.
Fee levels by volume:
| 30 day trade volume AUD | Trading fee | 30 day trade volume AUD | Trading fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0.5 % | 2,000,000 | 0.16 % |
| 100,000 | 0.48 % | 2,500,000 | 0.14 % |
| minus 0.02% every 50k AUD | 3,000,000 | 0.12 % | |
| 500,000 | 0.32 % | 4,000,000 | 0.1 % |
| minus 0.02% every 100k AUD | 6,000,000 | 0.08 % | |
| 1,000,000 | 0.22 % | 10,000,000 | 0.05 % |
| 1,200,000 | 0.2 % | 20,000,000 | 0.02 % |
| 1,600,000 | 0.18 % |
Independent Reserve Referral Code: RCZSEV
Staking on Independent Reserve
Staking through Independent Reserve is not possible. The exchange provides and easy way to purchase PoS coins from (pretty much) all over the world, but after that you will need to withdraw your cryptocurrency and stake it either from a wallet or from another exchange (Kraken, Bitfinex).
More details in our article about staking wallets and services.
Mobile Trading on Independent Reserve
Independent Reserve currently does not have a mobile app. If you find one on the interwebs, it is probably malicious and released by someone who is not working for Independent Reserve.
Crypto Trading Strategies Best for Independent Reserve
Fulcrum bottom
Fulcrum bottom has been talked about a lot lately thanks to mentions in Peter Brandt's reports. Describing it as 'head & shoulders except at the bottom' is not quite cutting it though.
Crypto investment strategy: step by step guide to long-term holding
Full walkthrough with all the basics you need to have down for a sensible mid to long-term cryptocurrency investment strategy. With a case in point - XRP.
Wyckoff trading method for ranging markets
Fully reworked primer on ranging crypto markets. Includes Wyckoff method for market phases and recommended TradingView scripts.
Complete crypto dca strategy: why, how, where
Did you know by how much can DCA beat HODL?
Top 3 Independent Reserve Products
1/ Automated Dollar-cost averaging on Independent Reserve
Independent Reserve is one of the few crypto exchanges that provides an automated way to buy or sell cryptocurrencies.
On Independent Reserve, they call this feature “AutoSchedule” and while it can be used to both buy and sell crypto, it is most attractive as a tool for dollar-cost averaging, or DCA.
AutoSchedule lets you automatically buy or sell a cryptocurrency on a custom schedule using funds already in your account.
You can either spread one deposit into a gradual DCA over time to avoid speculating on your entry point, or you can combine regular scheduled transactions on Independent Reserve with regular scheduled transfers from your bank to the exchange.
How to set up automated DCA in 4 steps:
- Choose a side: For DCA you are going to choose the buy side, but the bot can also be set up to sell your crypto.
- Choose a cryptocurrency to DCA into: Independent Reserve supports most major cryptocurrencies and some DeFi tokens.
- Choose the frequency of your transactions: Daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly, or last day of each month.
- Select your transaction size: Either a fixed fiat value, or percentage of your account balance each time the strategy executes.
2/ Arbitrage Trading on Independent Reserve
The relative unpopularity (yet still an active enough market) coupled with OTC availability and good banking connections makes Independent Reserve a good place for high-volume arbitrage trading.
- International deposits are free from 5000 USD worth and over. Withdrawals to foreign bank accounts get a flat fee of 20 USD. No third-party withdrawals, you can only withdraw to an account that’s on the name with which you verified on the exchange - this is in compliance with Australian AML laws.
- Independent Reserve doesn’t have higher free for instant market orders. Both maker and taker trades cost the same.
- The full spot exchange fee is 0.5% but fee discount start already at 100k AUD 30d traded volume. 10 MM AUD volume generated over 30 days gets you down to 0.05% fee per trade.
Additionally, there is an option to purchase Independent Reserve Premium accounts which are insured, have lower trading fees and get preferential attention from support.
Insured Premium accounts start at 15k AUD yearly - learn more.
3/ Independent Reserve’s “Aussie Crypto Market Update” Newsletter
Last but not least, something that is really worth it and not only because it’s free. This weekly mail from Independent Reserve really attests to the staff’s competence.
It’s not as fussy and long as BitMEX’s letters; and it’s not focused on hype or speculative borderline FUD either.
If you’re notoriously busy, or just don’t like wasting time, these emails will give you a good summary of what’s been happening on the crypto markets.
Go sign up and then you’ll see the newsletter opt-in option at news/subscribe.
Independent Reserve Exchange as Company
It is very likely that Independent Reserve will remain a stable gateway between fiat and crypto via traditional banking and SWIFT transfers.
They are something of an outlier among crypto trading platforms. The platform is organized as a local Australian company, not as an offshore business which is more common in crypto.
Independent Reserve Pty. Ltd.
Level 26, 44 Market Street
Sydney, 2000
New South Wales, Australia
ABN 46 164 257 069
Summary: Stable arbitrage opportunity, DCA, OTC, Asset Insurance
If you any of the lines of business we reviewed here are something that you could use, feel free to apply our referral code RCZSEV when signing up at Independent Reserve.