Which Australian Crypto Exchanges Are Actually Insured or Licensed?

By CryptoExchangeReview Australia · Updated 2026-07-30

If you compare Australian crypto exchanges, you’ll see the same reassuring words everywhere: “registered,” “secure,” “trusted.” But those words hide big differences. When we verified all the major exchanges available to Australians, a clear pattern emerged: almost all are AUSTRAC-registered, but only one offers insured custody, only two hold an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL), and none publishes a formal proof-of-reserves attestation.

Here’s where each exchange actually stands, generated straight from our verified data:

What each label actually means

AUSTRAC registration is the baseline. Every legitimate Australian exchange must register with AUSTRAC and follow anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism-financing (AML/CTF) rules — identity checks, transaction monitoring, and reporting. It is a legal requirement, not a mark of financial safety. Registration says nothing about whether your funds are protected if the exchange fails or is hacked. It is necessary, but it is the floor, not the ceiling.

An AFSL (Australian Financial Services Licence) is a much higher bar, issued and supervised by ASIC. It brings obligations around conduct, disclosure, dispute resolution and financial requirements. Very few crypto exchanges hold one for their crypto services. Among the exchanges we cover, BTC Markets (via a related entity) and Coinbase hold an AFSL. This matters more than ever with the Digital Assets Framework Act 2026 moving the industry toward ASIC licensing.

Insured custody means a third-party insurance policy would help cover losses in a large-scale custodian failure or theft. It is rare in Australia. Independent Reserve was the first local exchange to offer it and remains the standout; Coinbase carries a commercial crime policy covering a portion of assets held in hot storage. Important caveat: this kind of insurance typically covers the exchange’s own custody failure — not losses from your own account being phished or your password being compromised.

Proof of reserves (PoR) is a public, verifiable attestation that an exchange holds enough assets to cover customer balances. After the FTX collapse it became a talking point, but among Australian-focused exchanges, formal, regularly published PoR is still uncommon.

Why this matters

The 2022 FTX collapse — and its direct impact on an Australian exchange, Digital Surge, which lost around A$33 million and entered administration before recovering — showed that “registered” does not mean “safe from failure.” Using any exchange means trusting it as a custodian. Insurance, an AFSL, and proof of reserves are three of the few things that meaningfully reduce that trust to something verifiable.

The practical takeaway

None of this means unlicensed or uninsured exchanges are unusable — most Australians use them every day. But if custody assurance matters to you:

• For the strongest protections, look first at exchanges with insured custody or an AFSL — in our data, that points to Independent Reserve, Coinbase and BTC Markets.
• Treat AUSTRAC registration as a minimum, not a guarantee.
• Consider moving long-term holdings you don’t actively trade into your own self-custody wallet, so no exchange failure can touch them.
• Read how we weigh these factors in our Trust Score™ methodology.

General information only — not financial or tax advice. Verified 2026-07-30; details can change.