About Us

Our mission

To be APAC's most trusted cryptocurrency exchange.

Our story

Founded in 2013 by Adam Tepper, Adrian Przelozny and Lasanka Perera, Independent Reserve’s vision is to build the most secure and trusted way to buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Moreover, we aimed to transform cryptocurrency technology into secure, robust and regulated financial services, and do things the right way.

Independent Reserve is the first crypto exchange to operate a licensed crypto exchange for all investors in Singapore. We are currently licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to provide Digital Payment Token (DPT) services under the Payment Services Act (PSA) 2019.

Since our launch, we have built a world-class order book crypto exchange and OTC desk, expanded operations to South-East Asia and continue to build new features and partnerships that add value to our customers.

We pride ourselves on offering world-class security for our customers, featuring two-factor authentication, ISO 27001 certification and top-tier underground vaults used to protect your data and crypto.

We have grown to serve over 300,000 customers in Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and across the world.

Licensed
First crypto exchange licensed by MAS
11+ years
in business
300,000+
Clients worldwide

Our governance

Independent Reserve SG a registered entity in Singapore (UEN 201942383Z). We hold a Major Payment Institution License (License Number: PS20200517) for providing Digital Payment Token Services under the Payment Services Act 2019.

Our board of directors, advisers and management team bring decades of experience in regulation, traditional finance, risk management and IT security.

Board of directors

Adrian Przelozny
Group CEO
Co-founder of Independent Reserve, Adrian’s career spans more than 15 years of information technology, specializing in the design and development of critical business systems.
Lasanka Perera
CEO (Singapore)
Co-founder of Independent Reserve, Lasanka has spent over 10 years building regulated financial markets and trading businesses' across multiple asset classes.
Roman Stefanidi
CTO & Executive director
Roman has spent over fifteen years developing enterprise-level pricing and trading software for financial institutions.
Rachel Cobb
Non-executive director
Rachel has over 15 years experience leading financial services businesses with deep expertise in strategy and risk management. Rachel was formerly a Managing Director in GE Consumer Finance and now serves on several boards including Commonwealth Securities Limited (CommSec). Rachel is chair of the Remuneration Committee.
John Wigglesworth
Non-executive director
After a 36 year career at KPMG, John has joined Independent Reserve's board and chairs the Audit Committee. He brings over 30 years of professional experience working with leading Australian and global companies, with specific expertise in finance reporting, control, governance and risk.
Dr Michael Aitken AM
Non-executive director
A leading expert on market surveillance and currently the Chief Scientist at Rozetta institute. He was formerly the CEO at Capital Markets Cooperative Research Centre. Michael is chair of the Risk Committee.
Michael Dwyer
Non-executive director (Singapore)
Michael has been associated with the REIT industry for more than 25 years and has developed strong working relationships with the Securities Industry Regulators and the Financial Services Associations in Australia and Singapore. Michael is an experienced solicitor with over 20 years in commercial, property and banking law.

Protecting your assets is our top priority

No commingling of customer funds: we keep client assets completely separate from our own.

1:1 reserves

We maintain a full 1:1 reserve of all client fiat and digital assets.

We hold the vast majority of digital assets in secure offline cold storage protected in underground vaults with maximum security.

Audited and licensed

We are the first crypto exchange to be licensed by MAS.

Our books are balanced and we carry no debt on our balance sheet. We engage external auditors to verify our holdings with annual audits of our financial statements. This includes verification of all fiat and crypto balances held in custody on behalf of clients.

Segregated funds

We do not commingle customer funds. We maintain complete segregation of all client assets to ensure that when you need to make a withdrawal, you can.

We keep your assets safe. That is our promise.

Single purpose asset utilisation

We do not engage in any lending, borrowing or rehypothecation of assets (i.e. pledging assets as collateral for debt). Your assets are used solely for the purpose of enabling you to transact on our platform.

Learn about our security

Awards & Recognition

Our security

Data integrity

The Independent Reserve core servers are securely located at two Tier 3 data centres in Sydney, Australia. This allows us to synchronously replicate all data across both locations in real-time. This ensures zero data loss should one site have an outage.

We also have a fully functional backup of our production environment should the need arise.

Our customers’ privacy and personal data is important to us and we ensure that all your personal information is protected. All our data is signed and encrypted multiple times using geographically dispersed keys, spread across four data centres; ensuring your personal information is always secure.

Read more about our security practices here.

Platform security

At Independent Reserve, we're committed to ensuring that your digital assets and personal data are protected to the highest security standards. Users are empowered with 2-Factor Authentication and instant account activity alerts, ensuring transparency and control.

Our infrastructure is designed to meet and exceed industry security standards. Every piece of sensitive information is encrypted, with continuous monitoring to detect and mitigate potential threats. Comprehensive penetration tests and a bug bounty program underscore our commitment to a security-first approach.

Administrative actions are governed by a stringent protocol, ensuring a strong defence against internal and external threats. Tiered access and multi-level approvals are foundational to our operational security, ensuring robust checks and balances.

Read more about our security practices here.

Partnerships

ACCESS Singapore
We are a member of ACCESS Singapore, a non-profit industry association that aims to foster an open and clear dialogue between Singapore cryptocurrency and blockchain businesses and wider society, including regulators.
Bloomberg
Only source of Bitcoin/AUD pricing on Bloomberg, streamed live to all Bloomberg terminal holders worldwide.
Blockchain Association Singapore
We are a member of Blockchain Association of Singapore, an industry association that aims to provide an effective platform for members to engage with multiple stakeholders – both regional and international – to discover solutions and promote best practices in a collaborative, open, and transparent manner.
Fireblocks
We are one of the pioneering crypto exchanges to integrate via the Fireblocks Connector, a new API standard. Institutions can securely access Independent Reserve for digital asset liquidity and crypto-fiat rails directly from the Fireblocks network.

The people’s money - Bitcoin

Written by Adam Tepper, the book “The People’s Money - Bitcoin” explains the concepts behind Bitcoin in an approachable and easy to understand way. By the end of the book you will have a solid understanding of this revolutionary new technology and the vast potential that it brings.

Sadly, Adam passed away before he could complete the book, and it was completed thanks to the Bitcoin Association of Australia (now Blockchain Australia) along with amazing help from the greater Bitcoin community.

Free download

Culture and community

We all play a role in making the world and our community a better place. As one of the largest and leading cryptocurrency exchanges in Singapore, we understand that we have a responsibility to the community.

Going green

In 2019 we made a commitment to help offset the carbon emissions caused by our business and the industry. Through Climeworks, a Swiss-based firm dedicated to capturing CO2 from the air with its cutting-edge technology, we’re removing 1 tonne of carbon per year. Moreover, we’ve joined the Trillion Tree Foundation and are planting 200 trees every year.

Community

The Independent Reserve team sponsors and participates in international and local blockchain and cryptocurrency meetups, events and conferences.

Government and regulation

Independent Reserve is the first crypto exchange to receive a license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). This is a testament that our people, processes and policies have received the nod of a world-class regulator.

Independent Reserve Cryptocurrency Index

We conduct an annual cross-sectional survey of everyday residents of Singapore to examine Singapore's awareness, adoption, trust and confidence in cryptocurrency.

Download the 2024 edition here.

Newsroom

Independent Reserve has provided commentary, interviews and stories to global and local publications, including CoinTelegraph, Bloomberg, CNBC, The Business Times, The Straits Times, Lianhe Zaobao and more.