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.
It is not a commonly mentioned crypto exchange on Reddit’s crypto subs either, probably because its old trading interface absolutely could not compare to places like Bitfinex:
As of October 2020, Independent Reserve finally caved and added a professional charting engine with Tradingview charts, to 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
- They have several bank connections that have been more or less stable since the founding of the exchange in 2013
- OTC desk for higher volumes is readily available upon verification
- Support desk is well staffed and super responsive
This is a great platform long-term holding AKA buying crypto for fiat and holding it for the long run.
This is one of the three things that Independent Reserve really excels at. And not just for Bitcoin.
Independent Reserve lets you trade BTC, ETH, XRP, BCH, USDt, LTC, EOS, LINK, MKR, DAI and more.
As of September 2020, they have also been adding a carefully vetted selection of DeFi tokens.
Crypto Trading Strategies Suitable for Independent Reserve
Wyckoff trading method for ranging markets
A primer on how to look at a ranging market. Long read, specific to trading ranges in cryptocurrencies, and some basic Wyckoff method to look into the market phases.
Why are fib retracements and extensions important
Fibs are the black-box tool that everyone uses because everyone uses it. Why they matter in spite of it?
Timing tools
Market timing tools provide just the starting point of decision making but they are not as dubious as they are sometimes portrayed.
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.
Three things Independent Reserve does best
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.