How to Buy Bitcoin in Australia

Independent Reserve is one of Australia's oldest and best-known institutional grade exchange with an orderbook enabling Australian and New Zealand users to securely trade Bitcoin. Independent Reserve is registered with AUSTRAC, has an ABN and has been certified by the Australian Digital Currency Association.

Independent Reserve claims it keeps the majority of user funds in cold storage, where it is held in vaults in several different locations, with multiple layers of physical security.

Coinbase is one of the most popular digital currency exchanges, based in the U.S and boasting over 43 million users. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, the platform offers both an all-in-one exchange and a wallet, making it one of the easiest starting points with Bitcoin. Coinbase’s wallet and merchant services, which have won the trust of over 43 million users, have their payment platform integrated with more than 48,000 businesses worldwide.

Coinbase is one of the world’s largest bitcoin exchanges and also considered to be one of the safest. Coinbase is a regulated company and holds licenses in all districts in which it operates. It is also a VC backed company with over $100 million in funding. Cash held in Coinbase wallets is FDIC insured up to $250,000.

eToro is an innovative and versatile trading platform where you can trade stocks, ETFs, currencies, cryptocurrencies, incides, and commodities. eToro works as a social investment platform with its 'CopyTrading' feature which allows users to view, follow and copy the network's top traders automatically.

eToro offers a state-of-the-art, fully-managed cold storage Custody as a Service (CaaS) solution. eToro is a legitimate broker and trading platform and are regulated in Europe by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission and in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). They are also registered with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Within 8 months of launching in July 2017, Binance quickly skyrocketed into the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, processing more than $1 billion on a daily basis. It’s rise to popularity can be attributed to the impressive number of cryptocurrencies they offer, professional attitude, friendly and transparent CEO, and low trading fees.

Binance is considered a safe cryptocurrency exchange. Binance provides 2-factor authentication and offers both multi signature wallets and cold storage options.

Gemini is a digital asset exchange and custodian, founded in 2014 by brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, that allows customers to buy, sell, and store digital assets such as bitcoin and ether. Gemini is regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS) and also the first exchange to launch bitcoin futures contracts in December 2017.

Gemini is considered to be one of the most secure cryptocurrency exchanges on the market. Gemini is governed by the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and complies with anti-money laundering (AML) rules. Client deposits are eligible for Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insurance coverage and the company is also heavily capitalized to protect the digital currency you store offline

Cex.io started in 2013 as a Bitcoin exchange and cloud mining provider which has since become a multi-functional exchange, trusted by over half a million users. The exchange has developed a multi-level account system with an individual approach to each customer, from Bitcoin beginners to institutional traders. Worldwide coverage, multiple payment options, and 24/7 support are accompanied by time-proven platform stability that guarantees the safety of assets and data.

CEX is authorized as an MSB by FinCEN and has a Level 2 PCI DSS data security clearance. CEX shows a required level of security and due diligence for storage, processing and transmission of payment card data.

Coinmama is a leading cryptocurrency exchange that allows you to buy and sell bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies with a credit card and/or bank transfers. Since its foundation in 2013, it has grown to serve over 2 million customers across 188 countries and today has over 40 employees. Coinmama is a really simple exchange, which makes a perfect platform for safe, secure and quick transactions.

Coinmama is considered a reputable platform for bitcoin purchases.

With millions of active users, an international market, and strategic investors on board, Kraken, joins Coinbase and Binance to become the big three cryptocurrency exchanges in the global market. Kraken provides cryptocurrency to fiat trading and provides price information to Bloomberg Terminal. In February 2019, Kraken announced that it had raised $100 million in a direct offering to its largest customers at a $4 billion valuation.

Kraken is considered one of the safest bitcoin exchanges around. The platform provides cryptography-verified proof of reserve audits. These audits verify the total amount of cryptocurrency held by Kraken. The company appears to be well-capitalized and very safe to use.

Bitstamp is a well-established and respected cryptocurrency exchange that has become one of the most popular choices with cryptocurrency traders around the world. Bitstamp provides trading services to traders from all around the world and is designed for both intermediate and experienced investors. The exchange provides a user-friendly, intricate and advanced trading platform with sophisticated features.

98% of all funds on the exchange are kept in cold storage, meaning they are inaccessible to hackers. Additionally, Bitstamp insures these funds while using mandatory confirmation emails, 2FA, and SMS alerts to ensure secure accounts. On top of everything mentioned, the site also utilizes PGP to encrypt all uploaded files, keeping them private and secure

Paxful works as a peer-to-peer Bitcoin trading platform. Established in 2014, the peer-to-peer marketplace allows buyers and sellers to interact by posting trade offers. Users can choose to make purchases using PayPal, MoneyGram, Amazon/iTunes gift cards and many more payment methods.

Funds are held in escrow by Paxful until both parties confirm all components of the transaction.

LocalBitcoins works as a decentralized exchange, facilitating P2P (peer-to-peer) Bitcoin sales by allowing users to list their own buy/sell advertisements. By using the site users can create and list advertisements, communicate with prospective buyers and sellers and confirm all the transaction details before finalizing any trade. Users can either meet in person or trade online. LocalBitcoins allows for private purchases and can be used worldwide; it also allows users to make purchases via a number of different payment methods and doesn’t impose buying or selling limits.

LocalBitcoins has a strong reputation for being reliable and safe to use. Security-enhancing features like two-factor authentication (2FA), Login Guard, support staff, and a feedback-driven reputation system all contribute to the safety and security for users. Also, the fact that all online trades are protected by escrow.

Bitfinex is a cryptocurrency exchange headquartered in Hong Kong and registered in the British Virgin Islands. Bitfinex ranks among the top exchanges in terms of daily trading volumes and is one of the most well-known trading platforms albeit a troubled history of multiple hacks, loss of user funds, and other allegations.

Bitfinex has had multiple hacking incidents including, in 2015 where customers funds were hacked, losing ~$400,000, and in 2016 ~$73 million was stolen from its customers' accounts. Bitfinex claims that 99.5% of user funds are stored in an offline, multisignature wallet; requiring 4 of 7 hardware security modules (HSMs) in possession by globally-distributed management team members to approve all transactions.