By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 24th, 2024
Starting this Saturday, July 7, the new coin will become available for trading to both institutional and individual investors via over the counter market.
Independent Reserve, the Sydney-based cryptocurrency exchange, has expanded the list of its cryptocurrency offerings with Ripple’s XRP, the world’s third-largest digital currency after BTC and ETH.
In addition to Ripple, the platform allows trading in bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, and bitcoin cash. Users can purchase the new coin in US dollars, Australian dollars, and New Zealand dollars. Besides fiat-to-crypto trading, the exchange will support trading between XRP and already available digital currencies.
“The addition of XRP is in line with our strategy of adding high-quality digital currencies in a thoughtful and measured way,” said Independent Reserve CEO, Adrian Przelozny. “There is a wide universe of digital currencies out there now, but to be listed on Independent Reserve they need to meet a range of criteria including quality, stability and volume metrics. Our clientele have been requesting XRP and we felt this timing was right to offer it to them.”
Independent Reserve is Australia’s first cryptocurrency exchange regulated by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC), one of the world’s leading regulatory bodies focused on monitoring the cryptocurrency trading platforms. After the agency was authorized to monitor the local market last year, it issued requirements for cryptocurrency-related businesses that came into effect in April, 2018.
Under the new legislation, Australian exchanges have to meet anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) rules, verify new customers, and report suspicious activity, including the transfers of physical currency above $10,000 or more.
The new regulation, as Przelozny noted at the time, is a huge milestone for the exchange, as it will make the local market more attractive for investors and will help exchanges work with banks, which were previously reluctant to cooperate due to potential risks.
“All investors should be able to feel safe when investing in a new market,” he said. “I’m so pleased that AUSTRAC has shown such leadership in this area, making Australia a more attractive marketplace for investors of all kinds. Independent Reserve is already used by many SMSFs and advisors across Australia. This new regulation will enable us to work even more closely with these highly regulated market participants.”
Introduced by Ripple Labs, Ripple cryptocurrency was developed as a payment solution between cross-border banks to enable fast and low-cost transactions. The digital currency continues to become more popular among financial institutions and can already boast American Express, NBA, and Banco Santander among its global partners.
XRP is now trading at $0.502 and has increased by 1.39% in the past 24 hours, according to Coinmarketcap. Its market cap is around $20 million.