Ainslie Crypto Review: Crypto Brokers and Buy Gold in Australia

By Ben Knight July 16, 2024

Summary

Ainslie is one of Australia’s premier bullion and crypto brokers celebrating over fifty years in the industry. The team’s dedication to providing top-notch customer support, world-class security and high-quality products makes them a powerful choice for building a diverse investment portfolio.

Recognising the emerging crypto industry, in 2017 Ainslie brought their legendary customer service to the crypto market, becoming the first OTC in-person dealer in the country, offering an array of digital currencies and tokenised precious metals for regular and SMSF investors.

Ainslie is one of Australia’s premier bullion and crypto brokers celebrating over fifty years in the industry. The team’s dedication to providing top-notch customer support, world-class security and high-quality products makes them a powerful choice for building a diverse investment portfolio.

Pros

  • Provides Aussie investors a service to build their portfolios with both crypto and physical or tokenised precious metals
  • On top of normal banking payment methods, Ainslie utilises an Australia Digital Dollar (AUDD) payment gateway to avoid bank-imposed restrictions
  • In-person and virtual customer support
  • Customers can create an SMSF account to build a retirement fund
  • Over fifty years of experience in the finance and brokerage industry
  • Top-of-the-line security measures to ensure the safety of your assets
  • Offers both self-custody and secure storage

Cons

  • $5,000 buy minimum may be a little high for beginners
  • Not a huge range of altcoins available

Fees:

Included in purchase price, 2.5% when exiting lifetime cold storage - only applies to Storage Account customers.

Offices:

Melbourne & Brisbane

What is Ainslie Crypto?

Ainslie Crypto is an industry-leading crypto exchange located right here in Australia, with offices in Melbourne and Brisbane. The team has long specialised in bullion – offering gold and silver investment solutions to Australians for over 50 years. They have expanded to offer an AUSTRAC-registered crypto trading platform boasting a swathe of unique advantages. The broker has partnered with major Web3 players like Chainlink and Novatti to securely facilitate buying, selling, and swapping digital assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum and tokenised gold and silver. 

What Sets Ainslie Apart?

In-store Consults

Navigating online exchanges, especially for beginners to the cryptosphere, can be an anxiety-inducing experience. It’s not often that you find a crypto broker that offers in-person customer service – and that’s exactly what Ainslie Crypto hangs its hat on. The team has two local offices (Brisbane and Melbourne) open to customers, giving investors peace of mind through personal consultations. No bookings are required, and Ainslie welcomes customers to visit for a no-obligation chat.

Their website even has detailed parking information – just taking another stress away when visiting the Ainslie offices.

Dedicated Sales Consultant

Ainslie has built a reputation over fifty years for superb customer service, something that extends to their crypto customers thanks to a team of dedicated sales consultants. Accounts with the broker can receive personalised, one-on-one consultation from an Ainslie expert, helping both newcomers and Web3 aficionados build their digital currency portfolios and understanding.

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Ainslie Research

Ainslie Research stands out for its comprehensive market analysis and macroeconomic reporting. This includes daily news updates, expert interviews through ‘Ainslie Insights,’ and detailed ‘Ainslie Research’ presentations. Clients benefit from a deep understanding of the broader economic factors that influence the value of precious metals and crypto assets. Combined with a wide selection of Ainslie Bullion and world mint precious metal products, Ainslie Research provides an extensive industry network and a robust investment framework, ensuring clients make informed decisions and maximise their investment potential.

Tokenised Gold and Silver Offerings

Ainslie built its name across Australia with gold and silver bullion, and this is something that’s come along for the ride as the team expands into the blockchain world. For some, holding physical gold and silver is inconvenient (and sometimes impossible) – which is where Ainslie’s tokenised gold and silver by The Gold & Silver Standard comes into play.

Ainslie leverages the advantage of the blockchain to offer Gold Standard (AUS) and Silver Standard (AGS) tokens via its brokerage platform. Developed in 2019, these tokens are backed 1:1 by actual, investment-grade quality gold and silver which can be redeemed for physical gold or silver if requested. One token of AGS or AUS is worth one gram of the corresponding asset, held in a high-security vault within Australia.

Precious Metal Swaps

Ainslie is the first licensed Australian crypto exchange to offer direct bullion and crypto swaps since 2017. This means investors can easily swap their portfolio allocations from physical precious metals to cryptocurrencies. Investors can move between asset classes on a dime, a necessity in a fast-moving market like cryptocurrency.

High Daily Deposit Limits

Ainslie Crypto has some of the deepest liquidity of any Australian broker. The team can handle transactions up to AUD $20m – perfect for high net-worth investors or professional traders. 

SMSF Account

Adding digital assets to a self-managed super fund (SMSF) has grown in popularity among Australian investors of late. Ainslie Crypto are experts in this field, offering fully compliant SMSF accounts for those wanting digital assets like Bitcoin or gold in their retirement funds. With decades of experience assisting SMSFs with their investments, Ainslie’s Storage Account platform is specifically designed to meet SMSF reporting and compliance requirements.

Pricing and Costs

Ainslie Crypto’s fees are baked into their sale prices – meaning you won’t get hit with any nasty hidden fees when opening a portfolio or buying/selling digital assets. Users who prefer the convenience of custodial holdings can utilise Ainslie’s world-class cold storage account. The fees for the lifetime cold storage option are included as part of the initial purchase price.

Most impressively, accounts with lifetime storage can swap between assets without incurring any additional costs. There is a charge incurred when exiting the account, coming in at a competitive 2.5%.

The History of Ainslie Crypto

Ainslie’s brand was established over 50 years ago in 1974 as the Australian Bullion company, eventually rebranding as Ainslie Bullion. Over time, the team built a reputation as leaders of national gold and silver trade, eventually becoming one of Australia’s largest bullion providers.

In the past decade, the team expanded operations into the realm of crypto trading, offering several major digital assets and dedicated customer service. Because of Ainslie’s rich history and wide-ranging business operations, their platforms offer deeper liquidity and flexibility compared to many local competitors.

Ainslie made huge strides into the cryptosphere in 2017 when they became the country’s first Over-The-Counter crypto dealer. Taking a leaf out of their experience as bullion dealers, Ainslie Crypto added a personalised touch to buying and selling digital currencies. 

They took another leap a year later by launching the Gold and Silver Standard – a tokenised version of gold and silver backed 1:1 by the physical product. Each token represents one gram of the underlying metal and is insured, secured and verified in a high-security Australian vault.

Summary

Ainslie Crypto is a powerhouse of the Australian precious metals market, and they have put this reputation into becoming a top crypto broker in the region. The company’s flagship product is its tokenised gold and silver (AUS and AGS), giving traders the ability to seamlessly move across traditional and newer asset classes depending on the market. Ainslie’s dedicated customer service is perfect for newcomers to crypto trading, and the team’s extremely high deposit limits, SMSF support, and direct bullion asset swaps make it an excellent choice for seasoned investors.

You can get in touch with an Ainslie customer service rep via a contact form on their website.

Ben Knight
Author

Ben Knight

Ben Knight is a writer and editor from Melbourne with a passion for all things music and finance. He enjoys turning complex topics – especially the technical details of cryptocurrency – into digestible bites that anybody can understand. He acquired his Master’s in Writing, Editing and Publishing from RMIT in 2019 and has run his own creative writing business ever since.