Australian bitcoin exchange Independent Reserve adds insurance protection

Independent Reserve, an Australian bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange, announced today it has become the first cryptocurrency exchange in Australia to offer insurance coverage to its clients.

Underwritten by the insurance provider Lloyd’s of London, the insurance policy insures against theft or loss of any cryptocurrency that is held in an Independent Reserve trading account. It does not, however, cover any losses resulting from market volatility or any losses arising from unauthorized access to trading accounts, such as hacking an individual account or identity fraud.

Commenting on the announcement, Adrian Przelozny, CEO and founder of Independent Reserve, said: “Institutions in Australia and overseas are cautious with regards to investing in cryptocurrencies and issues relating to regulation, price volatility and security are explored in depth. Insurance is the next logical step for our exchange in this fast-maturing industry. Our new insurance offering will bring new, meaningful and institutional capital into digital assets that was once sidelined. The Lloyds-underwritten policy is an addition to the multiple layers of security Independent Reserve have been using to protect digital assets for 100,000 customers over the past five years.”

In the event of an incident, Independent Reserve customers will be compensated for any loss in their cryptocurrency holdings at the time of the incident.

“The acceptance of this policy by the largest insurer in the world is a vote of confidence in our corporate governance, robust risk management and security protocols and a sign of their commitment to working with only the highest quality partners,” Mr. Przelozny added.

Founded in 2013, Independent Reserve has built a proprietary, institutional grade trading platform to allow Australians to buy, sell and invest in Bitcoin (XBT), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Ripple (XRP) and other digital currencies.

It currently has over 100,000 customers across Australia and New Zealand, and services around 8,000 self-managed super funds (SMSFs).

The cryptocurrency exchange has also been working closely with various Australian regulatory bodies including AUSTRAC to formulate AML/CTF regulatory frameworks for the industry.