General Terms & Conditions including Custody Agreement

General Terms & Conditions

For the Provision of Service by KuCoin EU

1              Introduction to this General Terms

General. These general terms and conditions ("General Terms") apply to the entire contractual relationship between KuCoin EU Exchange GmbH ("KuCoin EU", "Company", "we", "us" or "our") and our customers that have signed up and verified themselves ("User", "you" or "your"). The General Terms govern the use of KuCoin EU’s information intermediary service platform, including any website or mobile application for accessing the platform, and any services provided through the platform (collectively, the "Platform").

In certain cases, additional terms may be applicable to you in addition to the ones set out in these General Terms. These additional terms will be set out in service specific terms. In case of a conflict between the General Terms and any service specific terms, the service specific terms shall prevail.

1.1          Competent authority. The national competent authority in charge of supervision of the services regulated in these General Terms is the Austrian Financial Markets Authority (Finanzmarktaufsichtsbehörde, FMA).

1.2          Scope. KuCoin EU only provides the services explicitly stated in these General Terms and service specific terms in relation to Crypto Assets.

2              Definitions & interpretation

2.1          Definitions. In these General Terms, the following terms and expressions shall have the meanings ascribed to them below:

 

2.2          Interpretation. The headings of these General Terms are for convenience only and shall not be used for the purpose of interpreting these General Terms. References herein to any statement, term, condition, annex, schedule shall refer to statements, terms, conditions, annexes, and schedules hereunder.

2.3          Language. The Platform, the General Terms, service specific terms and all related documentation are provided and published in various languages. In case of any inconsistency or conflict, the German language version shall prevail.

Non-German versions may include certain German terms enclosed in brackets and written in italics. These are legal terms under Austrian law and shall have the meaning given to them under Austrian law.

3              Amendments of the General Terms

3.1          Notification and consent for changes to the General Terms and the service specific terms

Whenever we intend to implement a change, we will notify you on paper or on another durable medium about the proposed amendments.

Changes to these General Terms and the service specific terms will become effective upon the earlier of (i) your express acceptance of the amended General Terms (or service specific terms) or (ii) two months after the notification of the changes, unless you have objected to these changes.

3.2          Objecting to a change / termination of the contractual relationship

Whenever we notify you of any changes, we will also inform you, that (i) if you do not object in writing or on the Platform within two months after our notification to you, you will be deemed to have consented to the changes, and that (ii) you have the right to terminate the entire or parts of your contractual relationship that relate to the change without any notice period until the changes take effect. You will still have access to your Account during this period.

3.3          Exceptions for changes to services and fees

The preceding paragraphs do not apply to restrictions to the services of the Company and to the User's fees for existing products.

For the avoidance of doubt, if we introduce a new product or service that does not change our current General Terms and service specific terms, we may implement it immediately. We will inform you before you start using it.

4              Registering your Account

4.1          Registration process. Users must register and create a user account with the Platform before they may access and use the Platform services.

4.2          Document requirements. In order to be able to create an Account, you need either:

4.2.1          an official passport; or

4.2.2          an official ID issued by a country of the European Economic Area (EEA)

in each case which is valid, issued by a governmental agency and matches the name provided when registering the Account.

In order to be able to create an Account, you may also be requested by the Company to provide documents to verify your address.

4.3          User restrictions. You may not register an Account or use the Platform

4.3.1          if you are a natural person not acting in your own name;

4.3.2          if you are (i) younger than 18 years or (ii) do not meet the minimum age as is required under the laws applicable to you to become a User of KuCoin EU and/or use the Platform;

4.3.3          if you do not have the legal capacity to contract under the applicable laws governing you;

4.3.4          if you are a legal person operating in one of the following industries:

4.3.4.1               Sex and Escort Industry;

4.3.4.2               Armaments Manufacture and Trade;

4.3.4.3               Atomic Power/ Nuclear Energy;

4.3.4.4               Oil and Gas Extracting and Drilling;

Controlled drugs and substances;4.3.5          if you have your habitual residency or registered office located outside the EEA;

4.3.6          if you qualify as US-reportable citizen/resident/account according to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), including US citizens, US residents, Greencard holders or persons with dual citizenship with the US;

4.3.7          if you are a citizen of North Korea;

4.3.8          if you are subject to economic sanctions imposed by the United Nations, the European Union, a country in the EEA, the United Kingdom, or the United States of America;

4.3.9          if KuCoin EU has previously terminated your Account for cause (außerordentliche Kündigung).

KuCoin EU may at any time decide to restrict or suspend registration on the Platform by certain persons, residents or citizens of certain jurisdictions.

4.4          Verification of identity. You may only use the Platform after you have successfully completed the user verification and onboarding process and have accepted these General Terms and the Privacy Policy.

4.5          Up-to-date and complete information. You must provide documents and information for the registration and user verification process that are up-to-date, correct, and complete and you must not withhold any information that could potentially influence the user verification process or trigger any further due diligence. You must update this information or documents whenever it changes.

4.6          Term. Your contractual relationship with the Company starts when we accept you as a User and will run for an indefinite period.

4.7          One Account. Unless required or requested by KuCoin EU, you shall only have one Account, meaning you can only onboard once. If you have multiple Accounts, KuCoin EU reserves the right to suspend all your Accounts but one, and, where applicable, transfer, at your cost any assets deposited on your additional account(s) to your remaining Account.

4.8          Sub-Account. Within your Account you may open and maintain sub-accounts. Sub-accounts are displayed for visualization purposes only and are not separated on-chain. Sub-Accounts are designed for specific purposes, such as exchanging Crypto-Assets, maintenance of collateral, or other specific, product related functions.

4.9          No Account sharing or assigning. Subject to applicable law or otherwise with the express written consent of KuCoin EU, you may not assign or share your Account or any rights thereunder to any other person or use the Account of another person. This limitation does not apply to (i) monetary claims against KuCoin EU, (ii) any claims where KuCoin EU has no protection-worthy interest to prohibit the assignment; or (iii) claims where your legitimate interests in the transfer outweigh the interests of KuCoin EU to prohibit the assignment.

5              Funds / payment account

5.1          Users may deposit funds intended for the usage on the Platform to a designated account held in the name of KuCoin EU. For the avoidance of doubt, KuCoin EU does not operate any bank or payment accounts for Users.

5.2          KuCoin EU places the Users' funds with an EEA credit institution by the end of the business day following the day the funds were received.

5.3          One payment account. You need to link your Account with your payment account or payment method. Your payment account or payment method may only be linked to one Account.

5.4          Matching names. The name of the holder of a payment account or payment method must match the associated name of your Account.

5.5          EEA payment account. Only payments from a payment account within the EEA are permitted to be credited to your Account.

5.6          Limits. Certain daily, weekly and monthly limits may be applicable to fiat deposits and withdrawals, depending on your status.

6              License

6.1          Right to use. In accordance with and subject to your compliance with all provisions of these General Terms and service specific terms, KuCoin EU grants you a free-of-charge, limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable, and non-sublicensable license to access and use the functions of the Platform.

6.2          License scope. The license granted under this Section solely encompasses the right to use the Platform and the products and services for your personal use.

6.3          Reservation of rights. The Platform and any products of KuCoin EU are licensed to you and not sold. Except as expressly provided herein, no other right or license is granted by us (in particular, concerning our source code of the software) and all rights not expressly granted hereunder are reserved to us (or our licensors).

7              Account security & protection measures

7.1          You must keep your Account credentials confidential. You must take all necessary and reasonable measures to protect and secure your Account credentials and must not grant any third-party access to or control over your Account. We recommend creating a strong password for your Account that you do not use anywhere else, never allowing remote access or sharing your screen with someone else while you are logged in to your Account.

We strongly recommend to regularly monitor your Account history to detect and promptly report any unauthorised or unusual activities. A security breach could potentially lead to third parties gaining unauthorised entry to your Account, which might result in loss or theft of Crypto-Assets, funds in your Account or any linked accounts, such as bank account(s) and/or credit card(s).

7.2          What happens after a breach. If you become aware of or believe there has been any breach of security associated with your use of the Platform, you shall immediately notify KuCoin EU and you shall provide any information and support requested, to the extent reasonable. It is imperative that you adhere to the following procedures:

(A)          You shall immediately inform KuCoin EU of the suspected security breach using the Livechat or the following link. Additionally, you are required to continuously supply accurate and current information throughout the duration of the security breach.

(B)          You are required to modify your password if you suspect that your security information is known to an unauthorised party.

(C)          You shall undertake any further measures that we might reasonably request to mitigate, manage or report the security breach.

(D)          KuCoin EU may request any information or documents that we deem relevant or necessary related to the suspected security breach.

(E)          You may be asked to temporarily suspend the use of your Account and undergo verification before access is restored.

7.3          Authentication systems. In order to access the Account, Users are required to authenticate by providing their email address and password.

7.4          No access from unauthorised applications. You shall not access the Platform through any non-official or unauthorised third-parties, applications, websites or interfaces. You are solely responsible for any security risks and consequences resulting from such access. We encourage you to report any unauthorised or suspicious clients, applications, or websites purporting to be associated with us directly through our official support channels.

Should KuCoin EU's internal security systems detect any suspicious or fraudulent behaviour or other security threats to the User, KuCoin EU will inform the User thereof via email. Users have the ability to request from KuCoin EU the deactivation/freeze of their Account which would not allow the User to log into the Account, unable you to initiate any transactions and unable you to make any transfers. KuCoin EU will have automated procedures in place to immediately act on such User's requests. Please refer to this Article for information and instructions on how to support Users with a deactivated/frozen account.

7.5          Risk identification and minimization. KuCoin EU uses ongoing monitoring layers as well as regular compliance reviews and account reconciliation and conducts regular automated and manual system reviews and account reconciliation tests. Account reconciliation tests require the (ongoing) comparison of the on-chain wallets with KuCoin EU's internal register of positions, the so-called Off-Chain Information Ledger, thereby closely monitoring any potential misalignments.

7.6          Cybersecurity and digital infrastructure. KuCoin EU's cybersecurity framework is designed to protect its digital infrastructure from cyber threats. KuCoin EU uses multi-layered cybersecurity protocols and systems to minimise the risk of loss of Crypto-Assets. Threat detection systems are deployed to monitor suspicious activity.

7.7          Risk monitoring. KuCoin EU uses dedicated IT and process monitoring systems to identify the materialization of risks or threats. These monitoring systems trigger automated alarms with KuCoin EU should they identify any potential or already materialized risks.

7.8          External monitoring systems. KuCoin EU uses external third party providers for technical aspects of monitoring unhosted wallet verification according to Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 on information accompanying transfers of funds and certain Crypto-Assets ("EU Travel Rule").

7.9          SARs reporting. KuCoin EU adheres to strict reporting obligations under the EU Travel Rule. Suspicious activity reports are filed in line with KuCoin EU internal reporting procedure for any transactions flagged as suspicious.

7.10       (Cloud-)server infrastructure. KuCoin EU's IT operations are based on redundant (cloud-)server infrastructure. This helps to minimize the impact of unavailability on the IT-infrastructure and operation.

7.11       Security incident response. KuCoin EU has established a comprehensive security incident response plan to address potential security breaches and other incidents swiftly and effectively. KuCoin EU regularly tests this plan.

7.12       User notification mechanism. Users will be notified as soon as reasonably possible in the event of a security incident that affects their Crypto-Assets or in the event of suspected or actual fraud or security threats via its designated communication platform, unless such notification is prohibited by mandatory legal obligations, such as AML/CFT laws and regulations.

7.13       Access control. Access control security comprises of inter alia role-based access control, segregation of duty, restriction of private keys and multi-signature requirements. In addition, KuCoin EU uses further security measures like access backups, address restrictions, access monitoring and regular reviews.

7.14       Audits. Regular audits and asset balance reconciliations are conducted to confirm the accuracy of all records on your Crypto-Assets within the Platform.

7.15       Risk-based audit plan. An annual risk-based internal audit plan is set-up to find the most significant risks in a timely manner. The plan will be reviewed on a quarterly basis, addressing emerging risks and changes in the operational landscape.

8              Authentication & communication

8.1          Authentication systems. In order to access the Account, Users are required to authenticate themselves. Users can, at their own discretion, activate additional safeguards to protect their Account and their Crypto-Assets. KuCoin EU provides several technical means to increase the Account security through additional verification layers. We strongly encourage you to use these safeguards for your own security.

8.2          Mandatory additional safeguards. KuCoin EU reserves the right to request additional safeguards from you to protect your Account as far as legally required.

8.3          Instruction from the User. Any instruction, action, transaction, or request carried out using the Account, shall be deemed to have been made by the User, unless the misuse was caused intentionally (vorsätzlich) or by gross negligence (grob fahrlässig) by KuCoin EU.

8.4          Information. Information published on the Platform will be permanently available to the User, bearing in mind potential technical downtimes of the Platform. All other information relevant to the User will be provided to the User by (pop-up) notifications on the Platform or on a durable medium at the time it first arises or becomes relevant to the User.

8.5          Notification. The Company will inform the User without any unnecessary delay, if it becomes aware of or suspects any illicit behaviour or risks of fraud that pose a security risk to the User or the User's Crypto-Assets.

8.6          Communication channel. The Company uses different communication channels to provide Users with information. Users can primarily access all required information through the Platform at all times. Where required by law, the Company additionally provides Users with information on durable mediums (e.g. via email).

8.7          Customer support. In case of questions, Users can submit requests to the customer support via the Livechat on the Platform or via Help Center.

9              Obligations during your use of the Platform

9.1          During your ongoing use of the Platform, you must comply with the following obligations:

9.1.1          Name / address / contact data / citizenship. You must keep all information in your Account up to date and accurate and you will notify KuCoin EU without undue delay via the Platform of any change to such information (such as name, email address, telephone number, citizenship, postal address or habitual residency (Hauptwohnsitz)).

If you do not notify KuCoin EU about changes to your email or postal address, any notices we send to you will continue to be sent to the email or postal address provided in your Account and these shall be deemed properly delivered to and received by you if KuCoin EU was neither (i) aware of any new email or postal address; nor (ii) unaware of such an amendment due to gross negligence.

9.1.2          Acting for own account. You will only act in your own name and for your own account and create and use an Account only for yourself. Unless otherwise agreed with KuCoin EU, you will not act as an intermediary, broker, or trustee of any kind for any person (including shared legal or beneficial ownership of the Account or any Crypto-Asset deposited within your Account) or allow access of any kind to the Account to any person other than yourself. 

9.1.3          Provision of information. You shall promptly provide any information or documentation requested by KuCoin EU or other regulated financial institutions (such as payment services provider, e-money institutions, investment firms) associated with your use of the Platform and you shall not provide any false, incorrect, incomplete, and/or misleading information or documentation to KuCoin EU or other regulated financial institutions associated with your use of the Platform or otherwise attempt to deceive or mislead KuCoin EU or other regulated financial institutions associated with your use of the Platform.

9.1.4          Origin of funds. Upon request by KuCoin EU, you shall provide reasonable data or information, like bank statements or contracts, to prove the origin of your funds reasonably requested. It is not allowed to conceal the true origin of your funds by giving incorrect, incomplete, outdated, or misleading information to KuCoin EU or another regulated financial institution associated with your use of the Platform.

9.1.5          How to make a complaint and general enquiries. Complaints and general enquiries about our services can be made to the Customer Support Team. You can issue a formal complaint by using the standard template for complaints, which can be found here or pose a general enquiry via the live chat function on the Platform. More information on how to make a complaint can be found in the Complaints Handling Policy.

9.1.6          Loss of legal capacity. You will notify KuCoin EU without undue delay about any loss or restriction of your legal capacity to enter into binding agreements, as far as this is possible and reasonable.

9.1.7          Change of residency. In the event that a User changes their residency to a jurisdiction in which a specific product or service is not offered, the User must terminate such product or service prior to such change of residency.

9.2          Prohibited activities

9.2.1          No illegal activities. You shall not use the Platform for any activity prohibited by any law applicable to you or to KuCoin EU, including criminal, administrative or tax laws. This also includes any sort of interaction with the dark web, fraud cases, sanctioned entities and countries, any violations of anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) laws such as the violation of the obligation to disclose trust relationships as well as the failure to adhere to cease and desist instructions.

9.2.2          No manipulation or abuse of the Platform. You must not manipulate the Platform or use any anonymizing proxies, bots, spiders, or any automatic devices, programs, scripts, algorithms, or manual processes equivalent to automatic methods to access, obtain, copy, or monitor any part of the Platform, or circumvent or replicate the navigational structure or presentation of the KuCoin EU services.

9.2.3          No market abuse. Any form of market abuse under applicable law, including insider trading and market manipulation, is strictly prohibited on the Platform. Market abuse refers to activities that distort the price, demand, or supply of an asset, leading to an unfair advantage or deception of other participants. Market abuse is not only a breach of these General Terms but may also be subject to legal and regulatory action.

9.2.4          Further prohibited activities. You shall not use the Platform in any way, provide any information or content, or engage in any conduct in using the Platform that

(A)          is defamatory of any other person;

(B)          is obscene, sexually explicit or offensive;

(C)          advertises or promotes any other product or business;

(D)          is likely to harass, upset, embarrass, or alarm any other person;

(E)          is likely to disrupt the Platform in any way, or promotes discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age;

(F)           infringes any copyright, trademark, trade secret, or other proprietary right of any other person;

(G)          restricts or inhibits any other person from using the Platform, including, without limitation, by means of "hacking" or defacing any portion of the Platform;

(H)          disables, damages or alters the functioning or appearance of the Platform;

(I)             "frames" or "mirrors" any part of the Platform without our prior written authorisation;

(J)           harvests or collects information about other Users without their express consent;

(K)          sends unsolicited or unauthorised advertisements, spam, or chain letter to other Users of the Platform;

(L)           conduct frequent, intensive transactions with or without software or trading tools that are unauthorised by the Platform;

(M)          transmits any content which contains software viruses, or other harmful computer code, files or programs;

(N)          (re)produces, shares or otherwise promotes content of any kind that associates the Company with the offering of any unregulated E-Money Token or unregulated Asset-Referenced Token in any form (included but not limited to screen-shots, thumbnails or mockups showing the Company's logo or platform next to such un-regulated asset); or

(O)          advocates, promotes or assists any violence or any unlawful act.

10           Rights and obligations of KuCoin EU

10.1       Reaction to breaches. Besides our right to terminate your Account for cause, KuCoin EU may take steps to remedy any breach of these General Terms including but not limited to:

10.1.1      taking any steps you should have taken, for example, updating outdated information;

10.1.2      suspending your Account and/or disabling any exchange and investment functions over the Platform in accordance with Section 14; or

10.1.3      suspending or withholding pay-outs to your Wallets or bank account (for example where you do not provide the information required under the tax provisions applicable to you and KuCoin EU).

10.2       Disclosure of data to authorities. We may disclose any data relating to you and your Account (including all transactions made in the past in connection therewith) if required or requested to be disclosed by any court of competent jurisdiction or any governmental, banking, taxation or other regulatory authority or similar official body (for example in connection with criminal investigations). We reserve the right to cooperate with such authorities to the maximum extent possible.

10.3       Garnishment of your assets and funds. In the event your assets or funds are garnished, we may be obliged to dispose of these assets or funds in accordance with the instructions of the competent court, administrator, or authorised person and/or to lock or restrict your Account.

11           Delisting

11.1       Removal. De-listing a Crypto-Asset from the Platform means the removal of a Crypto-Asset from the Platform.

11.2       Occasions. KuCoin EU may de-list a Crypto-Asset from the Platform under certain conditions, including but not limited to:

11.2.1      Regulatory changes that affect the Crypto-Asset's legal status;

11.2.2      Insufficient market liquidity;

11.2.3      Security vulnerabilities or risks associated with the Crypto-Asset's blockchain.

11.3       Notification. KuCoin EU will notify Users in advance, outlining how the de-listing will affect their custodied Crypto-Assets and any open orders and will provide a timeline for completing or cancelling any remaining transactions involving the asset. This period will be at least 4 weeks after your notification, unless KuCoin EU is legally required to de-list earlier.

11.4       Need for action. During the de-listing period, you shall remove the Crypto-Asset from your Account, e.g. by selling or withdrawing it. After the end of the notice period, the Crypto-Assets cannot be further used, e.g. sold or withdrawn from the Platform.

11.5       Exchange. In case you fail to remove the Crypto-Asset from your Account, KuCoin EU will exchange the delisted Crypto-Assets for the equivalent amount of an E-Money Token (according to the market price at the time of exchange on the Platform) if market conditions permit. You have to pay the fees accordingly. Please note that this exchange process is expected to take two to three weeks.

11.6       Loss of value. If market conditions do not allow an exchange after the end of the notice period, no exchange will take place, and the value of such Crypto-Asset will become zero.

12           Forks

12.1       What is a Fork. A fork is a situation in which a blockchain splits into two separate chains temporarily or permanently. Forks are often an unintended but unavoidable occurrence during mining, where two chains following the same consensus rules temporarily have the same accumulated proof-of-work and are both considered valid. They can also occur due the use of two distinct sets of rules trying to govern the same blockchain. Forks can also be used intentionally in Crypto-Assets in order to add new features to a blockchain or to reverse the effects of hacking or catastrophic bugs on a blockchain.

12.2       No automatic support of a Fork. KuCoin EU does not automatically support Forks of any Crypto-Asset. KuCoin EU assesses each case, whether the forked Crypto-Asset can be listed on the Platform. KuCoin EU may decide in a commercially reasonable way not to integrate such new Crypto-Assets on the Platform.

12.3       Procedure in case of non-support. Users will be notified in advance in case of non-support of a Fork, where possible. KuCoin EU will determine in its sole discretion, whether and how to allocate any resulting assets.

12.4       Temporary trading suspension. KuCoin EU may temporarily suspend trading and withhold the affected Crypto-Assets.

13           Fees & payment terms

13.1       Transaction fees. You shall pay KuCoin EU the service fees charged for any fulfilled transaction. These transaction fees are set out in the Fee Schedule, which is available here. You will be informed about applicable fees before submitting any order on the Platform. 

13.2       Due date. Transaction fees owed to KuCoin EU become due once KuCoin EU accepts any order from you and fees are payable under the resulting transaction. If a different due date is set out in the transaction confirmation, this date shall apply instead.

13.3       Taxes. KuCoin EU qualifies its products as value added tax exempt. In the event of any changes to this status, whether due to alterations in legislation or differing interpretations by the tax authorities, any applicable value added tax will be imposed on KuCoin EU's fees henceforth.

13.4       Post execution information. For each successfully completed transaction, you will be provided with a confirmation about the transaction, including a description about the main features of the transaction, the price and applicable taxes or fees, on a durable medium (e.g. email). 

14           Termination / Blocking and suspension of your Account / reversing and cancelling of transactions

14.1       Termination for convenience

14.1.1      Your termination right. You may at any time terminate the entire contractual relationship with KuCoin EU by giving two weeks' prior notice to KuCoin EU.

In certain cases, you may not be able to terminate your Account. This is the case when (i) your Account is subject to freezing, suspension or blocking, (ii) you have outstanding amounts owed, or (iii) you have an open order on the Platform.

14.1.2      Our termination right. The Company may at any time terminate your Account or a service by giving two months' notice to you.

The Company will communicate and give such notice of termination to you in paper form or on another durable medium (e.g. per email).

14.2       Extraordinary termination for cause

14.2.1      Your termination right. You may at any time terminate your Account or a service with immediate effect for reasons that make continuing the contractual relationship with the Company unacceptable for you. In certain cases, as mentioned in Article 14.1.1 above, you may not be able to terminate your Account with immediate effect.

14.2.2      Our termination right. KuCoin EU may at any time terminate your Account or a service with immediate effect for reasons that make continuing the contractual relationship with you unacceptable for KuCoin EU. These reasons are, in particular, if:

(A)          we reasonably believe that you are or have been convicted or accused of (including any reasonably documented media reports or market rumours on) any breach or violation of criminal, administrative, regulatory or tax laws in any country of the world;

(B)          official investigations (by any competent public authority, in particular, but not limited to, any public prosecutors in the field of criminal law or tax agents) have been initiated or threatened against you with respect to any breach or violation of relevant criminal, administrative or tax laws in any country of the world;

(C)          we become aware or suspect that any assets or funds held in your Account may be associated with criminal proceeds or otherwise are not lawfully possessed by you;

(D)          we are unable to verify or authenticate any information you provided;

(E)          your actions may cause legal liability for you, the Platform and/or other Users of the Platform;

(F)          we are directed as such by any governmental or administrative authority or court order;

(G)          we are required to do so in order to comply with any (i) applicable law or regulations (in particular for AML/CFT purposes), (ii) internal guidelines based on such law or regulation, (iii) any request by a court or other authority, or (iv) any applicable sanctions programme;

(H)          you breach any of your obligations (especially the obligations in Section 9) under these General Terms or any service specific terms;

(I)            you engage or try to engage in behaviour that could damage the integrity of KuCoin EU or could damage KuCoin EU's other users (e.g. engaging in behaviour that could be construed as market manipulation, fraud, money laundering or terrorism financing or similar);

(J)           you cease to act in your own name and for your own account with respect to your Account;

(K)          you lose your legal capacity to act (including your death), in which case your Account and all transactions may be suspended until it is clarified who may dispose of the Crypto-Assets and funds in your Account in accordance with applicable laws;

(L)            you do not comply with any applicable AML/CFT laws or regulations, in particular the EU Travel Rule; or

(M)         we are otherwise required to do so by applicable law.

14.3       Temporary measures - blocking/freezing/suspending functions

14.3.1      Our right to take temporary measures. KuCoin EU may apply temporary measures including Account suspension, transaction freezing, or service restrictions for reasons including but not limited to: (i) security checks, (ii) ongoing AML/CFT investigations (including EU Travel Rule checks), (iii) unverified or outdated user information, (iv) regulatory requests, (v) legal disputes, (vi) technical malfunctions or third-party service disruptions or (vii) succession upon death of a User.

14.3.2      Market protection. To protect the integrity of the Platform, KuCoin EU will monitor for erroneous or abnormal orders that could destabilize the market. If any suspicious orders are detected, they may be paused or rejected.

14.3.3      Examination of the existence of cause. If any cause for an extraordinary termination is suspected, the Company shall conduct an objective and factual examination to determine whether the suspicions are substantial.

During this examination the Company may, temporarily or permanently,

(A)           block certain services (this means you cannot use a particular service, e.g. withdrawals);

(B)          freeze certain services of your Account (this means disabling all deposits/withdrawals and transfers of Crypto-Assets); and/or

(C)          suspend your Account as a whole (this means you cannot access your Account).

14.3.4      Examination of tax acquisition data for Austrian tax residents. Austrian tax legislation requires KuCoin EU to ask Users who are subject to unlimited tax liability in Austria for data on the acquisition costs and acquisition date of the Crypto-Asset (e.g. deposit of Crypto-Assets or change of residence). KuCoin EU may be required to examine the provided data from you and may request additional information in this context. You may provide the tax acquisition date only once, meaning that it cannot be corrected, amended or changed by you at a later point.

14.3.5      Blocking or freezing. In certain cases, KuCoin EU is required to collect additional information from the User and verify the provided data (e.g. examination of acquisition costs for tax purposes). Until (i) you have provided the required correct and complete information or (ii) you have confirmed irreversibly that you opt-out of providing such data, KuCoin EU may, temporarily or permanently,

·            block certain services (this means you cannot use a particular service, e.g. exchange of Crypto-Assets to funds); or

·            freeze certain services of your Account (for example disabling all deposits/withdrawals and/or transfer of Crypto-Assets).

14.3.6      Suspension lifting. KuCoin EU will lift the lock or freeze, or complete a suspended, reversed, or blocked transaction once such reasons no longer exist. However, KuCoin EU is under no obligation to permit you to execute a new transaction at the same price or on the same terms as the suspended, frozen, or blocked transaction.

14.4       Reversing / Cancelling of specific transactions

A transaction can be cancelled or reversed by KuCoin EU, if:

14.4.1      it resulted from an identifiable interruption or malfunction of execution, settlement or communication system;

14.4.2      it was executed by any Account that has been hacked by unauthorised users, and we determine in good faith that cancellation of the transaction shall be in the best interest of the User or the Platform;

14.4.3      KuCoin EU has the right to extraordinary terminate your Account according to Section 14.2;

14.4.4      we believe it is necessary to protect the security of the Account;

14.4.5      it is suspicious, unauthorised or fraudulent, including without limitation in relation to money laundering, terrorism financing, fraud or other illegal activities;

14.4.6      we are directed as such by any governmental or administrative authority; or

14.4.7      we are otherwise required to do so by applicable law.

14.5       Notice of cause. In case we use any of the measure described in this Section 14 (e.g. terminate the contractual relationship, use a temporary measure or reverses or cancels a transaction) we will inform you of such proceeding in paper form or on another durable medium (e.g. per email), unless it would be unlawful of us to do so. The Company is not obligated to disclose to you any findings or information.

14.6       Succession upon your death. Upon receipt of an official death certificate or proper legal proof of succession, KuCoin EU will work with the deceased User's heirs or executors to transfer any remaining assets in accordance with applicable probate and inheritance laws.

15           Consequences of a termination

15.1       Withdrawal of assets. After a termination of your Account, irrespective of whether the termination was initiated by us or you, any open transactions or positions will be closed. You are obliged to withdraw all assets promptly after a termination, unless either you or KuCoin EU are not able to withdraw under applicable law (e.g. compliance with sanctions or court orders). Each withdrawal is subject to prior full settlement of any outstanding receivables and any amounts of withholding tax, that KuCoin EU is or was required to deduct based on applicable tax laws.

For the avoidance of doubt, if only specific parts of the contractual relationship are terminated (e.g. exchange of certain Crypto-Assets) the withdrawal obligation only applies to the associated asset.

15.2       Restricted access and disposal rights after termination. If assets remain in your Account after termination, you can withdraw or transfer your assets out of the Platform within one month. During this period, your Account is still accessible but restricted from other activities. Any sale or transfer of assets post-termination is subject to the approval of the compliance department of KuCoin EU.

15.3       Closing of Account. After the one-month period, your Account will be closed. If there are still assets in your Account, please contact the HelpCenter in order to dispose of your assets. You will be informed in paper form or on another durable medium about these consequences.

15.4       Sale and legal deposit. If you fail to dispose of your assets within one month after the termination date, we are entitled, after prior notification of you on a durable medium, to:

(A)          sell any Crypto-Assets at the prevailing market prices and transfer the proceeds of the sale (after deduction of any applicable fees and taxes (as applicable) in connection with the sale) to your Account;

(B)          transfer any funds in your Account (including potential proceeds of sales according to Article A above) back to the payment account you have registered with us; and/or

(C)          deposit your assets or funds with a court (gerichtliche Hinterlegung) at your expense, whereas you will be informed about such deposit.

You will be informed in paper form or on another durable medium about these consequences. For the avoidance of doubt, KuCoin EU shall not be liable for any loss of profit resulting from any action in this Section.

15.5       Fees. The Company may charge a custody fee of 0.1% per month per asset or funds held in custody, if assets or funds remain in your Account within one month after the termination date. 

The Company will charge a minimum fee of the equivalent of EUR 1.00 per month and a maximum of the equivalent of EUR 25.00 per month per terminated Account.

The balance of your Account cannot become negative. If the custody fee would lead to your Account becoming less than EUR 0.00, only the remaining assets will be deducted.

15.6       Survival. Any provisions that ought to survive termination to settle any rights or obligations shall continue to apply after termination of your Account until all such rights and obligations have been settled.

16           Updates and support

16.1       Updates. KuCoin EU regularly updates and releases new versions of the Platform. To use the latest functions of the Platform you will need to update to the newest version.

16.2       Support. KuCoin EU provides support services through the Help Center.

17           No right of withdrawal

You do not have the right of withdrawal for Crypto-Assets traded at a distance, as the price of the Crypto-Assets depends on fluctuations in the financial market over which we have no control, and which may occur within the withdrawal period.

18           Collateral / Liens / Set-off

18.1       Set-Off. The Company may at any time set-off any rightful, due and unpaid monetary claim, the Company has against you with any rightful, due and unpaid monetary claim you may have against the Company. 

18.2       Collateral. The User grants the Company a lien for all claims pursuant to Section 18.3 on all of the User's assets and rights of any kind, including all Crypto-Assets and Fiat Money that are held or come into the possession of the Company with the User's consent. 

18.3       Subject of security interest. The lien secures all claims of the Company against the User arising from the entire business relationship, including conditional, time-limited, contingent or not yet due claims.

18.4       Creation of Collateral. The lien arises at the time the Collateral comes into the possession or control of the Company, provided that the secured claims exist at that time. If such claims do not yet exist, the lien arises at the time such claims subsequently come into existence.

18.5       Release of Collateral. Upon the User’s request, the Company shall release Collateral, provided there is no legitimate security interest in such Collateral.

18.6       Realisation of Collateral

18.6.1      Conditions. Realisation requires that the secured claim is due and that the right of realisation exists under contractual and statutory provisions. The User must be notified with the intended realisation and informed of the amount of the secured claim. At least one month must elapse between such notice and the actual realisation. This period may be waived if prior notification is impracticable, in particular due to the unknown whereabouts of the customer. In such cases, the one-month period begins on the due date of the claim. Earlier realisation is permitted if otherwise a material and permanent loss of value threatens that threatens the Company’s ability to satisfy its claim.

18.6.2      Sale. Collateral that has a market or exchange price shall be realised by the Company in accordance with §§ 466a et seqq. ABGB by private sale at such price on a trading platform or exchange (including the Platform).

18.6.3      Enforcement and extrajudicial auction. The Company shall also be entitled to enforce the collateral through execution or, if no market or exchange price exists, to have it publicly auctioned by a duly authorised third party. The time and place of the auction, as well as a general description of the Collateral, shall be publicly announced. The User shall be notified accordingly.

18.7       Right of retention. The Company shall be entitled to withhold its performance obligations towards the User due to claims, even if such claims are not based on the same legal relationship.

19           Warranty

19.1       The statutory liability for defects under Austrian law (Gewährleistung für Mängel) applies to the provision of the Platform.

19.2       KuCoin EU's services are generally available at any time, except in case of (planned and unplanned) interruptions. Technology-based systems such as the Platform require (planned and unplanned) maintenance and development work and such work interruptions to the systems are necessary and inherent to the system. During the period of such interruption, the use of the Platform may be limited or entirely suspended and therefore the purchase, sale, use or transfer of Crypto-Assets may also be delayed or disrupted.

19.3       Despite efforts to provide uninterrupted services, there may be occasions where services are disrupted due to the following instances, but not limited to:

19.3.1      System maintenance: Regular maintenance to enhance system performance or security;

19.3.2      Unexpected outages: Technical or infrastructure issues beyond the control of KuCoin EU, such as server failures, cybersecurity threats, or network outages;

19.3.3      Liquidity providers of KuCoin EU halt trading;

19.3.4      Non-availability of reliable market prices either for a specific Crypto-Asset or a number of Crypto-Assets;

19.3.5      the Austrian Financial Markets Authority (Österreichische Finanzmarktaufsicht) or another competent authority requests the discontinuation of exchanging of one or more Crypto-Assets based on its regulatory mandate; or

19.3.6      Force majeure: Events such as natural disasters, regulatory changes, or other unforeseen circumstances that disrupt normal operations.

19.4       Interruptions will not be considered a defect (Mangel) under Austrian law, if the interruptions are caused by:

19.4.1      Planned maintenance work, updates or upgrades that will not only temporarily limit the functionality of the Platform or cause it to fail, which will be communicated to you in a suitable manner (for example, by email or on the Platform) with reasonable advance notice, at least 3 working days. Such maintenance work will be completed as soon as possible, but at least within one week; or

19.4.2      Unplanned maintenance work that is necessary due to technical defects or unforeseen and uncontrollable events. This work will be carried out as soon as reasonably possible.

20           Limitation of liability

20.1       Liability for providing custody of Crypto-Assets. KuCoin EU shall be liable to you for the loss of any Crypto-Assets or of the means of access to the Crypto-Assets as a result of an incident that is attributable to KuCoin EU. The liability of KuCoin EU shall be capped at the market value of the Crypto-Asset that was lost, at the time the loss occurred according to Art 75 para 8 of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR).

KuCoin EU shall not be liable to you for any loss as a result of an incident that is not attributable to KuCoin EU. Incidents not attributable to KuCoin EU include any event in respect of which KuCoin EU demonstrates that it occurred independently of the provision of the relevant service, or independently of the operations of KuCoin EU, such as a problem inherent in the operation of the distributed ledger that KuCoin EU does not control.

20.2       Limitations for claims for damages. The Company shall only be liable for claims for damages (Schadenersatzansprüche) caused intentionally (vorsätzlich) or by gross negligence (grob fahrlässig) either by the Company or by an agent which is used for providing the services of the Company (Erfüllungsgehilfe).

In case a damage is caused by slight negligence (leichte Fahrlässigkeit), the Company shall only be liable

(A)          for physical damages to persons (Personenschäden);

(B)          for damages to items accepted for processing;

(C)         for damages due to the absence of a guaranteed characteristic (zugesicherte Eigenschaften);

(D)         according to the Austrian Product Liability Act (Produkthaftungsgesetz); and

(E)          for damages resulting from the breach of a material contractual obligation (Hauptleistungspflicht) if the damage was reasonably foreseeable for the Company at the time of the conclusion of the contractual relationship or the transaction.

For the purposes of this sub-paragraph (E), a material contractual obligation is an obligation that makes the proper execution of a contract possible in the first place and on whose compliance a User regularly relies on and may rely on. In the case of KuCoin EU, this concerns the purchase and sale or transfer of Crypto-Assets and the obligation to take into custody, administer or secure Crypto-Assets for the Users of KuCoin EU via the Platform.

20.3       Exclusion of claims for damages due to AML/CFT prevention. You cannot claim damages if the Company or its employees, delays or declines to carry out a transaction due to negligent unawareness that the suspicion of (i) money laundering, (ii) terrorist financing or (iii) a breach of the obligations to act on your own behalf and disclose the beneficial owner of a transaction, was false or where such delay/decline was caused by law and/or instruction of an authority, as defined in Section 19 of the Austrian Financial Markets Anti-Money Laundering Act (Finanzmarkt-Geldwäschegesetz) or where such delay/decline was caused by law and/or instruction of an authority.

20.4       Exclusion of claims for damages. The Company shall not be liable for any loss, damage, or unauthorised transactions resulting from (i) the User’s disclosure, sharing, or negligent handling of such credentials, whether intentional or unintentional; or (ii) theft, loss, or compromise of credentials due to the User’s failure to implement adequate security measures.

20.5       Risks. The use of the Platform and certain transactions carry risks that are beyond our control and we shall have no liability for such risks. A non-exhaustive list of these risks is set out in the Risk Disclosure Statement. Other product-specific risks may also be present and in some cases, these are set out in the specific service specific terms.

21           Tax obligations

21.1       Personal tax implications. You should consult a tax advisor (i) about the tax and economic consequences in connection with using the Platform and holding, transferring and/or exchanging Crypto-Assets and (ii) to ensure that you are able to take all steps required to comply with all applicable tax laws when using the Platform.

Tax consequences often depend on the tax laws of the country where you are a tax resident at. If the Company is not obliged to withhold any taxes by law and/or such withholding does not constitute final taxation under the applicable tax laws, you are solely responsible to comply with all national and international tax laws.

Benefits or rewards granted by KuCoin EU may be subject to income tax or other taxes for you but out of scope for withholding tax purposes. You are solely responsible for payment of all such taxes and for disclosure to third parties and tax authorities. KuCoin EU will never be liable for any tax liabilities, levies or other charges in connection with such benefits or rewards granted to you.

21.2       Tax withholding obligation. KuCoin EU may be obligated to withhold taxes on your behalf from income received or transactions performed on your Account and will withhold taxes on all relevant income, including but not limited to rewards received and taxable capital gains, and other forms of income as prescribed by tax laws, regulations and administrative practice. The applicable tax rates and the method of calculation will be determined in accordance with the applicable laws, regulations and administrative practice applicable at the time a taxable event occurs.

In certain instances, the tax legislation provides options to be exercised by the withholding agent for purpose of application to withholding tax. Information on applicable withholding tax rules, KuCoin EU's approach to apply such rules and how KuCoin EU's handling affects your withholding tax position, can be found in the Article.

If any taxes that are attributable to the User have not been withheld and are subsequently assessed or required to be paid by KuCoin EU by any competent authority, the User shall fully indemnify and hold KuCoin EU harmless for the amount of such taxes.

21.3       Customer obligations. You are required to provide KuCoin EU with all necessary information and documentation in a timely and complete manner in order to facilitate the accurate calculation and withholding of taxes. This includes, but is not limited to, tax residency status, information on exit taxation events and any other relevant details.

In case of any changes that may affect the obligation to withhold taxes (e.g. change of tax residency, change of address or citizenship) you are required to immediately notify KuCoin EU directly on the Platform and upon request provide additional information and/or appropriate documentation required for KuCoin EU to fulfil its obligations as withholding agent. Please note, that the information once provided is irrevocable and may not be changed for one occasion on the Platform at a later point in time. In some cases, it may be possible to correct the tax treatment in your personal income tax return. Please contact your tax advisor for further information.

In case you do not provide the required information, and due to this KuCoin EU suffers any damages because it cannot perform its obligations as withholding agent properly, you are liable to KuCoin EU for the unpaid withholding tax.

21.4       Deduction of funds during tax calculations. In general, calculating the withholding tax may take up to 24 hours beginning with the taxable event for an individual transaction. For the time of this calculation process, a portion of the proceeds from each taxable transaction may be deducted and reserved for tax payments. Upon determining the withholding tax, any amounts blocked in excess will be credited to your Account.

Notwithstanding the above, in case of exit taxation events (i.e. circumstances that lead to a restriction of a jurisdiction's right of taxation in relation to other jurisdictions with regard to funds or Crypto-Assets), calculating the withholding tax may take up to 24 hours beginning with the notification of change on the Platform. For the time of this calculation process, a portion of your funds may be deducted. Upon determining the withholding tax, any amounts deducted in excess will be credited to your Account. A more detailed explanation and an example, of how this affects you can be found in the Article.

21.5       Authorisation to make choice of consumption for Austrian tax residents. As provided for in Section 3 no 1 Austrian cryptocurrency regulation (Kryptowährungsverordnung, "Austrian Cryptocurrency Regulation") you are irrevocably authorizing KuCoin EU to elect which units of a Crypto-Asset to sell or transfer first, if at the time of the sale or transfer you have units of a Crypto-Asset that were acquired by you before 28 February 2021 ("Old Assets") and units that were acquired after this date ("New Assets") in your Account.

For purposes of determining the order of consumption, KuCoin EU in principle applies the First-In-First-Out (FIFO) principle based on the tax-relevant acquisition date of the Crypto-Assets when Users, who are Austrian tax residents, sell, transfer or otherwise realize Crypto-Assets. Accordingly, units of a Crypto-Asset acquired or received first shall be deemed to be the first to be sold, transferred or otherwise realized, unless explicitly provided otherwise by applicable law or regulatory guidance.

All unites of the same Crypto-Asset are considered as one position, regardless of which sub-account they are displayed on the Platform. A more detailed explanation and an example, of how this affects you can be found in the Article.

21.6       Gross-up. In case any taxes for Users, who are Austrian tax residents, are withheld in Crypto-Assets and not Fiat Money, the Crypto-Assets used for this purpose are also considered to have been sold, and the increase in its value is subject to capital gains tax.

21.7       Tax treatment in case of a relocation to Austria. The Company will treat all assets held on the Platform at the date of the notification of KuCoin EU of your relocation to Austria as taxable assets for purpose of Austrian withholding tax. This means that the value of the asset at the time of the notification of your relocation to Austria will be the basis for any subsequent taxable event under Austrian tax laws. KuCoin EU will not accept any tax acquisition data from you, in particular in order to prove that certain Crypto-Assets are grandfathered and treated as Old Assets under the Austrian Cryptocurrency Regulation.

22           Governing Law

The contractual relationship between KuCoin EU and you and every transaction shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Austria excluding (i) the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the International Sale of Goods as well as (ii) the conflict of law rules of Austrian private international law.

The governing law shall apply only to the extent that it does not restrict any mandatory statutory provisions of the EEA state in which you reside.

23           Miscellaneous

23.1       No waiver of rights. The failure of the Company to enforce or to exercise, at any time or for any period of time any term of or any right or remedy arising in connection with the Platform shall not constitute, and shall not be construed as, a waiver of such term or right or remedy and shall in no way affect the Company's right to enforce or exercise it later, provided that such right is not time barred, expired or precluded.

23.2       Notifications. Notifications which need to be made to KuCoin EU may be made on a durable medium or electronically (for example, by email or via the Platform) to KuCoin EU, unless explicitly stated otherwise. KuCoin EU does not accept any notifications via social media or messenger (for example telegram).