Risk Disclosure Statements
INTRODUCTION
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The Risk Disclosure Statement provides the Client with
information about the risks associated with Changer’s products, services and activities, Virtual Assets
generally and the Accepted Virtual Assets and Stable coins listed on Changer. Clients are strongly
advised to read this Risk Disclosure Statement carefully before deciding to use the
platform.
The risks outlined in this statement are not exhaustive and only describe the general
nature of the risks involved with holding Virtual Assets and Stable coins. The intention of this
statement is just to outline the risks, and not to discuss in detail all the risks associated with
holding Virtual Assets and Stable coins. Clients should undertake their own assessment as to the
suitability of holding Virtual Assets or Stable coins based on their own investigations, research and
based on their experience, financial resources and objectives.
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OVERVIEW OF GENERAL RISKS ASSOCIATED
WITH VIRTUAL ASSETS
The Risk Disclosure Statement addresses the risks that are
associated with transacting in Virtual Assets below:
(i) Virtual Assets are not Legal
Tender;
(ii) Loss of Value, Volatility and Uncertainty of Future Performance;
(iii) Market
Forces;
(iv) Financial Crime and Cyber Attacks;
(v) Availability of Virtual Assets;(vi) Technology
Risk;
(vii) Regulatory Risk.
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DISCLOSURES
A. RISKS RELATED TO THE SERVICES,
VIRTUAL ASSETS, AND ACCEPTED VIRTUALASSETS AND STABLECOINS
RISK OF LOSS IN TRADING VIRTUAL ASSETS CAN BE SUBSTANTIAL AND
YOU SHOULD,THEREFORE, CAREFULLY CONSIDER WHETHER SUCH TRADING IS APPROPRIATE FOR YOU INLIGHT OF YOUR
CIRCUMSTANCES AND FINANCIAL RESOURCES. YOU SHOULD BE AWARE OF THEFOLLOWING:
(i) Virtual Assets are not Legal
Tender
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Virtual Assets are not backed by any central government and do
not constitute legal tender.
There is no assurance that a person who accepts a Virtual Asset as
payment today will continue to do so in the future, and there may be no requirement for a person who
accepts a Virtual Asset as payment today to continue to do so in the future. Holders of Virtual Assets
put their trust in a digital, decentralized and partially anonymous system that relies on peer-to-peer
networking and cryptography to maintain its integrity, and neither vendors nor individuals have an
obligation to accept Virtual Assets as payment in the future.
(ii) Loss of Value, Volatility and
Uncertainty of Future Performance
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There may be limited fundamental reasoning behind the pricing of
Virtual Assets, creating the risk of volatility and unpredictability in the price of Virtual Assets
relative to fiat currencies. Virtual Assets have had historically higher price volatility than fiat
currencies with no or limited tangible underlying for price reference, allowing irrational and
exorbitant moves in price (which may even result in a Virtual Asset having no value) as the process for
valuation is speculative and uncertain.
Due to the additional risks involved, clients should
only invest in Virtual Assets if they are prepared to accept the risk of losing all of their investment.
Clients are advised not to transact in Virtual Assets if they are not familiar with it and to seek
professional advice, as appropriate.
(iii) Market Forces
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Trading in Virtual Assets may be susceptible to irrational
market forces, such as speculative bubbles, manipulation, scams, and fraud.
(iv) Financial Crime and Cyber
Attacks
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[Reconciliation and Statements]Changer shall conduct a daily
reconciliation of your Accepted Virtual Assets that Company holds on your behalf. Changer will not
physically send out statements, instead, you may view your near-real time statement at any time upon
logging into your Account. Please refer to Client Agreement for details of the statement.
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Financial crime and Cyber-attacks are more prevalent in the
context of Virtual Asset trading as the ecosystem is fully digital and devoid of traditional governance.
For example, a 51% attack is an attack on a blockchain by any Person or group of Persons who control
more than 50% of the network's mining hash rate. Attackers with majority control of the network can
interrupt the recording of new blocks by preventing other miners from completing blocks, altering
payment history and subverting funds.
Clients are susceptible to Malware and fake/hijacked
addresses and other forms of Cyber-attacks that holding Virtual Assets may pose and Clients should
always take care of passwords and double check the addresses and URLs before loading software.
Private keys may be hacked, stolen or lost. Due to the nature of Virtual Assets, whoever owns
the private key owns the relevant Virtual Asset. There is limited or (in some cases) no mechanism for
the recovery of lost or stolen Virtual Assets, and Virtual Asset transactions may be irreversible. Once
you send Virtual Assets to an address, there is a risk that you may lose access to, and any claim on,
those Virtual Assets either indefinitely or permanently because, for example, an address may have been
entered incorrectly. Losses due to fraudulent or accidental transactions may not be
recoverable.
Virtual Assets may be used to facilitate money laundering, terrorism financing or
other illegal activities.
(v) Availability of Virtual
Assets
Virtual Assets are required to be approved by the FSRA for
holding on the Platform. Such approval may be withdrawn at any time, in line with the FSRA’s supervisory
powers and obligations. Any Virtual Asset may be delisted at anytime without any notice or consent.
Similarly, any new Virtual Asset arising from a hard fork or similar changes to a Virtual Asset's
protocols will require approval by the FSRA prior to being available on the Platform.
(vi) Technology Risk
The software protocols that underlie Virtual Assets are
typically opensource projects, which means that (1) the development and control of such Virtual Assets
is outside of Changer’s control and (2) such software protocols are subject to sudden and dramatic
changes that might have a significant impact on the availability, usability or value of a specific
Virtual Asset.
These changes may include, without limitation, a "fork," a
"rollback," an "airdrop," or a "bootstrap." Such changes may have an
impact to the value of the Virtual Asset. Virtual Assets are dependent on new technologies, including
distributed ledger technologies for the purposes of, amongst other things, anonymity, irreversibility of
transactions, accidental transactions, transaction recording and settlement.
Transactions in
Virtual Assets on the blockchain rely on the proper functioning of complex software, which exacerbates
the risk of access to or use of Virtual Assets being impaired or prevented. Failing to acknowledge this
can prevent Clients from use/access to Virtual Assets.
(vii) Regulatory Risk
Many trading venues and Virtual Asset services are not
regulated, or subject to limited regulation, and Clients should choose counterparties after careful due
diligence. The regulation of Virtual Assets varies significantly between jurisdictions, including
between the ADGM and other parts of the UAE.
Any regulatory changes or actions by the FSRA or a
non-ADGM regulatory authority may adversely affect the use, transfer, exchange and value of a Virtual
Asset. Virtual Asset regulations may be subject to sudden and/or frequent changes, depending on the
jurisdiction concerned.
You further acknowledge the above list of risks is non-exhaustive and
there may also be unpredictable risks. Subject to applicable law and the terms of your agreement with
us, we are not responsible for any losses of any nature arising from your use of our services.
B. SPECIFIC RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH
STABLECOINS
Changer only acts as a custodian for Stable coin activities, and
in no case is an issuer, operator, manager nor by any means a beneficiary of a Stable coin. Therefore,
before conducting any transaction or trading in Stable coins, you should review the project page for a
detailed information and be aware of any particular terms and conditions of the particular Stable coin’s
issuer.
Stable coins are designed to be pegged to fiat currency collateralized 1:1. However,
Stable coins are not subject to any deposit insurance protection scheme, and the presence of fiat
currency reserves is nota guarantee for redemption. There is a possibility that the assets held in
reserves are not sufficient or may not be available for redemption at times of extremely high demand.
Volatility spikes in the market might lead to occasions where the price of a Stable coin deviates from
the underlying fiat currency.
Any regulatory changes or actions by the FSRA or a non-ADGM regulatory
authority may adversely affect the use, transfer, exchange and value of a Virtual Asset. Virtual Asset
regulations may be subject to sudden and/or frequent changes, depending on the jurisdiction
concerned.
You further acknowledge the above list of risks is non-exhaustive and there may also
be unpredictable risks. Subject to applicable law and the terms of your agreement with us, we are not
responsible for any losses of any nature arising from your use of our services.
(i) USDC SPECIFICRISKS
Launched in 2018, USD Coin (USDC) is one of the top fiat-backed
stable coins. USDC is a centralized token issued by Centre Consortium that was originally founded by the
companies Coinbase and Circle Financial. Each USDC is designed to be backed by USD collateral held in
reserve by leading regulated US financial institutions. Circle voluntarily publishes financial reports
on assets held in reserve, on a monthly basis. However, USDC are not subject to any deposit insurance
protection scheme, and the presence of a USD reserve is not a guarantee for redemption. There is a
possibility that the assets held in reserve are not sufficient or may not be available for redemption at
times of extremely high demand. As USDC is a token with a target of (price) stability which is said to
be secured by assets denominated in USD or that are equivalent of USD, there is a risk that, as a result
of controlling and regulatory rules to be imposed for such currency or assets, there may be unfavorable
changes in use, transfer and redemption of USDC or tax liability may be imposed upon USDC holders.
Centre Consortium decides on countries where USDC transactions will be supported or materialized or
eligibility and appropriateness of persons who are to perform transactions, there is a risk that the UAE
may be removed from countries supported and/or transactions by certain users with USDC may be blocked.
In such case, Changer may stop accepting, remove and/or close USDC for transactions. For further
information or support please contact Customer Support via email at [email protected]
Custody Disclosure Statement
All the definitions used below are defined in the Agreement
between you and Changer and must be read in conjunction with the Agreement.
SAFE CUSTODY PROVISIONS
1. [Protection] When your Accepted Virtual Assets are held in
Changer’s custody on your behalf, you shall be subject to the protections conferred by the Safe Custody
Rules in COBS Chapter 15 as provided under the FSRA Rules.
2. [Safe custody] Any Accepted Virtual
Asset received by Changer from Clients will be received and securely stored by Changer, whereas Changer
will be sole custodian of the private keys.
3.[Interest] Changer does not provide interest on the
Accepted Virtual Assets held on your behalf.
4. [Jurisdiction] Changer shall hold Clients’
Accepted Virtual Assets in the ADGM. Should Changer decide to hold Clients’ Accepted Virtual Assets
outside the ADGM, Changer will make prior disclosure to Clients via email that their Accepted Virtual
Assets would be held outside the ADGM and, if applicable, that the market practices, insolvency and
legal regime in that jurisdiction may differ from the regime applicable in the ADGM.
5.
[Segregation] Your Accepted Virtual Assets shall be held segregated from Accepted Virtual Assets
belonging to Changer.
6. [Pooling] Your Accepted Virtual Assets shall be pooled with other client
Accepted Virtual Assets into an omnibus wallet, therefore, your Accepted Virtual Assets are not
physically segregated from other clients’ Accepted Virtual Assets, but shall remain segregated from
Changers’ assets.
7. [Reconciliation and Statements] Changer shall conduct a daily reconciliation
of your Accepted Virtual Assets that it holds on your behalf. Please refer to the Agreement for details
of how statements may be accessed or obtained.
8. [Client Default] On an event of default or at
any time after Changer has determined, in its absolute discretion, that you have not performed (or
Changer reasonably believes that you will not be able or willing in the future to perform) any of your
obligations to it, Changer may immediately suspend your access to the Custody Service.