Terms - kitzen.io

1. Introduction

This page sets out the service terms for Kitzen account-holders. By sign in for a Kitzen website, you accept all of these terms. A reference in these Service Terms to ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘our’ means kitzen.io and its directors and officers.

Separate terms of use apply to website visitors. These Service Terms apply if you sing in Kitzen platform.

Kitzen is a service that enables its users to find others interested in trading cryptocurrencies for local currencies and vice versa. We do not facilitate the exchange of fiat currency for a digital currency, and we do not provide a digital currency exchange service. Kitzen does not purchase cryptocurrencies from, or sell cryptocurrencies to, its account holders.

We do not provide custody services, fiduciary services, or hosted wallet services.

Nothing on our website is intended to constitute legal or financial advice. The information on our website, and the posting and viewing of any of the information on our website, should not be construed as, and should not be relied upon for, legal, financial or taxation advice in any circumstance.

2. Posting offers

Kitzen users may post offers to buy or sell cryptocurrencies in exchange for local currencies. Offers on the marketplace are made publicly available, and can be viewed by anyone who accesses the website.

When an offer is displayed, we may also display symbols next to the offeror’s username such as a symbol to indicate the offeror’s trade activity, response rate, or standard hours.

Offerors can write their own terms and conditions of sale, which may be published with the offer or negotiated with the other party to the transaction.

Offers displayed on the Kitzen website have Kitzen fee priced into them by default, which is why buyers and sellers will see a different rate for the same trade. The prices you see are what you should expect to receive after Kitzen fee has been charged, however they are not inclusive of cryptocurrency network transaction fees.

You must not use Kitzen to advertise other products or services, such as gift cards, non-fungible tokens, precious metals, securities, real property or other real or virtual items. You must not advertise a cryptocurrency for sale that is not currently supported by the Kitzen platform. You must not use Kitzen to advertise buying or selling cryptocurrencies with a payment method that is not specified on the Kitzen website.

Kitzen reserves the right to delete or suppress offers from the marketplace at its discretion. Generally, it will delete offers if they appear to be forbidden, unlawful, non-genuine, fraudulent, spam or are otherwise misleading or incorrect.

3. Communications between parties

Kitzen users can communicate over the Kitzen platform.

It is the responsibility of a user to make and keep adequate records of communications, details of transactions and financial history to the extent that they are required to do so in their jurisdiction.

You must not be engage in communication with other Kitzen users which is offensive, abusive, unlawful, defamatory, indecent or inappropriate.

You acknowledge that we are unable to provide you with any other information about the identity of another Kitzen user other than what is made available to you on our website.

4. Trades of cryptocurrency

The parties of a trade are referred to as "buyers" (those who are interested in trading local currency for cryptocurrency) and "sellers" (those who are interested in trading cryptocurrency for local currency).

When trading with a user located with the aid of Kitzen services, payment instructions can only be communicated directly between the buyer and seller. We do not have any bank accounts that hold users' funds, nor do we facilitate or escrow any local currency payments between buyers and sellers. At no point during the course of a trade does the buyers' or sellers' cryptocurrency enter our possession (aside from any fees programmed into the escrow smart contracts and known to the users).

Transactions occur on a blockchain, and are regulated by smart contracts that negate the need for traditional escrow. The smart contract mechanisms work as follows:

- Ether (ETH) trades are conducted via the Ethereum distributed computing network, which we cannot and do not control. When a seller sends ether to a buyer during the course of a trade, the seller transfers ether directly to an escrow smart contract on the Ethereum blockchain. Kitzen cannot access ether held in escrow without explicit digital permission from the buyer or seller, and it is impossible for us to have ether directed to anyone other than the seller or the buyer as per the code of the open source smart contract.
- Bitcoin (BTC) trades are conducted via the Bitcoin protocol and network, which we cannot and do not control. When a seller sends BTC to a buyer during the course of a trade, the seller transfers BTC directly to an escrow script output on the public Bitcoin blockchain. The escrow script output can only be redeemed by the buyer or seller. Kitzen cannot access BTC held in escrow as per the code of the open source Bitcoin escrow script.
- Trades involving Litecoin, Dash, Bitcoin Cash, or other UTXO-based cryptocurrencies not specified, operate in a same or similar manner to Bitcoin trades, except that they are operated on their respective public blockchains or blockchain forks.

More information about the technical workings of the non-custodial cryptocurrency escrow mechanisms can be found on our website or blog.

The code of the smart contract mechanisms may change over time, for example to improve cost or computational efficiency, fix bugs, or to improve security. If you have a question pertaining to a smart contract escrow mechanism, we suggest that you contact us so that we can provide an accurate and up-to-date answer to your query.

5. Terms of the transaction

Once cryptocurrency is transferred into escrow, the trade should proceed in accordance with the terms agreed between the buyer and the seller. This will ordinarily require:

the buyer should transfer local currency to the seller using an agreed-upon payment method or service;

once local currency payment is received in full and in cleared funds, the cryptocurrency held in escrow must be released.
If the buyer does not represent that local currency payment is made within a defined time period, the escrow may be cancelled by the seller. The buyer may cancel the escrow at any time.

If you are the party selling cryptocurrency, it’s important to make sure you and the other party have agreed all relevant terms of the trade before you fund the escrow, as you will be charged a fee by the relevant cryptocurrency network to fund an escrow even if it ends up being cancelled.

Sales between buyers and sellers are subject to:

the payment of Kitzen fee;

the process for resolving disputes set out in these Service Terms; and the seller’s terms and conditions, or any other terms and conditions agreed between the buyer and the seller.
In the event of inconsistency, the higher in the list of terms prevails.

6. Security

You must comply with all reasonable security requirements prescribed from time to time by Kitzen.

7. Compliance with laws

You are solely responsible for ensuring compliance with all laws and regulations for the jurisdictions in which your transactions take place.

You must not engage in any activity which could violate, or assist in violation of, any law, statute, ordinance, or regulation, sanctions programs administered in the countries where we conduct business or operations, or which would involve proceeds of any unlawful activity.

You warrant that you will use the website and the services in compliance with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations governing Money Service Businesses or Cryptoasset Businesses or Virtual Asset Service Providers or similar applicable regulation of the jurisdiction you are operating in.

8. Risks associated with dealing with other users

Cryptocurrency transfers are irreversible. If you release or send cryptocurrency to somebody else, it is generally not possible for Kitzen, nor yourself, to recover the funds. This also applies to sending cryptocurrency to an incorrect address. You transfer any cryptocurrency at your own risk.

If someone gains access to your account and uses your wallet, we will have no way to recover your funds.

We strongly recommend that if you do not have a strong understanding of the underlying blockchain technology that supports cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum and Bitcoin, you do not use our services.

Cryptocurrencies can be subject to extreme price volatility. You should consider your financial circumstances and tolerance to risk before acquiring and trading in cryptocurrencies.

9. Disclaimer of warranties

Kitzen does not facilitate or provide brokerage, exchange, payment, escrow, custody, remittance or merchant services.

Kitzen is only an introductory and information service, and, to the maximum extent permissible by law, is not responsible for any actions of its users including, without limitation, representations by any users regarding funds (cryptocurrency or currency) having been transferred or any ownership of cryptocurrency or funds.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Kitzen does not guarantee the quality or fitness for purpose of its services. Kitzen is provided on an "as is" and “as available” basis and you agree to use it at your sole risk. While we strive to make the services available to you at all times, we do not make any representations as to the availability of the services, or that your access or use of the website will be uninterrupted or timely. There may be delays, failures, errors, omissions or loss of transmitted information.

We make no warranties, claims or guarantees related to any of our users, including but not limited to:

the merchantability or fitness of the user;
the identity of the user;
the location of the user;
the reliability and timeliness of the user;
the accuracy of any information the user presents;
the accuracy of any information we provide about the user.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we make no guarantees to the safety, reliability, availability or longevity of any of the data we collect or store.

10. Limitation of liability and indemnity

You indemnify Kitzen and hold Kitzen harmless against all loss, claims, actions, liability, damage, costs (including legal fees on a solicitor and client basis), expenses and penalties arising directly or indirectly from any action.

Under no circumstances, including in cases of gross negligence or fraud, are we liable to you for any consequential loss suffered by you (including any loss of profit).

11. Privacy

Personal information we collect about you through the services (if any) will be dealt with in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

12. Entire understanding

These Service Terms contain the entire understanding between the parties as to the subject matter of this terms.

13. Contact

Please send any other questions, comments, issues, or general correspondence via email to [email protected].