Weekly Spotlight

Special edition: Hypertetherisation

USDC and Circle USDC faced its biggest crisis since the asset’s inception in late 2018 when it got caught in the crossfire of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse. To explain it as simply as possible: USDC is fully-backed, with its reserves currently split roughly 75-25.

Written On Mar 15, 2023
10 Min Read

Executive Summary

  • With the events of the past week, it was almost difficult to pin down topics for this week’s Enigma Spotlight, but we have chosen three particular areas of focus.
  • The first is, naturally, the USDC depeg, and the outlook for Circle going forward.
  • The second is the Signature Bank situation specifically, as it is both important in its own right and extremely revealing of the broader view for the crypto industry going forward.
  • The third is a broader view of what comes next.

USDC and Circle

USDC faced its biggest crisis since the asset’s inception in late 2018 when it got caught in the crossfire of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse. To explain it as simply as possible: USDC is fully-backed, with its reserves currently split roughly 75-25. That larger number is a short-dated portfolio of treasuries, publically administered by BlackRock as the Circle Reserve Fund.

The other 25% is held as cash, distributed among six banks prior to last week. Three of those were SVB, Silvergate, and Signature, who need no introduction; the other three were Citizens Trust Bank, Customers Bank, and New York Community Bank. The distribution between those banks are unclear, but with the latter three all being smaller regional banks, and Circle having only been publically partnered with CTB since February 24th of this year, the assumption was that the vast majority of funds were within those three.

While most in the industry would have expected SVB to still probably take third place with respects to holdings – as we will discuss later, the settlement networks were the selling point for both Silvergate and Signature – the collapse of the bank still brought uncertainty, and that was confirmed on Saturday when Circle announced exposure of $3.3 billion to SVB – a substantial portion of the $8bn to $10bn that Circle should hold in cash given their treasury holdings and USDC’s market cap.

Coinbase (the first home of USDC) paused 1:1 conversions for USDC:USD, and other exchanges followed suit. In terms of the absolute severity, it depends where one looks, but for the same of argument we will use Kraken’s market (both Kraken and Gemini operate USDC-USD pairs as standards for liquidity rather than redemption; offshore exchanges often operate USDC-USDT instead, but the dislocation between them and Kraken/Gemini was minimal).

Data via Tradingview.

USDC traded as low as 87 cents on the dollar on Kraken; in a few places it was worse (brief wicks down to 82 and 84 cents on Gemini). How much was actually traded at those levels is unclear, but there was at the least a protracted period of several hours on Saturday where it traded at 90 to 91 cents on the dollar.

From a pure value perspective, this seemed to be pricing in almost a worst-case scenario where a) the company would see total loss of the SVB reserves and b) the company had no surplus whatsoever (43.5bn USDC were in circulation at the time which would price the 3.3bn impact at around a 7.5 cent shortfall). In truth, most of the discount (or premium on USDT, if you prefer) was likely pricing in the difficulty or impossibility of some holders in going through the redemption process legally if forced to do so.

In the end, things stabilised; USDC traded at around 95 cents on Sunday, and when it became clear that SVB depositors would be saved on Monday, it effectively returned to peg.

The big thought that seems worth articulating on the saga is this. Circle for the most part managed the process well (after some initially poor and unclear after-hour comms on Friday night and into Saturday morning), negotiated things operationally about as well as they could have, and everything came out fine in the end.

For everyone else, the scary part should now be over. For Circle, however, it may only be beginning. As much as we fixate on the quick blowups in crypto and in markets more generally, most deaths are slow; and particularly in crypto, particularly for assets, exchanges, and so on in strong or dominant positions, the pattern we generally see is that:

1) an event happens that is bad but ultimately not catastrophic,

2) it seems to have few short-term consequences, but,

3) the next wave of builders and users don’t trust building on it and choose different rails.

Concerns about USDC being a central point of failure for DeFi in particular have been quietly murmured for a while, but were largely overriden by the trust in it, which is why we see things like e.g. DeFi systems increasingly being built with faith in USDC holding a hard peg to $1, or DAI collateral changes that have made it more reliant on USDC and on firms such as Coinbase over time (albeit this being something that MakerDAO CEO Rune Christensen has signalled concern over) and which hence saw DAI trade at essential parity with USDC throughout the depeg.

USDC has survived the battle, but it remains unclear whether it will win the war.

Signature

It is always difficult to write in the wake of an event like Signature’s shuttering, because we don’t know what we don’t know, and it will be an extremely long time before we know what we don’t know. Hence, any analysis has to lead with that soft disclaimer (in addition to the usual disclaimers put on any research of this nature).

With that being said, what we do know paints an extremely ugly picture – not of Signature, but of regulators and politicians. If Silvergate was the face of crypto business banking in the US, Signature was the muscle, with the two firms making up an unknowable but extremely substantial portion of the US market. Why Silvergate and Signature? In both cases, it was because of their settlement networks; the Silvergate Exchange Network for the former, and Signet for the latter, with both allowing for easy, effectively instant on-ramping and off-ramping for large business in and out of digital assets.

When Silvergate was shuttered last week, it did not cause the panic within the industry that it perhaps should have, precisely because Signature existed – it seemed clear that some degree of pressure had been applied (concerns had very publically been raised about Silvergate’s relationship with FTX), and it would have operational consequences for the industry in the long-term, but if firms like Signature remained in place then the industry would adapt and move on.

However, just two days after Silvergate’s winding down, the SVB collapse happened, and sparked a wave of fear throughout the industry, culminating in an extremely panicked weekend and a Monday open that saw regional banking stocks across the board annihilated, and what for all intents and purposes is a bailout announced by the US government in order to prevent a bank run.

We won’t labour the point on explaining the crisis in general, but a key point here is that were no direct bailouts or takeovers, with the US government very keen to avoid being perceived as bailing out banks (which, again, the FDIC extension is a bailout at best, but we’ll skirt around that). Except for one – Signature. The bank had seen a modest run on deposits on Friday, but by most accounts was not in worse health than any number of regional banks, actually having more limited exposure than the likes of Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase to the impetus for the broader liquidity crisis re: unrealised losses on held-to-maturity securities:

Regulators have been unable to provide any particularly convincing justification for why Signature had to be taken over given the relief offered elsewhere (note that announcements of Signature’s takeover preceded the broader campaign), with the New York Department of Financial Services simply saying yesterday that “the bank failed to provide reliable and consistent data, creating a significant crisis of confidence in the bank’s leadership”, and Barney Frank – a board member at the bank and a co-author of the post-Great Recession Dodd-Frank laws – going on a media speaking tour over the last few days to defend the bank’s position in as strong of a set of terms as possible to do for someone in his position.

The quote that has been particularly picked up is this one from the New York Times: “‘They shoot one man to encourage the others’. I think we were shot to encourage the others to stay away from crypto.”

Frank is the furthest thing from an enthusiast for crypto; he is broadly supportive of the present regulatory push, and his position on Signature’s board (since 2015) is because of his interest in and support for the company in its non-crypto dealings (bear in mind here that Signature, like Silvergate, was a traditional bank first, and it can be argued that even at its height, it was still traditional foremost).

As is standard after such a takeover, Signature has announced the opening of a bridge bank, headed up by former regional bank CEO Greg Carmichael; notably, while sounding a similar bullish tone to the SVB bridge bank, there is no mention of the continuity of Signet in its press releases and announcements, and Circle seem to be moving on from Signet as part of their USDC operational flow.

While relevant regulators have largely denied it – NYDFS head Adrienne Harris described the decisions as “not crypto related”, and stressed that “DFS has been facilitating well-regulated crypto activities for several years, and is a national model for regulating the space” – actions speak louder than words ultimately. Going after banks in this way – and specifically those banks offering the most effective settlement networks – seems like a clear signal to all but the largest crypto companies that they are unwelcome in the US banking system.

The reverberations of this over the coming months are unpredictable. There will be other banking solutions in the US no mater what – BNY Mellon and others are still around, and firms like Cross River are picking up the slack for the likes of Circle for now – but it seems likely that, at best, interfacing within the US banking system will be heavily and artificially restricted, and that businesses will either have to significantly reshape their flows or – more realistically – start to look for longer-term solutions outside of the US.

Where next?

The title of this piece rather reveals the core of our thesis on this, but it is nonetheless worth spelling out in a little more detail. To date, Tether has been possibly the single biggest ‘winner’ in the chaos of the last couple of weeks. It has not depegged – in fact, there were points where it traded above peg over the weekend and on Monday, even accounting for the most pronounced cases as such being functions of low liquidity. Its market cap has been steadily increasing since late January, having already been the major beneficiary of the BUSD shutdown over USDC, BTC, and any other assets on a simple flows basis.

Is this to say that all concerns over Tether are lifted and that it is an asset for the ages? Of course not, though there is a solid argument to be made that USDT’s long tail risk has been less than USDC’s since as long ago as November. That Tether has been resilient in this crisis does not, and should not, automagically eliminate all extant concerns over its lack of transparency, the fact that its obscure offshore banking relationships were its major weakness until a week or so ago, and so on.

However, it has survived – and, as far as anyone is concerned operationally, one USDT is still worth one dollar. As much we have concerns long-term over the trajectory of USDC as an asset, it too has quickly gone back to par after re-enabling redemptions. The perceived value of these assets has remained intact – and, while there was more than a little gum and paper stirrers involved in the plumbing with respects to how USDC depegs were treated, DeFi saw very little damage from the whole process.

When we talk about ‘hypertetherisation’, we mean it as much in the lower case as in the upper. What is the most natural response to on-ramping and off-ramping becoming more difficult, and in particular being aligned towards size? It is to accept that the value being held on-chain is real, and to reduce the frequency of use on those ramps, which in turn opens the door to more substantive construction and use of systems on-chain as a result – because more people are willing to retain on-chain wealth in larger and larger quantities.

This does not paint the rosiest of pictures in the medium term, because – as is easy to forget – the construction of systems that work along stable rails of any sort is still in its relative infancy overall. USDC launched in 2018, and essentially everything in the world of DeFi was at best a proof-of-concept up until at least the spring of 2020. The seeds have been in the ground for a while in some cases, and we are beginning to see them sprout in certain respects with relations to tokenised real-world assets at the like; however, overall, things remain in their infancy.

In terms of shorter-term narratives: what we have seen over the last few days is close to a perfect storm for BTC specifically – banks are not to be trusted, regulators too, hard assets are king, and so on, and so on. BTC has outperformed alts, and in traditional markets, gold has been one of the leaders, seeing a 6% trough-to-peak rise from last Wednesday to close on Monday. Markets currently find themselves back at resistance at roughly August 2022 levels of $25,000 BTC and $2000 ETH. BTC did briefly wick above those levels on Tuesday; ETH remains some distance short of them.

Despite all of this, our short-term view does still tend to skew negatively. The rush into BTC feels more based on relief than anything else, and it is telling that volumes on US-based venues like Coinbase are actually lower now than in January’s surge; that combined with desperate moves such as Binance’s announcement of conversion of its $1bn Industry Recovery Initiative fund into ‘native crypto’, and prices falling back significantly yesterday after what looked set to be a break of aforementioned resistance, leaves us sceptical that momentum will continue to carry through for now.

In any case, though, this does solidify a view towards a more sustained resurgence in crypto as early as Q4 or even late Q3 of this year. As easy as it is to roll one’s eyes at the usual hucksters proclaiming a ‘rebirth of crypto’, and bringing up the symmetry of Monday, March 13th, with the March 13th crash in 2020, the action and cadence of regulators seem to be inevitably pushing businesses and users, kicking and screaming, towards a more digitally situated way of operating economically, and that can ultimately only be to crypto’s benefit.

Written On Mar 15, 2023
10 Min Read

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Appendix 1

Electronic Connectivity and Trading Platform Facilities

A1 Access and use: We may permit You to place transaction orders in cryptocurrencies with us by direct electronic communication to us through an electronic system (“Connectivity”). We may also provide You with electronic access to a platform to enable You to execute transactions electronically (the “Trading Platform”) which includes all related software and accompanying documentation. Your right to use Connectivity or the Trading Platform and any financial data, market and business information provided on or through Connectivity at the Trading Platform (“Information”) is limited to use for the purpose of receiving and viewing Information for the transmission and execution of transaction orders. We may amend the terms of this Appendix 1 with respect to the addition of a financial instrument or an execution issue to our Connectivity or Trading Platform services.

A.3 Licences: Connectivity and the Trading Platform are owned by us (and/or an affiliated entity) or third parties that license their use to us (and/or an affiliated entity) (the “Licensors”). You acknowledge and agree that Connectivity and the Trading Platform are the exclusive property of the Company and/or the Licensors, and that the Information is the exclusive property of ours and/or the Licensors or such licensor’s third party vendors or their suppliers, and we the Licensor and such third party vendors and their suppliers retain all proprietary right, title, and interest, including, without limitation, copyright, in the Information. We grant You a personal, limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access and use Connectivity and the Trading Platform under the terms of this Appendix 1. You shall not copy, license, sell, transfer, make available Connectivity or the Trading Platform or information to any other person. You shall not remove or alter any copyright notice or other proprietary or restrictive notice contained in Connectivity, the Trading Platform or Information.

A.4 Access responsibility: You are responsible for obtaining and maintaining, at Your cost, the necessary computer equipment and internet access required to enable You to access and use the Connectivity, the Trading Platform and Information. You are responsible for any equipment, software or internet access provided by a third party which You require to access and use Connectivity and the Trading Platform. You acknowledge and agree that we (and affiliated entities) are not responsible for any Connectivity or Trading Platform interface applications with third parties such as execution venues, information vendors and other investment firms such as derivative exchange execution and clearing brokers.

A.5 Information changes: Certain Information may be provided by third parties. If any of the Information ceases to be furnished by any third party vendors in a manner which is compatible with Connectivity or the Trading Platform, we may remove as much Information as is affected, without advance notice, without incurring any liability to You, and without any change to any of Your payment or other obligations. Further, we may modify, amend, alter, update, supplement or replace Connectivity or the Trading Platform software (which, among other things, determines the functionality and appearance of some or all of the Connectivity or Trading Platform features) from time to time, in whole or in part, without any notice (except for material changes to functionality as reasonably practical), without incurring any liability to You, and without any change to any of Your payment or other obligations. You acknowledge and agree that Your use of Connectivity or the Trading Platform after any modification, amendment, alteration, update, supplement or replacement shall constitute Your acceptance of such modification, amendment, alteration, update, supplement or replacement.

A.6 Security: You shall keep any user name, password or access code (referred to in this Appendix 1 as “User Codes“) provided to You for Connectivity or access to the Trading Platform confidential and secure. You shall be responsible for the safeguarding and security of Your User Codes. You shall be solely responsible for all orders and transactions arising from any person’s Connectivity use or access to the Trading Platform using Your User Codes notwithstanding any lack of our access controls or the failure of any access controls we may have implemented. You shall notify us immediately and in writing in the event of (i) any loss or theft of part or all of the User Codes; or (ii) any actual or suspected unauthorised use of the User Codes; or (iii) any actual or suspected breach of security or confidentiality of the User Codes. You shall maintain with respect to Connectivity and the Trading Platform adequate systems and controls to ensure that (i) use is only by authorized personnel; (ii) order accuracy, order size, compliance with credit and order limits is checked and validated; and (iii) order direction, order duplication and order retransmission errors do not occur. You will ensure that no computer viruses, worms or similar items are introduced through Connectivity to our computer systems and networks or to the Trading Platform. You will be responsible for the installation and proper use of any virus detection software which we may require.

A.7 System risk: Connectivity the Trading Platform and Information is provided “as is”. The entire risk as to the quality and performance of Connectivity or the Trading Platform or Information and any third party related goods and services is with You. We (or affiliated entities) make no warranties (express or implied), representations, or guarantees as to merchantability, fitness for any particular purpose, performance, service continuity, absence of interruptions or errors or otherwise with respect to Connectivity or the Trading Platform or Information. Neither we nor our affiliated entities nor licensors, third party vendors or suppliers of Connectivity, the Trading Platform or Information, shall have any obligation or liability to maintain Connectivity, the Trading Platform or Information or to supply any corrections, updates or releases. We reserve the right, in our absolute discretion, and without prior notice, to reject cancel or refuse to display or seek execution of any order for any reason. We may at any time and in our absolute discretion impose and vary limits and conditions upon the placement of orders using Connectivity or the Trading Platform including limits on size, order types and execution venues and conditions concerning collateral requirements.

A.8 No execution guarantee: You acknowledge and agree that Connectivity or Trading Platform order entry does not guarantee order execution. We will not be responsible for any execution of orders that are not received by reason of Connectivity or Trading Platform malfunction or otherwise. When You use Connectivity or the Trading Platform, unless You have received an electronic order acknowledgement, Your order will be deemed not to have been received. In the event You dispute or deny knowledge of any order which has been electronically acknowledged we will in either case be entitled immediately to liquidate or otherwise offset the position in the relevant investment or financial instrument without prejudice to such other rights we may have under this Appendix 1. Execution venues may reject or cancel Your transaction orders for which we accept no responsibility. You acknowledge that: (1) orders may be delayed for many reasons and the price of a security at the time of order entry may not be the same as the price of such security at the time such order is executed; and (2) cancellation of orders may not be possible prior to execution, even if the cancellation order is received prior to the time at which the order was to be executed.

A.9 System compliance training: You shall provide Your employees that use the Connectivity or Trading Platform with adequate information and training upon (i) the terms of this Appendix 1; and (ii) execution venue rules which we or our affiliated entities are subject and which You must also comply to ensure there is no breach of such rules by us or an affiliated entity. With respect to Connectivity or Trading Platform use for transactions on regulated markets, multilateral trading facilities or exchanges You shall neither engage in, nor facilitate, nor fail to take reasonable steps to prevent:

  • any action or any course of conduct that has the effect, or may be expected to have the effect, of artificially and/or abnormally moving the price or value of any cryptocurrency, or securities admitted to the regulated market or exchange, or any instrument underlying such cryptocurrency or securities or the level of any index of which such cryptocurrency or securities are a component;
  • entering artificial orders or otherwise entering into or causing any artificial transaction;
  • reporting a fictitious transaction or any other false data to the regulated market, exchange or other competent authority or causing such data to be input into any of their systems;
  • any action or any course of conduct that creates or may reasonably be expected to create any false or misleading impression as to the market in, or price or value of, any cryptocurrency, securities or related financial instruments;
  • any other action or any other course of conduct that may damage the integrity and the transparency of the regulated market or exchange; or
  • agreeing or acting in concert with, or providing any assistance to, any person with a view to or in connection with any action or course of conduct referred to in paragraphs (a) to (f) inclusive.

A.10 System misuse: You shall not use the Connectivity or Trading Platform for orders or transactions for or in connection with any activity which may constitute a fraudulent or illegal purpose or market abuse or otherwise use the Connectivity or Trading Platform in contravention of any applicable law and regulatory provisions. For the purposed of this Appendix 1 “market abuse” means behaviour in relation to investments which involves insider dealing, market manipulation or market distortion in breach of applicable laws or regulatory provisions. You undertake to familiarise Yourself and comply with any applicable law and regulatory provisions concerning the short sale of securities if You seek to execute a short sale transaction and You will ensure that Your use of the Connectivity or the Trading Platform will not result in a breach by us (or any affiliated entity) of any applicable law and regulatory provisions concerning the short sale of securities or any terms of this Appendix 1 concerning short sale orders or transactions.

A.11 Order entry error: If an order entry is made using the Connectivity or Trading Platform by mistake or does not reflect the intended transaction (an “erroneous order”) then You shall be responsible for amending or canceling such orders as necessary and for closing any resultant positions subject to our rights in this Appendix 1.

A.12 Preexecution controls: We reserve the right to limit Your use of Connectivity and the Trading Platform and apply pre-execution trading controls as may be appropriate to preserve compliance with applicable law or this Appendix 1 or any other trading limits or redirection which may be notified to You. With respect to the use of Connectivity or the Trading Platform, we shall have the right to reject or cancel orders or enter off-setting orders or restrict Your ability to enter further orders in the event You act in breach of the terms concerning Connectivity or the Trading Platform in this Appendix 1. Connectivity or the Trading Platform, Your access thereto and any information, service feature or function provided by means of Connectivity or the Trading Platform may be changed, limited, suspended, discontinued or terminated by us at any time without notice or liability.

A.13 Disclaimer: Neither ourselves nor any affiliated entity (nor any director, officer or employee thereof) shall have any liability to You or any third party for any losses (including loss of profits), expenses, costs, claims, damages (including punitive, special or exemplary damages) or for any account of profits or other restitution of any kind whatsoever arising from or incidental to the provision of access to or use of Connectivity or the Trading Platform or Information (including any failure to provide access to Connectivity or the Trading Platform or any operational failure of Connectivity or the Trading Platform or the introduction of any viruses, worms or similar items into Your computer systems and networks through Connectivity or the Trading Platform or any software we provide).

A.14 Indemnity: You shall indemnify and hold us and any affiliated entity harmless (and our respective employees, officers, directors and agents) from and against any and all claims, demands, legal actions or proceedings and all liabilities, damages, losses, expenses and costs (including legal and accounting fees and expenses) (collectively “Losses“) arising out of or incidental to Your use of, or access to, Connectivity or the Trading Platform or any associated third party services or equipment provided under the terms of this Appendix 1 except to the extent that any such Losses, as finally determined by a Court of competent jurisdiction, were caused solely and directly by dishonest or wilful misconduct of us or any affiliated entity.

A.15 Thirdparty software: To the extent that You are using Connectivity or the Trading Platform in conjunction with a third-party software (including, but not limited to, an algorithm), we expressly disclaim liability for any Losses arising from such third-party software. This disclaimer is without prejudice to any other provision of the Terms or Appendix 1.

1. Acceptance of the Terms

1.1 These terms of use (the “Terms”) set out the terms and conditions under which you (“You” or “Your” as appropriate) can trade cryptocurrencies, for example Bitcoin or Ethereum (“Crypto” or “Cryptocurrency”) using Enigma Securities Limited (the “Service”). Enigma Securities Limited (“Us”, “We” or “Enigma” as appropriate) is an FCA registered cryptoasset business (FRN: 930442). It is also an Appointed Representative of Makor Securities London Limited which is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 625054). Enigma Securities Limited is a private limited company with registered office 30 Panton Street, London SW1Y 4AJ (Company No: 11114339).

1.2 . You acknowledge and agree that by engaging with Enigma to execute transactions or generally using the Service in any way, You will be deemed to have accepted these Terms. You understand that each order submitted to Enigma (whether by voice broking, email or via any other electronic interface that We may provide and/or accept) may result in Your entry into one or more binding crypto transactions (a “Transaction”). You assume full financial and performance responsibility for all such Transactions created as a result of the process set out in these Terms.

2. Amendment to the Terms

Unless We consider any amendment to be a material change to the Terms (in which case we will provide You with not less than 7 (seven) days’ prior written notice, We reserve the right to amend the Terms at any time without prior notice to You. All changes shall take effect immediately and an updated version of the Terms shall be published on Our website. If You do not agree to any amendment, then You should stop using the Service immediately.  Any such changes shall not affect unsettled and/or outstanding Transactions, unless arising out of or in connection with matters related to our obligations regarding compliance, risk, illegality, or pursuant to an order from a regulatory or judicial authority with competent jurisdiction.

3. Risks

3.1. Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are not currently classified as a type of regulated financial instrument under the current UK or European regulatory frameworks (including MiFID II). This means that the Service and Related Services are not governed by the same rules and regulations that apply to similar services relating to other products, for example, You will not therefore benefit from the statutory client money protections available to clients receiving regulated investment services, including access to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and the Financial Ombudsman for dispute resolution. The FCA client money regime, as set out in the FCA’s Client Asset Sourcebook, will also not apply to our provision of the Services to You.

3.2. The risk of loss in trading or holding Cryptocurrency can be The price of a given Cryptocurrency can vary greatly in a very short space of time. Many Cryptocurrencies are not backed by any asset, commodity or central bank. You should ensure that You fully understand these risks and You may therefore wish to take legal or financial advice before using the Service or placing any order.

4. Users

4.1. You must set up and maintain an account to use the Service and submit orders (an “Account”). Your eligibility to use the Service will be assessed on a case-by-case basis and may depend on the country where You reside. Enigma reserves the right to refuse to allow You to establish an account or use the Service for any reason at its absolute

4.2. You represent and warrant that Your use of the Service, and Your entry into each Transaction to which You become a party complies with applicable law and regulation in Your jurisdiction, including but not limited to: (i) legal capacity and any other applicable legal requirements in Your jurisdiction for trading Cryptocurrency and using the Service, (ii) any foreign exchange or regulatory restrictions applicable to Your use of the Service, and (iii) the receipt of any governmental or other consents (or exemptions) that You may need to be obtain prior to Your use of the Service.

4.3. Nothing in these Terms shall be deemed, nor shall cause, You and Enigma to be treated as partners or joint

5. The Service

5.1. We will process Your orders in relation to Crypto at our absolute In order to provide the Service, Enigma may rely on data and prices of third party exchanges and/or arrange for orders to be executed with or through an unaffiliated third party (the “Related Services”). You acknowledge and understand that Enigma has no responsibility or liability for the provision of the Related Services unless You suffer loss as a result of Our negligent acts or omissions in respect of arranging orders to be executed. Any authority granted by You to Enigma shall extend to the providers of the Related Services, where applicable.

5.2 The Service includes Crypto exchange services (namely the buying and selling of Crypto). Enigma shall not, nor is it under any obligation to, provide You with any advice in relation to the merits or suitability of any Transaction and You are required to rely on Your own judgement before submitting any order to

6. Orders

6.1. You must submit all orders in accordance with these Terms and/or the Enigma Website if You acknowledge that We reserve the right to decline any order for any reason (including Your breach of the Terms, inadequate funds in Your Account, or market conditions).

6.2. If, following acceptance but before execution of Your order, an event takes place which, in Our reasonable opinion, means it is no longer reasonable to execute such order (for example regulatory action, change in law or following the request of an applicable third-party exchange), You acknowledge that We may cancel Your order without any liability to You (and update Your account balance accordingly).

6.3. Irrespective of the time at which (or medium by which) You place an order, You agree to pay or receive the price at the time the associated Transaction is You acknowledge and understand that the nature of the Crypto market means that the price at which Your Transaction is executed may vary significantly from the price indicated at the time of Your order. Enigma is not liable for any such price fluctuations. The Service is independent of any exchanges, and We are under no obligation to quote or refer to a particular price or index.

6.4. You have the right to cancel and/or amend an Order before it is accepted by Us. We will use our reasonable endeavours to act upon any request to cancel or amend an order. You acknowledge and agree that if We are unable to cancel or amend an order, You will be bound by the resultant You agree to accept the price in which Transactions are executed as final and binding.

6.5. You acknowledge and understand that all Transactions are entered into on a matched principal basis and Enigma owes You no fiduciary duty in the course of providing the For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in these Terms shall preclude Enigma (or any other party approved by Enigma at Our absolute discretion) from acting as a market maker (“Market Making Activity”). Any terms, conditions, agreements or rules in relation to Market Making Activity shall be provided separately.

7. Funds

7.1. Enigma’s fund settlement process operates on either a same day (T+0) or delayed settlement All purchase orders to buy Crypto must be paid for with an amount of fiat currency equal to the relevant purchase price plus any associated fees transmitted to and received by our relevant account(s). For all sell orders to dispose of Crypto: (i) the associated amount of Crypto; and (ii) an amount of fiat currency equal to the associated fee, must be transmitted to us by you and received into  our relevant accounts. Failure to conclude that will result in the rejection of future orders. A list of fiat currencies We accept is available on Our website (“Accepted Currency”) or will be communicated to You in due course. If You attempt to make a payment in any currency other than an Accepted Currency, then such payment may be rejected.

7.2. It is Your responsibility to ensure that You hold sufficient cleared funds and Crypto (when applicable) to satisfy the settlement of any

8. Price

8.1. You acknowledge and understand that when You enter into a Transaction via the Service, the fee for the Transaction will be a fee determined by Us, taking into account market Such price may include a spread (the “Spread”) as against the price available to Us to fill Your order. You acknowledge and understand that the size of the Spread can vary dependent on market conditions.

8.2. You also acknowledge that any third-party fees, such as conversion charges and/or card processing fees, will be passed on to You (“Third Party Fees” and together with the Spread, the “Fees”).

9. Cash/Crypto Transmission

9.1. We will establish and maintain one or more bank accounts or digital wallets for accepted fiat currency or Crypto to be transmitted to us by You prior to an Order being You acknowledge and accept that once transmitted, the funds or Crypto will be held in Our account in our Our name.

9.2. You acknowledge and understand that: (i) Your funds or Crypto will therefore be held in the same bank account or digital wallet as Enigma’s own funds or Crypto; (ii) the rules and regulations of the FCA’s Client Asset Sourcebook do not apply to You and/or Your use of the Service and Related Services and therefore You may not benefit from the FCA client money regime for the protection of Your funds or Crypto post transmission to Our account; (iii) the transfer of funds or Crypto from You to Us is solely referable to Your purchase of Crypto or Our purchase of Your Crypto and is not therefore a deposit as defined under the FCA In the event of our insolvency, in respect of fiat currency, You will rank as an unsecured creditor of ours for return of such funds if such entitlement arises under the relevant insolvency laws of England. Your claim in respect of Crypto if such a claim arises following the insolvency of the Enigma Wallet holder may be limited to an unsecured debt claim, and the Crypto or cash sum You receive in respect of Your Crypto may be insufficient to satisfy Your Account balance.

9.3. In respect of the transfer of the funds, we will aim to credit Your Account with the corresponding amount of Crypto (provided the terms of your Order have been accepted by Us) within 1 business day of receipt of the relevant In respect of withdrawals, we will debit Your Account with the corresponding amount of fiat currency following Your authorisation. The corresponding funds will then settle to Your bank account within 3 business days. We are not responsible for any delay in the settlement of a Transaction resulting from circumstances beyond our control, including any third-party systems failure.

9.4. You acknowledge and understand that the Crypto Which Enigma supports may change from time to

9.5. You will not be entitled to interest in respect of any funds or Crypto held by Us, a Third-Party Account Provider or an Enigma Wallet

9.6. As described above, Your money and Cryptocurrency will not be Consequently, If We or a Third- Party Account Provider become insolvent, there may be delays in identifying individual assets, increasing the risk of loss.

10. Tax

It is Your sole responsibility to determine whether and to what extent any taxes apply to the Transactions and, if applicable to report and remit the correct payment to the appropriate tax authorities. Enigma does not and will not provide any advice with respect to the tax implications of Your entry into Transactions.

11. Delivery

Following the execution of a Transaction, delivery will occur on Enigma’s records and Your Account balance will be updated accordingly.

12. Security

12.1. You shall be solely responsible for controlling and monitoring the use of the password to Your Account, and shall not permit any person to provide Your password, to any third party. You acknowledge and agree that You shall be bound by any actions taken through the use of Your Account including all orders and the resulting Transactions or other arrangements, as applicable, whether or not such actions were authorised by You. We accept no liability for any loss that You may sustain due to compromise of Your password and/or Account that did not arise directly as a result of Our loss or negligence. If You believe Your Account has been compromised, You should contact us immediately at info@enigma-securities.io.

12.2. By registering an Account, You agree to be bound by and to indemnify and hold Enigma harmless for any and all actions taken by, or omissions of, individuals using an instruction to transfer Crypto to a digital wallet (a “Wallet”).

13. Information Provided

13.1. Any information provided to You via Our website or otherwise does not amount to investment advice. You may use this information for the purposes of the Service only, and shall not disseminate or reproduce the information in any Any price quoted or referenced on the website if applicable may be different from the execution price of the Transaction.

13.2. We provide the Service on an “as-is” basis to facilitate the submission of orders and execution of Transactions and any reasonably related activity (the “Permitted Purpose”).

14. Your Warranties

14.1. You hereby represent and warrant that:

14.1.1. In all material respects You are and have been in compliance with the laws of the United Kingdom and any other jurisdiction where You carry on business including any anti-money laundering laws or any anti bribery and corruption laws and will remain in compliance with all such laws for as long as You are party to the Terms;

14.1.2. You have not taken and will not take any actions in furtherance of an offer, payment, promise to pay or authorisation of the payment or giving of, or a request or acceptance of, money, Crypto or anything else of value, to or by any other person (whether or not a government official) while knowing that all or any portion of the money or value offered, given or promised to such other person is for the purpose of securing the improper performance of that person’s function or the misuse of that person’s position; and

14.1.3. In the event that You authorise Enigma to transfer Crypto to a Wallet, whether hosted by You or a third party, such Wallet is beneficially owned by

14.2. In connection with the foregoing representations and warranties, You further agree as follows:

14.2.1. You shall indemnify, defend and hold Enigma harmless for any and all direct claims, losses or damages arising from or related to any breach of the foregoing representations and warranties. In no circumstance, shall You have liability for losses suffered by Enigma or any third party for any special or consequential damage, loss of profits, loss of goodwill or loss of business opportunity arising under or in connection with this Agreement, whether arising out of negligence, breach of contract, misrepresentation or otherwise; and

14.2.2. Enigma may terminate Your Account immediately upon written notice in the event that it concludes, in its reasonable opinion, that You have materially breached any representation or warranty under this Agreement.

15. No Warranty

15.1. The Services are provided on an “as is” and “as available” To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, we specifically disclaim any implied warranties of title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and/or non-infringement. We do not make any representations or warranties that access to any part of the Services will be uninterrupted or error-free.

15.2. Neither Enigma nor its affiliates gives any express or implied warranties or representations (including warranties of satisfactory quality and fitness) relating to: (i) any third party systems or protocols used to support the Service; (ii) the long-term value of any Crypto; (iii) the liquidity of any Crypto market or exchange; (iv) the accuracy or timeliness of historical Crypto price data made available to You by one of Our brokers; (v) the amount of time needed to execute a Transaction following an order (which is dependent on factors outside of Our control); (vi) the immutability or security of blockchain or underlying software underpinning any Crypto or any digital wallet (including the Enigma Wallet) associated with the Service (together, the “Technology”); or (vii) the freedom of the Technology from any errors, viruses or disruption.

16. Limitation of Liability

Enigma shall not be liable to You or any person for any losses, liabilities, damages, claims, costs or expenses arising from: (i) the performance of any Related Services; (ii) any non-material delay in the execution of a Transaction; or (iii) the occurrence of any event described in Clause 17, above (except where such an event was caused by Our negligence, fraud or wilful default). Without limitation to the above, in relation to each claim You may bring against Enigma, in no event shall Enigma be liable for any amount greater than the value of the Crypto and fiat currency that is credited to, (or where applicable, ought to have been credited to) Your Account at the time of any alleged loss or claim.

In no event shall You be liable for any amount greater than the value of the Crypto and fiat currency that is credited to, (or where applicable, ought to have been credited to) Your Account at the time of any alleged loss or claim.

17. Termination

We may, at Our sole discretion: (i) close Your Account for any reason by giving seven (7) days’ written notice or (ii) with or without prior notice suspend or terminate the Service (or any part of the Service) without liability to You.

You may, at Your sole discretion close Your Account for any reason by giving seven (7) days’ written notice.

If Your Account is in credit on the date of termination (howsoever occurring), We will aim to transfer the funds and/or Crypto to Your bank account or Crypto wallet (as applicable) within 3 working days minus any Fees or payments that are due to Us.

18. Supplemental Terms

If You have agreed to use Connectivity or a Trading Platform (both as defined in Appendix 1), the terms of Appendix 1 will also apply.

19. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the law of England and Wales. The courts of England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction to adjudicate any dispute arising under or in connection with these Terms.

Appendix 1

Electronic Connectivity and Trading Platform Facilities

A1 Access and use: We may permit You to place transaction orders in cryptocurrencies and derivatives thereof (including foreign exchange) with us by direct electronic communication to us through an electronic system (“Connectivity”). We may also provide You with electronic access to a facility to enable You to execute Crypto transactions electronically through us (the “Trading Platform”) which includes all related software and accompanying documentation. Your right to use Connectivity or the Trading Platform and any financial data, market and business information provided on or through Connectivity at the Trading Platform (“Information”) is limited to use for the purpose of receiving and viewing Information for the transmission and execution of transaction orders. We may amend the terms of this Appendix 1 with respect to the addition of a financial instrument or an execution issue to our Connectivity or Trading Platform services.

The parties shall not enter into any derivatives transactions.

A.2 Licence: Connectivity and the Trading Platform are owned by us (and/or an affiliated entity) or third parties that licence their use to us (and/or an affiliated entity). You acknowledge and agree that Connectivity and the Trading Platform are the exclusive property of ours and/or the Licensors, and that the Information is the exclusive property of ours and/or the Licensors or such licensor’s third party vendors or their suppliers, and we the Licensor and such third party vendors and their suppliers retain all proprietary right, title, and interest, including, without limitation, copyright, in the We grant You a personal, limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to access and use Connectivity and the Trading Platform under the terms of this Appendix 1. You shall not copy, license, sell, transfer, make available Connectivity or the Trading Platform or information to any other person. You shall not remove or alter any copyright notice or other proprietary or restrictive notice contained in Connectivity, the Trading Platform or Information.

A.3 Access responsibility: You are responsible for obtaining and maintaining, at Your cost, the necessary computer equipment and internet access required to enable You to access and use the Connectivity, the Trading Platform and You are responsible for any equipment, software or internet access provided by a third party which You require to access and use Connectivity and the Trading Platform. You acknowledge and agree that we (and affiliated entities) are not responsible for any Connectivity or Trading Platform interface applications with third parties such as execution venues, information vendors and other investment firms such as derivative exchange execution and clearing brokers.

A.4 Information changes: Certain Information may be provided by third parties. If any of the Information ceases to be furnished by any third party vendors in a manner which is compatible with Connectivity or the Trading Platform, we may remove as much Information as is affected without incurring any liability to You, and without any change to any of Your payment or other obligations; provided that we have provided advanced notice to you of such change to the extent commercially reasonable. Further, we may modify, amend, alter, update, supplement or replace Connectivity or the Trading Platform software (which, among other things, determines the functionality and appearance of some or all of the Connectivity or Trading Platform features) from time to time, in whole or in part, without any notice (except for material changes to functionality as reasonably practical), without incurring any liability to You, and without any change to any of Your payment or other obligations. You acknowledge and agree that Your use of Connectivity or the Trading Platform after any modification, amendment, alteration, update, supplement or replacement shall constitute Your acceptance of such modification, amendment, alteration, update, supplement or replacement. We agree that the collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information will only be processed in accordance with our Privacy Policy which is accessible here: Privacy Policy – Enigma (enigma-securities.io).

A.5 Security: You shall keep any user name, password or access code (referred to in this Appendix 1 as “User Codes“) provided to You for Connectivity or access to the Trading Platform confidential and You shall be responsible for the safeguarding and security of Your User Codes. You shall be solely responsible for all orders and transactions arising from any person’s Connectivity use or access to the Trading Platform using Your User Codes notwithstanding any lack of our access controls or the failure of any access controls we may have implemented. You shall notify us immediately and in writing in the event of (i) any loss or theft of part or all of the User Codes; or (ii) any actual or suspected unauthorised use of the User Codes; or (iii) any actual or suspected breach of security or confidentiality of the User Codes. You shall maintain with respect to Connectivity and the Trading Platform adequate systems and controls to ensure that (i) use is only by authorised personnel; (ii) order accuracy, order size, compliance with credit and order limits is checked and validated; and (iii) order direction, order duplication and order retransmission errors do not occur. You will ensure that You maintain appropriate anti-virus software. You will be responsible for the installation and proper use of any virus detection software which we may require.

A.6 System risk: Connectivity the Trading Platform and Information is provided “as is”. The entire risk as to the quality and performance of Connectivity or the Trading Platform or Information and any third party related goods and services is with We (or affiliated entities) make no warranties (express or implied), representations, or guarantees as to merchantability, fitness for any particular purpose, performance, service continuity, absence of interruptions or errors or otherwise with respect to Connectivity or the Trading Platform or Information. Neither we nor our affiliated entities nor licensors, third party vendors or suppliers of Connectivity, the Trading Platform or Information, shall have any obligation or liability to maintain Connectivity, the Trading Platform or Information or to supply any corrections, updates or releases. We reserve the right, in our absolute discretion (acting reasonably at all times) and without prior notice, to reject cancel or refuse to display or seek execution of any order for any reason. We may at any time and in our absolute discretion impose and vary limits and conditions upon the placement of orders using Connectivity or the Trading Platform including limits on size, order types and execution venues and conditions concerning collateral requirements.

A.7 No execution guarantee: You acknowledge and agree that Connectivity or Trading Platform order entry does not guarantee order We will not be responsible for any execution of orders that are not received by reason of Connectivity or Trading Platform malfunction, save for when such malfunction is due to Our act or omission. When You use Connectivity or the Trading Platform, unless You have received an electronic order acknowledgement, Your order will be deemed not to have been received. In the event You dispute or deny knowledge of any order which has been electronically acknowledged we will in either case be entitled immediately to liquidate or otherwise offset the position in the relevant investment or financial instrument without prejudice to such other rights we may have under this Appendix 1. Execution venues may reject or cancel Your transaction orders for which we accept no responsibility. You acknowledge that: (1) orders may be delayed for many reasons and the price of a security at the time of order entry may not be the same as the price of such security at the time such order is executed; and (2) cancellation of orders may not be possible prior to execution, even if the cancellation order is received prior to the time at which the order was to be executed.

A.8 System compliance training: You shall provide Your employees that use the Connectivity or Trading Platform with adequate information and training upon (i) the terms of this Appendix 1; and (ii) execution venue rules which we or our affiliated entities are subject and which You must also comply to ensure there is no breach of such rules by us or an affiliated We agree to provide you with a full list of information necessary for you to provide training to your employees, including, but not limited to, execution venue rules and our specific requirements. With respect to Connectivity or Trading Platform use for transactions on regulated markets, multilateral trading facilities or exchanges You shall neither engage in, nor facilitate, nor fail to take reasonable steps to prevent:

  • any action or any course of conduct that has the effect, or may be expected to have the effect, of artificially and/or abnormally moving the price or value of any cryptocurrency, or securities admitted to the regulated market or exchange, or any instrument underlying such cryptocurrency or securities or the level of any index of which such cryptocurrency or securities are a component;
  • entering artificial orders or otherwise entering into or causing any artificial transaction;
  • reporting a fictitious transaction or any other false data to the regulated market, exchange or other competent authority or causing such data to be input into any of their systems;
  • any action or any course of conduct that creates or may reasonably be expected to create any false or misleading impression as to the market in, or price or value of, any cryptocurrency, securities or related financial instruments;
  • any other action or any other course of conduct that may damage the integrity and the transparency of the regulated market or exchange; or
  • agreeing or acting in concert with, or providing any assistance to, any person with a view to or in connection with any action or course of conduct referred to in paragraphs (a) to (f)

A.10 System misuse: You shall not use the Connectivity or Trading Platform for orders or transactions for or in connection with any activity which may constitute a fraudulent or illegal purpose or market abuse or otherwise use the Connectivity or Trading Platform in contravention of any applicable law and regulatory provisions. For the purposed of this Appendix 1 “market abuse” means behaviour in relation to investments which involves insider dealing, market manipulation or market distortion in breach of applicable laws or regulatory provisions. You undertake to familiarise Yourself and comply with any applicable law and regulatory provisions concerning the short sale of securities if You seek to execute a short sale transaction and You will ensure that Your use of the Connectivity or the Trading Platform will not result in a breach by us (or any affiliated entity) of any applicable law and regulatory provisions concerning the short sale of securities or any terms of this Appendix 1 concerning short sale orders or transactions.

A.11 Order entry error: If an order entry is made using the Connectivity or Trading Platform by mistake or does not reflect the intended transaction (an “erroneous order”) then You shall be responsible for amending or cancelling such orders as necessary and for closing any resultant positions subject to our rights in this Appendix

A.12 Pre-execution controls: We reserve the right, acting reasonably in all circumstances, to limit Your use of Connectivity and the Trading Platform and apply pre-execution trading controls as may be appropriate to preserve compliance with Applicable Regulations or this Appendix 1 or any other trading limits or redirection which may be notified to You on 14 days’ prior written notice to You. With respect to use of Connectivity or the Trading Platform we shall have the right to reject or cancel orders or enter off-setting orders or restrict Your ability to enter further orders in the event You act in breach of the terms concerning Connectivity or the Trading Platform in this Appendix Connectivity or the Trading Platform, Your access thereto and any information, service feature or function provided by means of Connectivity or the Trading Platform may be changed, limited, suspended, discontinued or terminated by us at any time with prior reasonable notice.

A.13 Disclaimer: Neither ourselves nor any affiliated entity (nor any director, officer or employee thereof) shall have any liability to You or any third party for any consequential losses , expenses, costs, claims, damages (including punitive, special or exemplary damages) or for any account of profits or other restitutionary relief of any kind whatsoever arising from or incidental to the provision of access to or use of Connectivity or the Trading Platform or Information (including any failure to provide access to Connectivity or the Trading Platform or any operational failure of Connectivity or the Trading Platform.

A.14 Third party software: To the extent that You are using Connectivity or the Trading Platform in conjunction with a third party software (including, but not limited to, an algorithm), we expressly disclaim liability for any Losses arising from such third party This disclaimer is without prejudice to any other provision of the Terms or Appendix 1.