Buying bitcoin may be a cinch to you if you’re living in Australia…

But how you buy them may affect you as a trader… and, if you decide to act, as an investor.

With so much liquidity, it’s getting a whole lot easier to buy and sell bitcoin at better prices.

For the average crypto trader to make a profit, he has to keep his finger on the pulse at all times. Traders try to out-predict the movement of prices within a very short time-frame in order to scalp for profits. It takes a lot of time, understanding and know-how in order to execute these kinds of trades consistently.

Fortunately, there’s another alternative.

If you’re looking to buy/sell large-volumes of crypto, trading on a regular crypto exchange will limit your potential profit taking.

For example, if you want to buy 10 BTC all at once on an exchange, you’d have to break it down into many smaller orders. As your orders are slowly being filled, the prices could shift up considerably, resulting in a different price than what you’d expect. This will result in a more expensive trade.

This is called slippage.

Due to slippage, you may end up buying Bitcoin at significantly higher prices than the average day trader.

Trading with large-volumes on a centralized exchange could prove to be costly as well. It’s very risky to keep all your funds on a centralized exchange.

This is why if you’re a large-volume trader, you should always use Over-The-Counter (OTC) trading services.

Crypto OTC	Min Trade Size	Supported crypto	Fees (AUD)	Advantages
Independent Reserve	$100,000	BTC, BCH, ETH, LTC, XRP, EOS, XLM	$100K-0.5% $500k-0.45% $2m-0.4%	-Reputable exchange -Low and transparent fees
Caleb and Brown	$100,000	BTC, ETH, LTC, XRP	$100k-6% $500k-5% $2m-4%	-Same-day settlements
Bitcoin Australia	$30,000	BTC, ETH, LTC, XRP, EOS, XLM, ADA, XMR, TRX, MIOTA	$100k-3% $500k-3.5% $2m-4%	-Deep liquidity
HiveEx	$50,000	BTC, BCH, ETH, LTC, XRP	$100k-1% $500K-1.25% $2m-1.3%	-24/7 support

What is OTC trading?

OTC or Over-the-counter trading is facilitated by brokers who will directly handle, negotiate and find a buyer/seller for your desired trade.

Instead of using an ordinary exchange, OTC services can help you make large-volume cryptocurrency trades, easier, faster and at better than average prices.

Benefits of OTC Trading

In general, using OTC trading desk for fiat-to-crypto transactions offers numerous advantages over traditional crypto exchanges:

You’re able to quickly sell or buy large amounts of Bitcoin and other popular cryptocurrencies in one single trade.
You can save time by filling trades at one price, often better price by avoiding slippage!
You can trade safely with the help of a trusted broker.
You can trade privately because orders are not publicly listed.
You can receive your crypto directly to your wallet address.

Best Cryptocurrency OTC Trading Desks

While there’s a growing number of OTC trading desks, finding a reputable OTC broker can be quite challenging in Australia.

Most OTC services do not offer transparent fee structures. As they lure you in, you could get the shock of your life!

Here, we’ll compare the top 5 OTC trading services in Australia and show you the important distinctions so you can decide for yourself which OTC service is perfect for your needs.

We’ll review and compare the OTC services based on the following 5 touch-points:

Transaction amounts: What’s the minimum transaction amount?
Supported cryptocurrencies: Access to a large variety of cryptocurrencies
Speed of Offering: Quick access to your funds, fast settlement of large trades
Customer service: To get a private, personalized service, support and assistance from start to finish of a transaction.
Fees: To get the lowest transaction fees possible, with no invisible charge.

1. Independent Reserve

Transaction amounts: Minimum trade size is $100K
Supported cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Ripple (XRP), EOS (EOS), Stellar (XLM)
Fiat currencies: AUD, USD and NZD
Speed of Offering: Instant price quotes on demand and same-day settlement.
Customer service: Premium support by professional traders
Fees: $AU100K – 0.5%/ $AU500k – 0.45%/ $AU2m – 0.4%

Independent Reserve is a registered Australian company founded in 2013.

They’re an established exchange that is also a Gold Certified member of the Australian Digital Commerce Association (ADCA) which represents the Cryptocurrency industry in Australia.

They have been running an OTC desk since its inception in 2013, specializing in high-volume trades for institutions and high net worth clients.

If you’re looking to trade over $100,000 or more, their OTC service is top-notch!

An independent trader shares his experience with Independent Reserve:

“Independent Reserve’s OTC process is professional from the outset.

I sent an enquiry through their OTC webpage, and received a phone call 5 minutes later from their OTC trader, the process requires an account setup with the exchange.

One thing to note, like most desks, they require pre-funding of your account to deal.

Their fee system is a bit different to others – they charge no fees on top of the quote they give.

I liked this – it made it very easy to work out my position exactly.

When I pushed about included fees it seems they charge through the spread, which depends on market conditions. So a more liquid market will get better spreads (and a better price), and vice versa.

Once the market price got to a level I was comfortable with, I locked in a price with IR, and they sent me a confirmation email with all the details. About an hour later they sent me a message on Telegram saying the deal had settled and the crypto was in my account, and that was it. Simple, quick, full audit trail, and while there was no 3rd party escrow, all the fiat and crypto transfers were conducted on the platform.

So far, my favorite OTC experience.

For those institutional types with risk policies, it might be good to know that IR also offers insurance, so you can hold crypto in their wallets fully insured at a tiered cost structure.”

Give Independent Reserve a Call Today to Find out More!

2. Caleb & Brown

Transaction amounts: Minimum AU$100,000
Supported cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Ripple (XRP)
Fiat currencies: AUD, USD, CAD, EUR, NZD
Speed of Offering: Same-day settlements for trades worldwide.
Customer service: Consistent access to a personal broker
Fees: $AU100k – 6%/ $AU500k – 5%/ $AU2m – 4%

Caleb and Brown is another great OTC brokerage that helps you to buy and sell large volumes of popular crypto such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and Litecoin, outside of an open order book exchange.

It works pretty much similar to Independent Reserve, except that the fees at C&B are much steeper. For example, a $100,000 transaction on Independent Reserve incurs a fee of 0.5% (i.e. $500) while doing the same trade on C&B will take a fee of 6%, that’s a whopping $6000 fee!

With that said, Caleb and Brown is still a better option to make large crypto trades than using traditional fiat-to-crypto or crypto-to-crypto exchanges.

It allows you to place a substantial trade with the best available price in just one single buy order.

Here’s how it works:

1. Open an account and verify your identity.

2. Submit your order to your personal broker and send the payment receipt issued by your bank.

3. C&B will execute your trade, instantly lock in a price point. This is great, you don’t have to wait for funds to be deposited.

4. Receive Bitcoin directly in your wallet address.

Start OTC Trading with Caleb and Brown!

3. Bitcoin Australia

Transaction amounts: Minimum AU$30,000
Supported cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Ripple (XRP), EOS (EOS), Stellar (XLM), Cardano (ADA), Monero (XMR), TRON (TRX), IOTA (MIOTA)
Fiat currencies: AUD, USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, JPY, SGD and CHF.
Speed of Offering: Mostly same-day settlement of trades
Customer service: Private and personalized service,
Fees: $AU100k -3%/ $AU500k -3.5%/ $AU2m – 4%

The Bitcoin Australia over-the-counter (OTC) service is tailored for people who are looking to trade more than $30,000 of cryptocurrency, without causing unfavorable price movements through large volume trades.

A dedicated account manager will confidentially assist you with all trades and questions.

Although it’s open to anyone worldwide, OTC trade is only available Monday-Friday from 9 am to 6 pm AEDT.

Trade with Bitcoin Australia

4. HiveEx

Transaction amounts: AU$50,000(min) and up to $100 million (max)
Supported cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Ripple (XRP)
Fiat currencies: USD, AUD, EUR, HKD, SGD, CHF, GBP, CAD, JPY, ZAR, INR, NZD, ILS
Speed of Offering: Same-day quote and almost all trades have same-day settlement.
Customer service: 24/7 support by a professional trader
Fees: $AU100k – 1%/ $AU500K – 1.25%/ $AU2m – 1.3%

HiveEx is a global OTC brokerage based out of Sydney, Australia. Launched in 2018, HiveEx is fairly new to the world of crypto OTC, but has quickly become a big player in the industry.

One thing great about HiveEx is that it supports 13 different fiat currencies from all over the world. You can buy, sell or trade large quantities of 5 popular cryptocurrencies anytime, anywhere with its 24/7 support.

There’s no maximum transaction and withdrawal limits.

But first, you’ll have to register for an account by providing your name, contact details, proof of ID and trading requirements.

Once your account is approved, you can contact with their traders in either WhatsApp, Telegram, Skype, SMS, Facebook Messenger, WeChat or your preferred live messaging platform.

Then you can start trading by requesting a quote anytime in your trade room, indicating size and pair. HiveEx will offer you a price per coin based on your requested currency pair. You can either accept or deny their price.

It’s particularly helpful to have a dedicated trader to guide you through the investment process.

In most cases, settlements in crypto can be completed within an hour while fiat settlements generally take 1-3 business days.

“For Bitcoin.com.au, HiveEx and Caleb and Brown, the speed of service was very quick (from an enquiry sense) – they all returned calls within 2 minutes and quality of service was ‘helpful’.

Check out HiveEx Now!

5. Mine Digital

Transaction amounts: Minimum trade size is $10,000
Supported cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT), Chainlink (LINK), USD Coin (USDC), Paxos Standard (PAX), Dai (DAI), Polka Dot (DOT)
Fiat currencies: AUD, NZD, USD, GBP& EUR.
Speed of Offering: Instant price quotes on demand and same-day settlement.
Customer service: 24/7 premium support by experienced traders

Mine Digital is a secure and industry leading crypto exchange that provides OTC trading services of BTC, ETH, XRP and other top digital assets.

Founded in November 2019, Mine Digital is hoping to address the fact that Australia did not have a high-end fiat to crypto exchange with a competitive fee structure for professional and retail traders alike.

Now, it runs the largest Bitcoin OTC desk in Australia.

If you’re looking to trade above $10,000, you can take advantage of the OTC desk, professional traders will help you execute large trades without affecting the exchange market price.

It’s by far the OTC service desk that offers the lowest entry point for investors.

What’s great, Mine Digital is the only exchange in Australia that provides complimentary insurance against theft, destruction, loss, or damages.

Plus, Mine Digital even pays interest on your Bitcoin and Ethereum if you choose to keep your crypto with them for 3, 6 or 12 months lock ups.

Mine Digital OTC desk offers:

Expert market insight
Deep liquidity
1-on-1 service
Full asset support (all fiat, and cryptocurrency listed on Mine Digital is supported)
24/7 Global Coverage

Trade with Mine Digital

Conclusion

All 5 crypto OTC trading services offer a great alternative for those who’re looking to trade large volumes of cryptocurrencies, making it easy for institutions and high-net-worth individuals to trade profitably, privately and securely.

Overall, Independent Reserve stands out among the rest. They offer the most competitive and transparent fees, personalized customer service and fast settlements.

Would you use OTC trading? Why and why not?

Do you have any experience or tips to share with us? Feel free to share with us in the comments!