bitFlyer Europe S.A. is authorised in Luxembourg by the Ministry of Finance as a Payment Institution (license number Z00000016) and is registered as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (registration number 00000001) subject to the prudential and AML/CTF supervision of the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (the CSSF).
By accessing and/or using this website, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to abide by these terms described below (Terms). If you do not agree to these Terms, you should exit this site now. These Terms may be amended at any time and the amended Terms will be published on this site. Your continued usage of our services on this website or our app (Services) after the amended Terms come into effect shall constitute acceptance of such amendments.
These Terms, and your acceptance thereof, constitutes a binding contract between you and bitFlyer EUROPE S.A., a company having its registered office at 121 Rue de Hollerich, L-1741, Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and registered with the Luxembourg Trade and Companies Register under number RCS Luxembourg B211897 (bitFlyer, Us, We and/or Our) and applies to your use of Our Services. These Terms incorporate, and you hereby accept and agree to, all applicable policies, notices, procedures, specifications, FAQs, guides and guidelines that are provided and/or made available to you, appear on our website and/or are referenced in these Terms and which we may modify from time to time (collectively, the Policies).
IMPORTANT INFORMATION – KEY RISKS
This section highlights the risks associated with crypto-assets generally and Our Services, in particular, that you should consider. By accepting these Terms, you confirm having understood and accept to bear all such risks. You are solely responsible for understanding and complying with any and all laws, rules and regulations that may be applicable to you in connection with your use of Our Services, including but not limited to, those related to AML/CTF, sanctions, taxation or foreign currency transactions, reporting and disclosure obligations and any other Applicable Laws, rules and requirements whatsoever.
Risk of Fiat Funds Not Being Immediately Available
We may close, suspend and/or limit your access to your Account and/or Our Services, or limit your access to your funds to the extent and for the duration reasonably necessary to protect Our Services from external factors including your use of Our Services, market events, any virus, worm, time bomb, Trojan horse, spyware, malware or other similar malicious software, script, bot, program and/or code that can cause harm to Our Services (Malicious Code) against the risk of breach of these Terms at our sole discretion. For the avoidance of doubt, we may also permanently block your account for any material breach of these Terms.
Please note that although you may only have one account with bitFlyer, your account has two separate and distinct functionalities: the payment functionality and the reserve functionality. Your ability to access funds in your account and to execute payment transactions from your account will depend upon which functionality the funds are subject to at any given time. For the purposes of these Terms:
The element of your account which constitutes the payment functionality will be known as the "payment account". The payment account is the operational part of your account through which you have access to your fiat funds and which can be used for the execution of payment transactions in accordance with the EU Payment Services Directive.
The element of your account which constitutes the reserve functionality will be known as the "Reserve". Your access to the Reserve is restricted and you have no ability to access funds in the Reserve and/or to execute payment transactions with funds in the reserve account. Funds held in the Reserve account may be marked or categorized, for example, as “Pending”, “Under Review”, “Risk Reserve” or another similar terminology. Examples of when funds may be temporarily held in the Reserve by bitFlyer are related to certain clearing and settlement issues, anti-money laundering, fraud, financial and other regulatory matters.
Funds held in the Reserve may, in some instances, still be used to trade on the platform, however, the Reserve amount shall remain at the same value until released from the Reserve. Any Losses you may suffer as a result of utilisation of Reserve funds shall be covered solely by you.
Payment Execution Risks
Please note that bitFlyer will endeavour execute a valid Payment Order made by you through your payment account and credit the payment service provider of the person to whom you are sending your payment as soon as the payment schemes and financial networks available to bitFlyer allow. However, such executions may be delayed due to issues with available payment networks.
Price Change Risk Associated with Using Crypto-assets
Prices of crypto-assets fluctuate day by day and also within the same day. Your crypto-asset trade or balance could surge or drop suddenly. Please note that there is a possibility that the price of a crypto-asset could drop to zero. Prices of crypto-assets are prone to significant fluctuations, for example, due to announced proposed legislative acts, governmental restrictions, news related to cyber-crimes or other factors, causing potentially excessive market enthusiasm or disproportionate loss in confidence. Prices of some crypto-assets may be manipulated.
bitFlyer shall bear no liability for any Losses sustained as a result of value fluctuation of any of the crypto-assets listed on the Exchange.
Nature of Crypto-assets and Trade Execution Risk
bitFlyer is a payment institution, therefore accounts and the value of crypto-balances you have with bitFlyer are not protected by the Luxembourg deposit guarantee fund or the Luxembourg investor compensation system administered by the Conseil de protection des déposants et des investisseurs.
Crypto-asset is not legal tender and is not backed by the government. Unlike fiat currencies, which are regulated and backed by local governments and central banks, crypto-assets are based only on technology and user consensus. In cases of massive manipulations or market panic, central governments may not take any corrective actions to guarantee stability, maintain liquidity or protect the value of a crypto-asset.
There is a possibility that certain trades cannot be executed and/or settled or may be difficult to trade and/or settle, or can be traded only at significantly adverse prices depending on the market situation and/or market volume for certain crypto-assets. Particularly during periods of high volume, illiquidity, fast movement or volatility in the marketplace, the execution price received in connection with a completed transaction may differ from the quote first provided.
There is also no assurance that a person who accepts a crypto-asset as payment today will continue to do so in the future.
Additionally, we ask that you exercise caution and use your own judgement when sending crypto assets to unregistered or unregulated crypto asset platforms who are not subject to the segregation of customer assets obligation. We will not be able to compensate for any losses incurred by you if the crypto asset platform to which you send your crypto assets misappropriates them.
You acknowledge and understand these risks and assume them as your own by continuing to utilise the bitFlyer platform. bitFlyer shall bear no responsibility in the event of any Losses suffered as a result of the volatility of the market.
Blockchain Network Risk
Certain crypto-asset transactions (transactions executed on the blockchain) can be deferred for a certain period of time until an adequate amount of confirmations have been received. Transaction results will not be reflected to your bitFlyer account balance until an adequate amount of confirmations have been received and confirmed by bitFlyer. There is a possibility that your transaction may be cancelled on the blockchain. Some crypto-asset transactions shall be deemed to be made when recorded on a public ledger, which is not necessarily the date or time when you or another party initiated the transaction.
Transactions in crypto-asset may be irreversible, and, accordingly, Losses due to fraudulent or accidental transactions may not be recoverable.
Risk of Losing the Private Key or Password of the External Wallet Services
In case you use an external wallet, you may not be able to access your crypto-asset if you lose your private key or password, with the result that your crypto-asset is permanently lost for you. bitFlyer will not be able to help you in this case.
Regulatory Uncertainty
The regulatory framework in relation to transactions with crypto-assets is still emerging. It is possible that your transactions are or may be in the future subject to various reporting, tax or other liabilities and obligations. Legislative and regulatory changes or actions at the country, regional (for example, in the EU/EEA) or international level may adversely affect the use, transfer, exchange, and value of crypto-asset.
It is your responsibility to ensure you are fully compliant with your local regulatory framework.