Independent Reserve vs Stormgain: Fees, Security, Features & Which to Choose (2025)

Trying to choose between Independent Reserve and Stormgain This side-by-side comparison reveals total cost (fees + spreads), security & licenses, coins/derivatives, deposits/withdrawals, and app quality. In 2 minutes you’ll see who wins for beginners, active traders, and long-term holders. Clear pros/cons, a quick verdict, and safe links to get started.

Last updated on August 16, 2025

Independent Reserve

Stormgain

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Available Countries

United States

Europe

Yes

Latin America

India

China

Canada

Yes

United Kingdom

Yes

United States

Yes

Europe

Yes

Latin America

Yes

India

China

Canada

Yes

United Kingdom

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Independent Reserve is ideal if:

Security-first and regulation-driven – Ideal if you prioritize rigorous compliance, institutional-grade safeguards, and regulatory backing in Australia and Singapore.
Automated tools built-in – Perfect for users who value automated strategies like AutoTrader (dollar-cost averaging, baskets, scheduling) and integrated tax reporting.
Institution-ready and mobile-friendly – Suits high-volume or institutional traders needing OTC liquidity and workflow tools, yet still accessible via a polished mobile app.

Stormgain is ideal if:

Beginner-friendliness meets power – A minimalist, intuitive interface plus demo account makes it easy to learn and explore advanced trading features privately.
All-in-one crypto toolkit – Combines spot, perpetuals, indices, crypto wallets, and cloud mining in one platform for users seeking versatility in one place.
High-leverage edge, higher risk – Offers substantial leverage and innovative tools, ideal for experienced self-directed traders—but demands careful risk control.

Independent Reserve isn’t ideal if:

Limited asset variety – Not suited if you're seeking a wide selection of altcoins beyond major names.
Minimal advanced features – Falls short for traders wanting margin, derivatives, or deeply customizable tools.
Support and access constraints – Less ideal if you need in-person/mobile support or broader fiat currency acceptance.

Stormgain isn’t ideal if:

You want broad token access – With only a handful of spot-available coins, it’s not suited for users hunting for diverse crypto holdings.
You prefer regulated platforms – As an unlicensed operation, it may not align with users who prioritize oversight within regulated environments.
You avoid high-risk strategies – Its ultra-leveraged tools are geared toward high-risk trading and may overwhelm those who prefer lower-risk, conservative approaches.

Fees & Total Costs

Spot Maker/Take

Independent Reserve charges a flat spot trading fee that starts around 0.50 % and drops incrementally based on 30-day trading volume tiers, reaching as low as approximately 0.02 % for top-tier, high-volume traders—note, they don’t offer fee discounts via a native token.

StormGain doesn’t use a traditional maker-taker tiered model—with trading fees generally structured as flat percentages that may vary by pairing instead of volume-based tiers or discounts tied to holding a native token.

Futures/Derivatives

Independent Reserve does not support futures or derivatives trading, so there are no associated maker/taker or funding charges to consider.

Futures trades typically incur a performance-based cost—where only profitable trades are charged a commission, plus a daily funding (swap) rate applies to open positions.

Average Spreads on Liquid Pairs

Independent Reserve uses a transparent order-book model with no hidden spreads, meaning you generally transact at prevailing market prices rather than paying inflated spread margins—though tighter liquidity may result in wider real-time spreads.

Spreads are built into the execution price and vary by market conditions, but generally remain competitive on the most liquid BTC/USDT and ETH/USDT pairs.

Fiat Deposits & Withdrawals

methods, fees, timing

Fiat can be funded via credit/debit cards or SEPA (in some regions); card payments carry a moderate fee and are processed almost instantly, while SEPA transfers are fee-free or low-cost but take one to several business days.

On-chain Withdrawals

fixed vs dynamic fees

Withdrawals involve both a fixed network fee and a small percentage fee, e.g. for Bitcoin it’s a fixed BTC amount plus a fractional percent, similar for Ethereum and other supported networks.

Hidden Costs

Beyond obvious fees, there are minor indirect costs like slight FX mark-ups during multi-currency conversions, potential inactivity charges or expedited KYC processing fees, and banking or intermediary charges on certain cross-border transfers—not usually disclosed upfront but worth keeping in mind.

Additional potential costs include currency conversion charges when depositing or withdrawing in non-base currencies and expedited refund or closed-account processing fees for certain administrative actions.

Real-World Cost Example: “€500 BTC

If you purchased €500 worth of BTC, your spot trade fee might fall in the mid-tier (say around 0.3–0.4 %), the on-chain withdrawal would include a flat network fee (e.g., 0.0003 BTC), and you’d also experience FX conversion cost if converting from EUR—so total costs would be the sum of that trade fee, network fee, and FX spread.

If you use a card, you’d pay the purchase fee embedded in the execution rate (equivalent to a flat percentage), plus the spread, and then incur the standard withdrawal cost (fixed network fee + percentage) when sending to an external wallet—totaling one overall cost that combines those elements.

Crypto Offering & Trading Features

Number of Coins & Pairs

Independent Reserve supports around 32 unique cryptocurrencies and over 100 trading pairs, combining major coins with regional fiat pairs—volume data suggests the top 20 pairs are heavily skewed toward premier markets like BTC/USD, ETH/AUD, and XBT/SGD.

StormGain offers around 80 cryptocurrencies, with the top 20 by trading volume typically including BTC, ETH, USDT, LTC, XRP, ADA, BNB, DOT, SOL, DOGE, LINK, MATIC, BCH, APE, AVAX, SHIB, UNI, LTC, TRX, and XLM paired mostly with USDT or BTC.

Product Range

The platform offers spot trading, basic leveraged/margin trading (up to 5× on select AUD pairs), DCA via AutoTrader, staking/earning opportunities, OTC execution for large-volume traders, and automated strategies—but no perpetuals, options, ETFs, copy trading, grid bots, or lending markets.

The platform supports spot and perpetuals trading, a built-in crypto wallet, cloud mining, but doesn’t offer margin, options, crypto-ETFs, staking/earn programs, loans, copy-trading, grid bots, or automated DCA features.

Liquidity

The platform sees daily trading volumes in the low hundreds of millions USD range, and order-book depth is strongest for BTC and ETH pairs against AUD, USD, SGD andNZD—sufficient for mid-sized trades but not matching institutional venues.

StormGain’s liquidity on BTC and ETH pairs is moderate—enough to handle retail-level volumes with minimal slippage; exact numbers aren’t published, but order book depth is sufficient for standard-sized trades without major price impact.

Tools

Independent Reserve supports market, limit, stop-buy, stop-sell orders (including OCO style flows), in-app price alerts, a polished web/mobile interface with basic charting tools, robust JSON/WebSocket (Airbridge™) API access, and even native TradingView integration for more advanced chart-based analysis.

Traders can place common order types like limit, stop-loss, and OCO; they have access to basic alerts and charting powered by a native implementation similar to TradingView, plus API and WebSocket access for advanced or automated trading.

Geographic Restrictions by Product

While spot trading and OTC are broadly available, leveraged/margin access, certain fiat currency features, or institutional services may be restricted in regions such as the US and China, depending on licensing and local policy.

Certain services—most notably perpetual derivatives—are unavailable in regulated regions (for example, not accessible to users in the U.S., U.K., and some EU jurisdictions), limiting product availability by country.

Innovation

Independent Reserve powers automated investing with AutoTrader (DCA and strategy templates) and provides flexible staking and institutional-grade OTC offerings, although it doesn’t operate token launchpads or “locked vs flexible earn” products.

While there’s no launchpad or launchpool, StormGain differentiates itself with on-platform cloud mining and occasional flexible earn opportunities, allowing users to earn by holding with option of flexible withdrawal rather than long-term locking.

Security, Regulation & Custody

Operating Entity & Jurisdiction

Independent Reserve is operated by Independent Reserve Pty Ltd, founded in 2013, headquartered in Sydney, Australia, with a significant operational presence in Singapore as well.

StormGain is operated by StormGain LLC, officially registered in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and has its main operational base in London, UK, founded around 2019/2020, combining offshore registration with a London presence for its global operations.

Licenses/Registration

The exchange holds a Digital Payment Token Services license from the MAS in Singapore and is registered with ASIC in Australia as a compliant crypto operator.

The platform runs without formal licensing or registration under any major financial regulator (such as VASP or MiCA), operating outside the regulatory frameworks commonly applied to crypto services.

Custody

Crypto assets are held entirely in-house, segregated by customer, with the vast majority stored in geo-distributed, multi-signature cold vaults; the company maintains full reserves and undergoes regular external audits and penetration testing.

StormGain uses its own custodial wallets with most customer funds stored in cold storage and the remainder in hot wallets for operations; it does not publish proof-of-reserves reports or details on auditing or the percentage held in cold storage.

Insurance & Protection Funds

Since 2019, Independent Reserve maintains insurer-backed protection for digital assets, providing an additional safety layer beyond technical security.

There is no publicly disclosed third-party insurance or user fund protection scheme, meaning user assets are not safeguarded by insured pools or similar mechanisms.

Incident History

Independent Reserve boasts a clean security record—no hacks, breaches, or custodial compromises reported since inception—strengthening its reputation for reliability.

There are no publicly known major security breaches, freezing events, or regulatory penalties reported, but the lack of regulatory oversight and complete transparency means incident details—if any—are not widely documented.

Risk Controls

Account security is robust, featuring ISO 27001-level controls, enforced 2FA, withdrawal address whitelists, multi-layer admin approvals, anti-phishing measures, tiered admin access, and granular API permissions.

StormGain supports two-factor authentication (2FA), enforces strong encryption, and stores funds across hot and cold wallets; however, it lacks more advanced safeguards like IP or withdrawal-address whitelisting, sub-account divisions, or granular API permission settings.

Transparency

The exchange publicly affirms its adherence to best practices via routine audits and security testing, though it does not offer public cold wallet addresses or an SLA; it also generates audit-friendly reporting for institutional and tax purposes.

The platform does not offer public monthly reports, a publicly viewable wallet, or service-level guarantees; transparency around reserve levels or operational metrics remains limited.

Deposits, Withdrawals, KYC & Support

Fiat Deposit Methods

Users can fund accounts via bank transfers (EFT in Australia, SWIFT internationally), instant deposits like PayID/Osko (AUD) or PayNow/FAST (SGD), credit/debit cards, and PayPal; minimums and limits vary by region (e.g. deposits under AUD 100 incur a small fee, over AUD 100 are free, while SGD deposits over S$1,000 via FAST are free) and processing times range from instant (for PayID/FAST) to 1–3 business days for EFT/SWIFT.

You can fund your account using credit/debit cards or SEPA transfers (in supported regions), with minimums starting around USD/EUR 50, and card deposits are processed instantly while SEPA may take 1–3 business days.

Supported Fiat Currencies & Conversion

KYC (Verification Levels)

The exchange enforces tiered KYC with increasing verification—basic identity, then proof of source of funds/wealth—to lift deposit and withdrawal caps; exact thresholds depend on jurisdiction, and higher tiers allow larger transactions and feature access.

StormGain allows basic trading with minimal or no KYC; more advanced access—like higher deposit/withdrawal limits—requires submitting identity verification, but exact tiers and thresholds are not publicly detailed.

Withdrawals

limits, timing, networks

limits, timing & networks

Customer Support

Independent Reserve offers a robust knowledge base and FAQ section, support tickets via secure portal, plus 24/7 email support; premium or OTC clients may access phone support. Live chat is not available, but response times are generally prompt, and the site includes rich how-to content.

StormGain offers 24/7 live chat, email support, and an extensive help center (knowledge base), with response times usually quick though occasionally slower during peak periods.

Languages & Localization

The platform is primarily available in English, with pricing shown in USD, AUD, SGD, or NZD depending on your region. Local regulatory details are clearly presented for supported jurisdictions, though some regions may lack localized language support beyond English.

The interface is fully available in English, and transaction data (like balances and fees) appear in local currency (e.g., EUR or USD) where applicable, with region-appropriate regulatory disclaimers shown.

App Quality & Stability

The mobile app (iOS & Android) is stable and receives regular updates, supports instant deposits/withdrawals, 2FA, alerts, and DCA features; while formal crash-rate stats aren’t published, user feedback indicates a polished and reliable experience.

Its mobile app boasts a high user rating (around 4.3 on Google Play with 97k+ reviews), is regularly updated, and maintains stable performance with few reported crashes.

Experience, Performance & Ecosystem

UX/UI

Independent Reserve offers a clean, intuitive interface with light and dark app themes; there’s no separate Lite or Pro mode, but its streamlined dashboard strikes a balance between ease for newcomers and functional clarity for more experienced users.

learning curve & modes

Performance

The platform is generally stable with fast execution even during busy periods, and while occasional slowing may occur during extreme volatility, its infrastructure and streamlined interface help minimize delays—KYC processing can slow down temporarily during bull-market surges.

latency & stress resilience

Education

Independent Reserve maintains a well-organized knowledge base and blog filled with how-tos and educational guides, though there’s no interactive demo or simulator, and content in Spanish is limited or unavailable.

academy, demo, Spanish content

Community

The exchange has an active presence across social platforms like Reddit and X, hosts an adviser-focused program, and offers a referral panel in its dashboard—but it does not operate official Discord or Telegram groups or copy-trading programs.

forums, messaging, referrals

Integrations

Independent Reserve integrates native TradingView charts, offers APIs for external bots, and provides built-in tax tools (such as CSV exports and a KPMG-based tax calculator), supporting seamless accounting and trading automation.

tools & tax workflows

Who Each One Is Best For

The platform suits beginners who value clarity and security, and mid-level users looking for solid infrastructure and automated tools like AutoTrader; it’s less ideal for those seeking vast altcoin catalogs or full pro-level trading modes.

This platform shines for beginner-to-intermediate traders seeking simplicity, demo practice, cloud mining, and in-built charts—less ideal for advanced users seeking tax integrations, multi-bot automation, or granular customization.