Buy Bitcoin (BTC) in Australia

You can purchase Bitcoin safely on Independent Reserve.

We are Australia’s trusted cryptocurrency exchange and offer a secure way to buy Bitcoin and other digital assets. Create your account today and choose from a wide range of features we offer to improve your trading experience. We also make it easy for you to dollar-cost average (DCA) into Bitcoin.

We believe in Bitcoin. In fact, we built our whole business around it. Independent Reserve was established in 2013, only four years after Bitcoin was created. With an impeccable track record spanning almost a decade, it’s easy to see why we are voted the #1 Digital Currency Exchange of the Year 2019-2021.

Bitcoin was developed under the pseudonym, Satoshi Nakamoto.

Bitcoin was first introduced in an online post by an anonymous author named Satoshi Nakamoto. The whitepaper: “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” was published on the 31st of October 2008. It outlined the concept of the world's first decentralised digital currency.

Just two months later, the first Bitcoin was mined in the Genesis Block, on the 3rd of January 2009. Eventually, the source code was left to the community, and Satoshi disappeared. While the identity of Bitcoin's original creator remains a great mystery, its adoption continues to grow. Bitcoin's cult-like status comes from the core values it represents; transparency, security and trust.

Mining is the process of validating transactions and adding new blocks to the blockchain. It is also how new Bitcoin is created.

The primary purpose of mining is to maintain the digital ledger in a decentralised manner. Bitcoin provides miners a financial incentive to maintain the network's security and keep the system honest.

Miners act as the bankers of Bitcoin. They verify transactions, mint new coins, collect fees, confirm data, and secure the blockchain. Miners are also the bookkeepers of Bitcoin and maintain a synchronised copy of the blockchain, which records all transactions on the network.

What is the proof-of-work consensus mechanism?

Proof-of-work (PoW) is a method of cryptography Bitcoin uses to prove the validity of data without requiring a financial intermediary to authorise transactions. PoW allows miners to reach an agreement over who will mine the next block on the blockchain. It establishes trust in the Bitcoin network to ensure that all confirmed transactions are recorded accurately. The algorithm makes it difficult for a miner to become the next block producer but easy for the rest of the network to confirm who it is.

How does mining work?

Miners compete against each other in a race to solve a mathematical puzzle, using a hashing function called SHA-256. The miner finds the correct solution first and is permitted to add their block as the next one in the chain. The Bitcoin that is minted in the process is paid to the winning miner, who also gets to keep the transaction fees contained within the new block.

The odds of winning the race increase in relation to the number of guesses a miner can make. Theoretically, the faster a computer is, the more probability it will win the block. To improve the chances of winning the block reward, miners use specialised ASIC computers and combine their resources by joining mining pools. Learn more about how Bitcoin mining works.

What is “double-spending”?

Bitcoin's breakthrough is its ability to solve the “double-spend” problem. In order for someone to attempt a double spend attack, they would need to solve the hash puzzle described above and insert an invalid transaction into their mined block. The rest of the network, however, would see the invalid transaction and reject it. The bad miner then has to mine the next block as well, in order to keep their chain alive. To do this they would have to compete against all the other miners on the network, who are mining the “correct” chain without the invalid block. This is an infeasible task to achieve over time.

According to a report by the Bitcoin Mining Council, Bitcoin is the industry leader in sustainability and is driving the adoption of renewable energy at a faster rate.

Despite common misconceptions, Bitcoin has a lower carbon footprint than many other industries. It has a 58% sustainable energy mix and is improving rapidly year after year.

It is true that mining Bitcoin uses a high amount of energy, but it is important to distinguish the kind of power it uses. Most of Bitcoin's power is derived from renewable sources, not coal. Bitcoin also runs on “stranded energy” that is otherwise wasted and spilled into the earth's atmosphere.

To put things in perspective, Bitcoin consumes only 0.01% of the world's total power. That is less than the annual consumption of Xmas lights or clothes dryers in the US. However, Bitcoin provides an essential technology to the world that has redefined money and caused a paradigm shift in modern economics.

Satoshis are the smallest divisible unit of Bitcoin.

One satoshi is the equivalent of one hundred millionth of a Bitcoin. The term "stacking sats" is often used by Bitcoin traders to refer to steadily accumulating more Bitcoin over time. You don't need to buy a whole coin to invest in Bitcoin because it is divisible to eight decimal places, you could buy just $1 worth.

HODL is an acronym for “hold on for dear life”.

Originally “hodl” came from a forum post where a user misspelt the word “hold”. Now, “HODL” has become popular crypto slang. People who HODL Bitcoin or other crypto buy it not to sell. Long-term investors are hodling Bitcoin in anticipation of its value continuing to appreciate over time. They hold Bitcoin even through times of extreme market volatility because they believe it is a good investment asset and a hedge against inflation.

Bitcoin is disinflationary. The protocol is programmed to reduce the number of new coins that can be mined over time, thus remaining scarce.

Bitcoin’s supply is carefully controlled. The protocol is cleverly designed to automatically adjust the mining difficulty in relation to the amount of computational power on the network; so even as demand goes up, supply does not. This ensures that new coins are entered into circulation at a steady rate.

Bitcoin is considered deflationary because it has a fixed supply, with a growing adoption of users. This, in theory, means that the purchasing power of Bitcoin should continue to increase into the future. After the final Bitcoin is mined, its inflation rate will be zero.

What is a Bitcoin Halving?

Roughly every four years, the amount of new Bitcoin that is awarded to miners decreases by half, which reduces inflation by the same amount. These halving events, or “halvenings”, typically create upward pressure on the price of Bitcoin. The block reward to mine Bitcoin is currently 6.25 BTC per new block. The next Bitcoin halving is scheduled sometime between February - June 2024.

Like gold, Bitcoin is a store of value because it is a scarce asset that is mined through hard work using a lot of resources.

Bitcoin mining parallels gold mining in many ways. Primarily, its limited supply and the difficulty to mine it increases over time.

Mining gold is a very labour-intensive production. It takes time to find and remove gold from the ground. Similarly, mining Bitcoin is an energy-intensive process that becomes increasingly difficult as more people join the network.

Gold is safely stored in vaults, whereas Bitcoin is secured and stored on the blockchain. Because Bitcoin never leaves its “vault”, its supply can never be inflated. The total volume of its supply can be mathematically verified, therefore, maintaining its reputation as a scarce resource.

Bitcoin has all the fundamental characteristics of a commodity money.

As a medium of exchange, Bitcoin is easily transportable, highly divisible, widely recognisable, has a store of value and most importantly, is impossible to counterfeit. There has truly never been an asset like it.

Tax only applies to any realised gains if you decide to sell Bitcoin.

In Australia, Bitcoin is subject to capital gains tax (CGT). This means you must pay tax on any profits you make from trading Bitcoin for Australian dollars or exchanging it for other cryptocurrencies. There are some exceptions, however, so it is best to consult your tax specialist if you are unsure about your specific situation.

You can use our handy KPMG tax estimator to help you calculate your tax obligations. Read more about crypto tax in Australia.

Not unless you wish to take your Bitcoin off the exchange.

When you buy Bitcoin, it will automatically appear and be stored safely in your account, so you don’t need to set up another digital wallet. See how you can find your crypto wallet address on Independent Reserve.

If you prefer to have complete control over your Bitcoin, you can easily transfer it from our exchange to your own personal wallet. However, if you choose to move your Bitcoin off the exchange, be sure you know how to backup and restore your wallet properly. Read about how Bitcoin is lost and understand the importance of backing up your private keys safely.

Independent Reserve stores your Bitcoin safely.

The responsibility of securing such a valuable asset can be very stressful and requires great care. Bitcoin is brilliant because you don’t need a bank or even a crypto exchange to keep your Bitcoin safe. However, if you want peace of mind, we offer world-class security to protect your crypto. Our security features include; two-factor authentication (2FA) and ISO 27001 certification.