By Staff Writer
Pepperstone has launched a dedicated spot cryptocurrency exchange in Australia, marking a notable step beyond its long-standing focus on CFD trading.
The new platform, branded Pepperstone Crypto, runs on a separate website and is currently available only to Australian users. The exchange went live on Thursday, following earlier comments from CEO Tamas Szabo, who first flagged the initiative last November at the AusCryptoCon conference.
At launch, Pepperstone Crypto is listing five cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and two US dollar-pegged stablecoins, USDC and USDT. All trading pairs are denominated in Australian dollars, with Pepperstone saying it expects to add more coins over time. The exchange is also launching with a flat trading fee of 0.1%.
Szabo said the rollout has been built around performance and reliability, particularly during high-volume periods, as well as secure deposit and withdrawal processes.
“The key focus areas have been ensuring deep liquidity, maintaining platform stability during peak trading, and supporting secure deposit and withdrawal processes,” Szabo said. “The team has worked carefully to address these considerations, allowing the launch to proceed as planned.”
Pepperstone has already offered crypto exposure through CFDs, but this move introduces a direct spot trading product. The company is maintaining operational separation between its core CFD business and the new spot exchange, even though Szabo noted that Pepperstone’s wider CFD operations, which process more than $6 billion in monthly crypto CFD trading volume, support the new platform’s liquidity and execution capabilities.
Pepperstone also said it has built its crypto infrastructure in-house, describing the approach as resource-intensive but giving the firm tighter control over execution quality, pricing, liquidity and system security.
Their entry into cryptocurrencies reflects a broader trend of CFD brokers moving into direct crypto trading as competition heats up and client demand shifts. Several major brokers have been exploring new crypto products, partnerships, or licensing routes as the industry expands beyond derivatives-only offerings.
