Risks of Investing
RISKS RELATING TO PARTICIPATION IN THE TOKEN DISTRIBUTION EVENT
Purchase of products, including but not limited to cryptocurrencies / cryptographic tokens, from start-ups such as the Token Vendor and the Project Group involve a high degree of risk Financial and operating risks confronting start-ups are significant and the Token Vendor and the Project Group are not immune to these. Start-ups often experience unexpected problems in the areas of product development, marketing, financing, and general management, among others, which frequently cannot be solved. The Token Vendor and/or the Project Group may be forced to cease operations It is possible that, due to any number of reasons, including, but not limited to, an unfavourable fluctuation in the value of cryptographic and fiat currencies, the inability of the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group to establish the Project or the Tokens’ utility, the failure of commercial relationships, or intellectual property ownership challenges, the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group may no longer be viable to operate and the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group may dissolve or take actions that result in a dissolution of the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group.
The tax treatment in relation to Tokens are uncertain and there may be adverse tax consequences for a Purchaser upon certain future events The tax characterisation of Tokens are uncertain, and a Purchaser should seek independent tax advice in connection with a purchase of Tokens. A purchase of Tokens may result in adverse tax consequences to the Purchaser, including withholding taxes, income taxes, and tax reporting requirements. The Purchaser should consult with and must rely upon the advice of its own professional tax advisors with respect to tax treatment of a purchase of Tokens.
There is no prior market for the Tokens and the Token Distribution Event may not result in an active or liquid market for the Tokens Prior to a Token Distribution event (“Token Distribution Event”), there has been no public market for the Tokens and the Tokens are not traded, whether on any cryptocurrency exchange or otherwise. In the event that the Tokens are traded on a cryptocurrency exchange, there is no assurance that an active or liquid trading market for the Tokens will develop or if developed, be sustained after the Tokens have been made available for trading on such cryptocurrency exchange. There is also no assurance that the market price of the Tokens will not decline below the purchase consideration at which the Purchaser acquired the Tokens. Such purchase consideration may not be indicative of the market price of the Tokens after they have been made available for trading on a cryptocurrency exchange.
A Token is not a currency issued by any central bank or national, supra-national or quasinational organisation, nor is it backed by any hard assets or other credit. The Token Vendor and/or the Project Group is/are not responsible for nor does it / do they pursue the circulation and trading of Tokens on the market. Trading of Tokens merely depends on the consensus on its value between the relevant market participants, and no one is obliged to purchase any Token from any holder of the Token, including the purchasers, nor does anyone guarantee the liquidity or market price of Tokens to any extent at any time. Accordingly, the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group cannot ensure that there will be any demand or market for Tokens, or that the purchase consideration at the relevant time is indicative of the market price of Tokens after they have been made available for trading on a cryptocurrency exchange. Future sales of the Tokens could materially and adversely affect the market price of Tokens Any future sale of the Tokens (which were not available for sale in the Token Distribution Event) would increase the supply of Tokens in the market and this may result in a downward price pressure on the Tokens.
The sale or distribution of a significant number of Tokens outside of the Token Distribution Event, or the perception that such further sales or issuance may occur, could adversely affect the trading price of the Tokens. Negative publicity may materially and adversely affect the price of the Tokens Negative publicity involving the Token Vendor, the Project Group, the Project, the Tokens and/or any of the key personnel of the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group may materially and adversely affect the market perception or market price of the Tokens, whether or not such negative publicity is justified. There is no assurance of any success of the Project The value of, and demand for, the Tokens hinges heavily on the performance of the Project. There is no assurance that the Project will gain traction after its launch and achieve any commercial success. The Project has not been fully developed, finalised, and integrated and is subject to further changes, updates, and adjustments prior to its launch. Such changes may result in unexpected and unforeseen effects on its projected appeal to users, and hence impact its success. While the Token Vendor has made every effort to provide a realistic estimate, there is also no assurance that the proceeds raised in the Token Distribution Event will be sufficient for the development and integration of the Project. For the foregoing or any other reason, the development and integration of the Project may not be completed and there is no assurance that it will be launched at all. As such, distributed Tokens may hold little worth or value, and this would impact its trading price. If and when the Project is fully developed, there is no assurance that its systems, protocols, or products will be widely adopted or utilised by its target users.
The demand for, and correspondingly the market price of, the Tokens may fluctuate significantly and rapidly in response to, among others, the following factors, some of which are beyond the control of the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group: (a) new technical innovations; (b) analysts’ speculations, recommendations, perceptions or estimates of the Token’s market price or the financial and business performance of the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group; (c) changes in market valuations and token prices of entities with operations similar to that of the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group that may be made available for sale and purchase on the same cryptocurrency exchanges as the Tokens; (d) announcements by the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group of significant events, for example, partnerships, sponsorships, or new product developments; (e) fluctuations in market prices and trading volume of cryptocurrencies on cryptocurrency exchanges; (f) additions or departures of key personnel of the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group; (g) success or failure of the management of the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group in implementing business and growth strategies; and (h) changes in conditions affecting the blockchain or financial technology industry, the general economic conditions or market sentiments, or other events or factors.
The funds raised in the Token Distribution Event are exposed to risks of theft The Token Vendor will make every effort to ensure that the funds received from the Token Distribution Event will be securely held at such addresses as directed by the Token Vendor (“Receiving Addresses”).
Further, upon receipt of the funds, the Token Vendor will make every effort to ensure that the funds received will be securely held through the implementation of security measures. Notwithstanding such security measures, there is no assurance that there will be no theft of the cryptocurrencies as a result of hacks, mining attacks (including but not limited to double-spend attacks, majority mining power attacks, and “selfish-mining” attacks), sophisticated cyber-attacks, distributed denials of service or errors, vulnerabilities or defects on the Receiving Addresses, the applicable blockchain(s), or any other blockchain, or otherwise. Such events may include, for example, flaws in programming or source code leading to exploitation or abuse thereof. In such event, even if the Token Distribution Event is completed, the Token Vendor may not be able to receive the cryptocurrencies raised and the Token Vendor may not be able to utilise such funds for the development of the Project, and the launch of the Project might be temporarily or permanently curtailed. As such, the issued Tokens may hold little worth or value, and this would impact their trading price. The Tokens are uninsured, unless the Purchaser specifically obtains private insurance to insure them. In the event of any loss or loss of value of the Tokens, the Purchaser may have no recourse.
RISKS RELATING TO THE RECEIVING ADDRESSES AND WALLETS
The Receiving Addresses may be compromised and the cryptocurrencies may not be able to be disbursed The Receiving Addresses are designed to be secure. However, in the event that the Receiving Addresses are, for any reason compromised (including but not limited to scenarios of the loss of keys to such Receiving Addresses), the funds held by the Receiving Addresses may not be able to be retrieved and disbursed and may be permanently unrecoverable.
In such event, even if the Token Distribution Event is successful, the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group will not be able to receive the funds raised and the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group will not be able to utilise such funds for the development of the project, and the implementation of the Project might be temporarily or permanently curtailed. As such, distributed Tokens may hold little worth or value, and this would impact their trading price. The loss or compromise of information relating to the Purchaser’s wallet may affect the Purchaser’s access and possession of the Tokens The Purchaser’s access to the Tokens in a cryptocurrency wallet (“Wallet”) depends on, among other things, the safeguards to the information to such Wallet, including but not limited to the user account information, address, private key, and password. In the event that any of the foregoing is lost or compromised, the Purchaser’s access to the Wallet may be curtailed and thereby adversely affect the Purchaser’s access and possession to the Tokens, including such Tokens being unrecoverable and permanently lost.
The Wallet or Wallet service provider may not be technically compatible with the Tokens which may result in the delivery of Tokens being unsuccessful or affect the Purchaser’s access to such Tokens.
RISKS RELATING TO THE TOKEN VENDOR AND THE PROJECT GROUP
The Project is initiated by the Token Vendor and the Project Group. Any events or circumstances which adversely affect the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group may have a corresponding adverse effect on the Project if such events or circumstances affect the Token Vendor’s and/or the Project Group’s ability to launch the Project.
This would correspondingly have an impact on the trading price of the Tokens. There may be weaknesses, vulnerabilities or bugs in the protocols, systems, and smart contracts in connection with the Project As blockchain and smart contract technology is still relatively in its early stage of development and its application of experimental nature carries significant operation, technological, financial, regulatory and reputational risks, there are inherent risks that such protocols, systems and/or smart contracts could contain weaknesses, vulnerabilities or bugs.
In the event that any of the aforementioned risks materialises, the business strategies, results of operations and outlook of the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group may also be adversely affected. The Token Vendor and/or the Project Group may experience system failures, unplanned interruptions in their network or services, hardware or software defects, security breaches or other causes that could adversely affect the infrastructure network of the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group, and/or the Project The Token Vendor and/or the Project Group is/are unable to anticipate when there would be occurrences of hacks, cyber-attacks, mining attacks (including but not limited to double-spend attacks, majority mining power attacks, and “selfish-mining” attacks), distributed denials of service or errors, vulnerabilities or defects in the Project, the Tokens, the Receiving Addresses, the Wallet or any technology (including but not limited to smart contract technology) on which the Project Group, the Project, the Tokens, the Receiving Addresses, and the Wallet rely or on the applicable blockchain(s).
Such events may include, for example, flaws in programming or source code leading to exploitation or abuse thereof. The Token Vendor and/or the Project Group may not be able to detect such hacks, mining attacks (including but not limited to doublespend attacks, majority mining power attacks, and “selfish-mining” attacks), cyber-attacks, distributed denials of service errors vulnerabilities or defects in a timely manner, and may not have sufficient resources to efficiently cope with multiple service incidents happening simultaneously or in rapid succession.
The network or services of the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group, which would include the Project, could be disrupted by numerous events, including natural disasters, equipment breakdown, network connectivity downtime, power losses, or even intentional disruptions of their services, such as disruptions caused by software viruses or attacks by unauthorised users, some of which are beyond the control of the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group. Although the Token Vendor and the Project Group will be taking steps against malicious attacks on their appliances or infrastructure, which are critical for the initiation and maintenance of the Project and its other services, there can be no assurance that cyber-attacks, such as distributed denials of service, will not be attempted in the future, and that any of the enhanced security measures of the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group will be effective.
The Token Vendor and/or the Project Group may be prone to attacks on their infrastructure intended to steal information about its technology, financial data or user information or take other actions that would be damaging to the Token Vendor, the Project Group, and/or users of the Project. Any significant breach of the security measures of the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group or other disruptions resulting in a compromise of the usability, stability and security of the network or services of the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group (including the Project) may adversely affect the trading price of the Tokens. The Token Vendor and/or the Project Group are dependent in part on the location and data centre facilities of third parties The infrastructure network of the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group is in part established through servers which they own and house at the location facilities of third parties, and servers that they rent at data centre facilities of third parties. If the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group is/are unable to renew its data facility lease on commercially reasonable terms or at all, the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group may be required to transfer their servers to a new data centre facility, and may incur significant costs and possible service interruption in connection with the relocation. These facilities are also vulnerable to damage or interruption from, among others, natural disasters, arson, terrorist attacks, power losses, and telecommunication failures.
Additionally, the third party providers of such facilities may suffer a breach of security as a result of third party action, employee error, malfeasance or otherwise, and a third party may obtain unauthorised access to the data in such servers. As techniques used to obtain unauthorised access to, or to sabotage systems change frequently and generally are not recognised until launched against a target, the Token Vendor, the Project Group, and/or the providers of such facilities may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventive measures. Any such security breaches or damages which occur that impact upon the infrastructure network of the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group, and/or the Project may adversely impact the price of the Tokens. General global market and economic conditions may have an adverse impact on the operating performance, results of operations and cash flows of the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group The Token Vendor and/or the Project Group have/has been and could continue to be affected by general global economic and market conditions.
Challenging economic conditions worldwide have from time to time, contributed, and may continue to contribute, to slowdowns in the information technology industry at large. Weakness in the economy could have a negative effect on the business, operations and financial condition of the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group, including decreases in revenue and operating cash flows. Additionally, in a down-cycle economic environment, the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group may experience the negative effects of increased competitive pricing pressure and a slowdown in commerce and usage of the Project. Suppliers on which the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group rely for servers, bandwidth, location and other services could also be negatively impacted by economic conditions that, in turn, could have a negative impact on the operations or expenses of the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group. There can be no assurance, therefore, that current economic conditions or worsening economic conditions or a prolonged or recurring recession will not have a significant adverse impact on the business, financial condition and results of operations of the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group, and hence the Project, which may indirectly impact the trading price of the Tokens.
The Token Vendor, the Project Group, the Tokens and/or the Project may be affected by newly implemented regulations The Token Vendor, the Project Group, the Project, and/or the Tokens may be affected by newly implemented regulations relating to cryptocurrencies or digital tokens markets, including having to take measures to comply with such regulations, or having to deal with queries, notices, requests or enforcement actions by regulatory authorities, which may come at a substantial cost and may also require substantial modifications to the Project. This may impact the appeal of the Project for users and result in decreased usage of the Project. Further, should the costs (financial or otherwise) of complying with such newly implemented regulations exceed a certain threshold, launching the Project may no longer be commercially viable and the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group may opt to discontinue the Project and/or the Tokens. Further, it is difficult to predict how or whether governments or regulatory authorities may implement any changes to laws and regulations affecting distributed ledger technology and its applications, including the Project and the Tokens.
The Token Vendor and/or the Project Group may also have to cease operations in a jurisdiction that makes it illegal to operate in such jurisdiction, or make it commercially unviable or undesirable to obtain the necessary regulatory approval(s) to operate in such jurisdiction. In scenarios such as the foregoing, the trading price of Tokens will be adversely affected or Tokens may cease to be traded.
The regulatory regime governing blockchain technologies, cryptocurrencies, tokens, and token offerings such as the Token Distribution Event, the Project, and the Tokens is uncertain, and regulations or policies may materially adversely affect the development of the Project and the utility of the Tokens Regulation of tokens (including the Tokens) and token offerings (such as the Token Distribution Event), cryptocurrencies, blockchain technologies, and cryptocurrency exchanges is likely to rapidly evolve, varies significantly among international, federal, state and local jurisdictions, and is subject to significant uncertainty. Various legislative and executive bodies in the relevant jurisdictions may in the future adopt laws, regulations, guidance, or other actions, which may severely impact the development and growth of the Project, the adoption and utility of the Tokens or the issue, offer, and sale of the Tokens by the Token Vendor.
Failure by the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group or users of the Project to comply with any laws, rules and regulations, some of which may not exist yet or are subject to interpretation and may be subject to change, could result in a variety of adverse consequences, including civil penalties and fines. Blockchain networks also face an uncertain regulatory landscape in many foreign jurisdictions and may, in the near future, adopt laws, regulations or directives that affect the Project. Such laws, regulations or directives may directly and negatively impact the business of the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group.
The effect of any future regulatory change is impossible to predict, but such change could be substantial and materially adverse to the development and growth of the Project and the adoption and utility of the Tokens. New or changing laws and regulations or interpretations of existing laws and regulations may materially and adversely impact the value of the currency in which the Tokens may be sold, the liquidity of the Tokens, the ability to access marketplaces or exchanges on which to trade the Tokens, and the structure, rights and transferability of Tokens. Token holders will have no control over the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group The holders of Tokens are not and will not be entitled to vote or receive dividends or distributions and are not and will not be treated as the holder of shares in the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group for any purpose, nor will anything be construed to confer on the Purchaser any of the rights of a member of the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group or any right to vote for the election of directors or upon any matter submitted to members at any meeting thereof, or to give or withhold consent to any corporate action or to receive notice of meetings, or to receive subscription rights or otherwise. The Purchaser may lack information in respect of the Token Vendor, the Project Group, the Tokens, and/or the Project The Purchaser may not be able to obtain all the information it would want regarding the Token Vendor, the Project Group, the Tokens, and/or the Project, on a timely basis or at all. It is possible that the Purchaser may not be aware on a timely basis of material adverse changes that have occurred.
Information in relation to the development of Tokens may also be highly technical by nature. As a result of these difficulties, as well as other uncertainties, the Purchaser may not have accurate or accessible information about the Token Vendor, the Project Group, the Tokens, and/or the Project. There may be risks relating to acts of God, natural disasters, wars, terrorist attacks, riots, civil commotions widespread communicable diseases and other force majeure events beyond the control of the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group The Token Distribution Event and the performance of the activities of the Token Vendor, the Project Group, and/or the Project may be interrupted, suspended or delayed due to acts of God, natural disasters, wars, terrorist attacks, riots, civil commotions, widespread communicable diseases and other force majeure events beyond the control of the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group. Such events could also lead to uncertainty in the economic outlook of global markets and there is no assurance that such markets will not be affected, or that recovery from the global financial crisis would continue. In such events, the business strategies, results of operations and outlook of the Token Vendor and/or the Project Group may be materially and adversely affected. Further, if an outbreak of such infectious or communicable diseases occurs in any of the countries in which the Token Vendor, the Project Group, the developers, data providers and/or data consumers have operations in the future, market sentiment could be adversely affected and this may have a negative impact on the Project and community.