IG Group acquires Oz crypto exchange Independent Reserve for $118 million – Ledger Insights

IG Group has agreed to purchase Independent Reserve, an Australian cryptocurrency exchange, for an initial enterprise value of A$178.0 million ($117.5 million). The deal represents IG’s push into Asia Pacific crypto markets.

IG is one of the largest brokers in the UK, the equivalent of a Charles Schwab or e-Trade. The company launched crypto trading in the UK in May through a partnership with crypto exchange Uphold. It’s US subsidiary tastytrade also has a crypto offering through a ZeroHash tie-up. Hence, Independent Reserve may help to bring some of the knowhow in-house.

Looking at its US competitors, both Charles Schwab and e-Trade currently only offer access via crypto ETFs and stocks. Schwab has said it plans to offer spot crypto trading soon, once the regulatory position is clearer and e-Trade is reportedly working on it. Interactive Brokers enables spot crypto on its platform but the trades are funnelled via Paxos and ZeroHash.

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