Crypto Risk Notice
Please read this notice carefully before you exchange cryptocurrency on our service. It describes the main general risks, but it does not and cannot cover every risk or circumstance connected with holding, exchanging or any other use of cryptocurrency. It should be read together with our Rules.Any dealings with cryptocurrency carry a significant risk of financial loss, so only use funds you can afford to lose completely. The risks include, but are not limited to, the following:
1. Rate changes and price swings
1.1. The price of cryptocurrency is formed purely by supply and demand on the market, and it can move much more sharply than the value of most ordinary national currencies or commodities.1.2. Because of this, the amount you finally receive may differ from the first estimate if the order is exchanged at the market rate (green mode) or if payment arrives after the fixed rate (yellow mode) has expired. The same applies when an order is put on hold for a review under our AML policy: while it is held, the rate may change in either direction.2. Irreversible transfers and mistakes in details
2.1. Blockchains are decentralized, so a transfer, once sent, may be impossible to cancel, and losses from fraud or from a mistaken transfer may not be recoverable.2.2. We process only funds that arrive for an order created on our website, through the API or another of our tools, to the address given for that order. We are not responsible for any mistaken transfer, including but not limited to funds sent to a wrong or inactive address, even if you used that address for earlier orders. Before you send, you are responsible for checking the recipient details, the network and the currency.2.3. If you ask, we will try to help trace a mistaken transfer and, where it is technically possible, return the funds in line with our Rules: the return goes to the details the funds were sent from, you pay the fees for the return and they are withheld from the amount, and we may decline a request as provided by the Rules. Claims must be made within one year from the date of the transfer; after that they are disregarded.3. Network failures, forks and connection problems
3.1. A blockchain can split into two separate networks (a “fork”). This happens when developers release an update to open-source software and it is not accepted by a substantial majority of miners or is incompatible with the previous version: one chain stays on the old code, the other moves to the new one, and they run in parallel but independently. If a substantial majority does accept the update, the network simply carries on without interruption. Forks have happened before and may happen again, and they can affect the viability or value of a cryptocurrency.3.2. If a fork happens, coins created by it may reach us from a transfer that our Rules do not cover. We have no obligation to users or third parties to track, store, return or forward such coins. Even so, if you ask, we will try to help find them and, where it is technically possible, pass them to their owner on the same terms as for mistaken transfers (see 2.3). Claims must be made within one year from the date of the fork; later ones are disregarded.3.3. An exchange also depends on the internet, hardware and software, which can fail. We cannot influence signal quality, internet routing, how your devices are set up or how stable your connection is, so because of such problems an order may be executed differently from your instructions, or not executed at all.4. Legal status and lack of oversight
4.1. Most cryptocurrency markets have no regulator. No central party exists that could protect a coin’s price in a crisis or change how many coins are issued.4.2. Laws on owning and exchanging cryptocurrency differ between countries and are sometimes vague, so it may be unclear whether a particular action is allowed. Whether a coin counts as property, an asset or a right of some kind depends on the jurisdiction. You must know and understand how the laws that apply to you, to your property, rights or assets restrict, regulate and tax the cryptocurrency you use.5. Unforeseen risks
5.1. Crypto and blockchain are young technologies. Beyond the dangers listed here there are others related to obtaining, holding, sending and using coins, including ones that cannot yet be predicted or that arise when the risks above combine in unexpected ways.