Independent Reserve Exchange — Get Started Guide

About Independent Reserve

Founded in 2013, Independent Reserve is an Australian crypto exchange where you can buy and sell cryptocurrencies with AUD, USD and NZD. They are registered with AUSTRAC and certified by the Australian Digital Currency Association (‘ADCA‘), focussing on security and support.

Independent Reserve secures customers’ cryptocurrencies through a best-in-class cold storage system while ensuring customers maintain access to their cryptocurrencies.

Opening an Independent Reserve Account

To open an Independent Reserve account, visit their site and create an account using a username and newly created password. We highly recommended choosing a strong password that is entirely unique and follows the best practices for creating strong passwords.

Another recommended feature is to set up a ‘duress password’. This lets you enter a different password, which triggers a duress alert and suspends your account for 24 hours.

It’s strongly recommended you set up two-factor authentication (‘2FA‘) to enhance security. 2FA is an industry-standard practice to secure cryptocurrencies.

When 2FA is configured, Independent Reserve requires a verified email address so that you can gain access to your account in the event you lose access to your 2FA.

Independent Reserve Account Verification

All Independent Reserve accounts need to verify basic information including first and last name, date of birth and address. This information is typically verified instantly. Once it is, you can buy cryptocurrencies.

The details required in the verification form differ depending on nationality. The information is securely submitted to anti-money laundering (‘AML‘) and counter-terrorism financing (‘CFT‘) databases.

If you have issues getting verified, contact the Independent Reserve support team.

Depositing Into Your Independent Reserve Account

You can deposit fiat currency and cryptocurrency directly into your Independent Reserve account.

If you want to deposit AUD, you can do a bank transfer. This is usually 1–2 business days and is free if your deposit is over A$100. Remember to add the reference number specific to your Independent Reserve account so the deposit can process.

You can also use PayID/OSKO to deposit funds, which is instant and free if over $1,000. While larger deposits can be made, they may take an extra day to process—particularly those above $10,000.

POLi is another method for depositing AUD into an Independent Reserve account—allowing instant deposits of up to $1,000. Larger amounts can take over a business day to process. POLi deposits attract a small fee.

USD and NZD deposits can be done via the SWIFT transfer method of international money transfers. There are a few steps to follow before depositing this way. 

The source bank account must be in the same name as the Independent Reserve account. A ‘Pending International Transfer’ needs to be created within the deposit menu so funds can be expected in advance and routed to your account. SWIFT deposits can take 1–3 business days to process.

Deposits using SWIFT are free if over $5,000. If not, a $15 fee is applied.

Depositing cryptocurrencies is simple and typically takes 10–15 minutes to appear as a pending deposit and a further 20 minutes to complete once confirmed. 

Buying Cryptocurrency On Independent Reserve

Independent Reserve supports 6 order types. 

  • Limit buy
  • Stop limit buy
  • Limit sell
  • Stop limit sell
  • Market buy
  • Market sell

Buying via a market order will fill your trade immediately with the closest sell order in the Independent Reserve order book. Using the limit order, you’ll need to specify the price at which you’re willing to buy. Note that limit orders may not fill immediately or at all.

Multi-currency order books are maintained to automatically convert between the 3 fiat currencies and allows the order pool to be available regardless of the currency used

Independent Reserve trading fees vary depending on your 30-day trading volume and are 0.05–0.5%.

There’s also an ‘Autotrader’ system you can use to program buying and selling strategies and can be created from existing templates.

With this feature, you can create a dollar-cost-average (DCA) strategy. This means you can buy small amounts of cryptocurrencies over set intervals of price or time when used with your bank’s scheduled deposits feature.

How to Sell Cryptocurrency On Independent Reserve Exchange

If you want to sell your cryptocurrency, you must transfer your cryptocurrency from your crypto hardware wallet to your Independent Reserve account.

Send Cryptocurrency to Independent Reserve

Most people store cryptocurrency on hardware wallets. So before you can sell them, you’ll need to send your cryptocurrency back to your Independent Reserve account.

Once logged into Independent Reserve, navigate to your ‘accounts’ page. Here, you can see all cryptocurrencies available to deposit and withdraw.

Find the cryptocurrency you want to sell and click ‘deposit’. 

On the pop-up, you’ll see the QR code and the associated wallet address. You’ll use this when sending a transaction from your hardware wallet to this address.

Sell Cryptocurrency For AUD On Independent Reserve

Once your cryptocurrency is in your Independent Reserve wallet, you can sell it for AUD by navigating to the ‘trade’ page.

To change the pair of cryptocurrencies you’re trading, use the drop-down options in the top left-hand corner to select, for example, BTC to AUD.

The trade menu allows for different order types. A market order lets you sell immediately by pairing you with the closest buyer in the order book.

After you enter the quantity you want to sell, you can review the trade price, quantity and associated fees. After clicking ‘preview sell order’, confirm the trade details before confirming it.

Once the trade is complete, you can view the ‘Order History’ at the bottom of the ‘trade’ page. You may need to select ‘closed’ orders to find it.