Risk Disclosure

Crypto is risky. Before you use our services, we want you to know exactly how.

This page sets out the main risks of holding crypto-assets and of using Tria Bridge. It is written to be read, not filed away. Please read it.

1. Start here

You can lose everything. Crypto-assets are volatile and speculative. An asset can lose all its value and become worthless, permanently, and without warning.

Nobody will make you whole. Crypto-assets are not deposits or financial instruments. The Investor Compensation Fund, deposit guarantee schemes and similar client-protection mechanisms do not cover crypto-assets or the services on this page.

Transactions cannot be undone. Once a transaction reaches the blockchain, neither we nor anyone else can recall, cancel or reverse it.

Our licence is not an endorsement. We are authorised and supervised as a service provider. That says nothing about whether any particular crypto-asset is sound, or whether you will make money.

Only commit what you can afford to lose, and don’t put it all in one asset, one chain or one provider.

If you are not comfortable with all five of those statements, don’t proceed.

This is not a complete list. No document can describe every risk of every asset, and this one knows nothing about your finances, your goals or how much risk suits you. Read it alongside our General Terms and Conditions, our Custody Regulations and any agreement you have signed with us. Those documents govern, and defined terms carry the meaning given there.

2. Market risk

Crypto-asset prices are set solely by supply and demand. They can move sharply and without notice in response to sentiment, news, regulation, macroeconomic events, technical developments or market manipulation, and they trade continuously, including outside business hours, when you may be unable to react. Past performance tells you nothing about future performance. Many crypto-assets are issued by early-stage or unproven projects and carry a correspondingly higher risk of total loss.

Crypto-asset markets are not subject to the same protections against market abuse and manipulation as traditional financial markets. Price information may be incomplete, inconsistent between venues, or unreliable.

Any prices, valuations or statements we display are indicative only, are drawn from sources we consider reasonable, are not binding, and may differ from prices actually obtainable.

3. Liquidity risk

There is no guarantee that a market will exist for a crypto-asset when you want to exit. Some assets may become illiquid or entirely untradeable, meaning you may be unable to sell, transfer or convert at your preferred time or price, or at all. Illiquidity is most likely precisely when you most want to act, during market stress, high volatility or system outages.

4. Stablecoins and other referenced tokens

E-money tokens and asset-referenced tokens are not risk-free and are not the same as holding the currency or asset they reference. They depend on their issuer’s solvency, reserve management, redemption arrangements and continued regulatory permission. A token may trade below its reference value, temporarily or permanently, and redemption may be suspended, delayed or refused. Tokens referencing a currency other than your own additionally expose you to exchange-rate risk.

5. Technology and blockchain risk

Crypto-assets exist on blockchains we neither own nor control, and we give no warranty as to their security, performance, availability or continuity. Software defects, congestion and delays, protocol failure, chain reorganisations and majority (“51%”) attacks can all disrupt transfers or destroy an asset’s value.

Blockchains may also undergo hard forks, chain splits, upgrades or governance changes that alter the function, designation or value of an asset, or create new ones. Whether we support a forked or newly created asset is at our sole discretion, and we are not obliged to support it or to notify you.

6. Custody, security and access risk

We safeguard the assets we hold using segregation from our own assets, hot/cold wallet architecture, hardware security modules, multi-party computation, multi-person authorisation, and key backup and recovery. No safeguard is absolute. Cyberattack, insider action, physical intrusion or key loss can delay access to your assets or destroy them permanently.

Your own security is your responsibility. Keep credentials, authentication devices, e-mail accounts and the devices you use to reach us secure. Phishing, malware, SIM-swap and social engineering can lead to unauthorised transfers that cannot be reversed, and where an instruction arrives with valid credentials, we may act on it.

Fraud is prevalent in this sector. Impersonation of our staff, fake support channels and pressure to move assets to a “safe” or “recovery” wallet are common. We will never ask you to send assets to a wallet outside your own account, and no provider can guarantee absolute protection against fraud.

7. Segregation, pooling and insolvency risk

Your assets are held separately from ours, either on a wallet assigned to you alone (segregated custody) or pooled with other clients’ assets with your entitlement recorded in our books (omnibus custody).

In pooled custody, tracing or recovering specific assets may be difficult or impossible, and any shortfall is shared among affected clients proportionally, which may mean partial compensation only.

In either model, if we become insolvent or suffer an operational or legal failure, the return of your assets may be delayed, reduced or subject to insolvency and regulatory processes. Full recovery cannot be guaranteed, and you may bear the costs of segregating and returning your assets.

8. Third-party and sub-custody risk

We rely on third parties, including sub-custodians, technology and cloud vendors, banking and payment providers, screening providers, liquidity providers and trading venues. Their failure, insolvency, cyber-compromise or withdrawal of support may affect your ability to access, transfer or recover assets, despite our due diligence.

You have no direct contractual relationship with a sub-custodian, and we can pass on only the rights we ourselves hold. Assets held at a third party may be exposed to that party’s creditors, liens or set-off rights, or to local-law restrictions, and recovery may be partial and shared proportionally.

9. Operational and execution risk

System malfunctions, human error, communication failures, maintenance and third-party outages can cause loss, delay or error. Instructions may be delayed, held for manual review or rejected, and we do not guarantee execution timing or completion. Prices can move between submission and execution, so you may receive a worse price than indicated (slippage). Once accepted, an order generally cannot be cancelled or amended.

You are solely responsible for the accuracy of transaction details, including recipient address, network and asset. Assets sent to an incorrect, incompatible, unsupported or outdated address, or to a monitoring-only address, are generally irrecoverable.

10. Conflicts of interest

We may act as principal, deal on our own account, receive or pay fees and other benefits, and serve many clients at once. These arrangements can give rise to conflicts of interest. Our Conflicts of Interest policy, published on this website, explains how we identify, prevent and manage them.

11. Fees and costs

Fees, commissions, spreads and blockchain network fees reduce your returns and can exceed the value of small holdings or transactions. Network fees are set by the blockchain, move with network conditions and are outside our control; our own fee schedule may change. In adverse conditions the total cost may make it uneconomic to move or exit a position.

12. Legal, regulatory, sanctions and tax risk

Regulation of crypto-assets is evolving and differs by jurisdiction. Changes can arrive without notice and may restrict or prohibit holding, transferring or using an asset, force liquidation or delisting, or destroy its value or functionality. No one is obliged to accept crypto-assets as payment.

We must comply with applicable law, sanctions regimes and lawful orders. We may be required, without prior notice, to freeze, block, restrict, return, transfer or liquidate assets, suspend or close an account, or disclose information to regulators, law enforcement or other authorities. Frozen assets may stay inaccessible until the matter is resolved or a valid release is obtained.

Tax is your responsibility. Holding, transferring, exchanging or disposing of crypto-assets may create tax liabilities. We do not give tax advice, calculate or remit taxes, or report on your behalf. Consult an independent tax adviser.

13. No advice, no guarantee

Unless we have agreed in writing to advise you or manage your portfolio, nothing we publish or say, including asset lists, prices, statements, materials or comments by our staff, is investment, legal, tax or financial advice, or any recommendation or guarantee. Where we do advise or manage, we act on the information you give us, we guarantee no result, and every risk on this page still applies.

We do not write crypto-asset white papers. Where one exists for an asset we service, we make it available; we do not verify or endorse its content. Read it before you transact.

14. Before you use our services

Ask yourself: can I afford to lose the whole amount? Do I understand this asset, its protocol and its issuer, or am I relying on someone else’s claims? Am I over-concentrated in one asset, one chain or one provider? Are my credentials, e-mail and devices properly secured? Do I need independent legal, tax or financial advice?

If any answer is unsatisfactory, do not proceed.