The Staking Foundation Site Terms and Conditions

By accessing and/or utilizing any of The Staking Foundation ’s websites located at staking.foundation (or any replacement URL from time to time) (collectively, “The Staking Foundation Sites”), any such user of any of The Staking Foundation Sites (the “User”) confirms and consents to be bound by these Terms and Conditions as well as any terms and conditions referenced on the respective The Staking Foundation Sites and all of the terms and conditions incorporated therein by reference (collectively, the “Website Terms & Conditions”).

The Website Terms & Conditions may be amended and/or updated at any time from time to time at the sole discretion of The Staking Foundation , and the amended versions will be considered effective as of the date and time published on the relevant The Staking Foundation Sites. The Staking Foundation may or may not choose to provide the User with a summary of changes by email or otherwise at its discretion or update the date near the top of the Website Terms & Conditions. Any amendment or update to the Website Terms & Conditions is considered effective whether or not an email or any other notice thereof is sent to the User.

1. Information provided about Third Party Protocols, Staking Methodologies, Cryptocurrencies and other related information

Any information provided on this and/or other The Staking Foundation Sites is for informational purposes only. The User should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other professional advice, nor does any such information constitute a comprehensive or complete statement of the matters discussed or the law relating thereto. Nothing contained on this and/or other The Staking Foundation Sites constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer by The Staking Foundation or any third party service provider to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments in this or in any other jurisdiction.

All information provided on this and/or other Staking Foundation Sites’ is information of a general nature and does not address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity. Nothing in this and/or other The Staking Foundation Sites constitutes professional and/or financial advice, nor does any such information constitute a comprehensive or complete statement of the matters discussed or the law relating thereto. The Staking Foundation is not a fiduciary by virtue of any person’s use of or access to this and/or other The Staking Foundation Sites. The User alone assumes the sole responsibility of evaluating the merits and risks associated with the use of any information provided on this and/or other The Staking Foundation Sites before making any decisions based on such information. The User will not hold The Staking Foundation nor its affiliates liable for any possible claim for damages arising from any decision the User makes based on information provided on this and/or other The Staking Foundation Sites.

With regards to any information provided on this and/or other The Staking Foundation Sites or any other public venues such as social media, that relates to The Staking Foundation , any of its affiliates, “Staking Tools”, “Staking Protocols” (such as but not limited to the “Diva Protocol”), or any other equivalent description, The Staking Foundation makes the following representations and disclaimers:

The Staking Foundation is an independent entity and it is NOT the original developer of the smart contracts, associated interfaces and other software constituting the Staking Protocol/s referred on its website (the "Code"); and
The Staking Foundation has not been, is not and will not be the deployer, maintainer or operator of any instances of the Code at any time in the past, present or future; and
in no event shall The Staking Foundation or the authors of the Code be liable for any claim, damages or other liability, whether in an action of contract, tort or otherwise, arising from, out of or in connection with the information provided in the Staking Foundation Sites or the use of or other dealings in the Code; and
The Staking Foundation is not going to retain any control or sufficient influence over the Code or any platform or venue on which the Code may be deployed or used; and
The Staking Foundation is not going to establish or maintain a business relationship with any parties making use of the Code in a way that is not fully compliant with any applicable regulations, including financial and tax regulations; and
The Staking Foundation does not retain any privileged rights to use the Code once the latter is open-sourced; and
The Staking Foundation does not provides consultancy services of whatever nature for the operation of the Code; and
The Staking Foundation main commitment is to pursue academic and/or practical research in connection with the approach underpinning the Code, such as new forms of staking mechanisms. Such research will be carried out independent of the Code and may be released to the public domain at any time.

2. The Staking Foundation Liability Disclaimer

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, The Staking Foundation , its affiliates, suppliers and subcontractors shall not be liable to the User under or in connection with any of the Website Terms & Conditions, and the User expressly agrees herewith, for lost profit or revenues, opportunity costs, or indirect, special, incidental, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, even if (i) such lost profit or revenues, costs and/or damages are caused by action or omission on the part of The Staking Foundation ; (ii) The Staking Foundation knew or should have known that such damages were possible but had not a reasonable way to prevent them; and (iii) direct damages do not satisfy a remedy. This limitation of liability does not apply to the User, in particular with regards to violations of The Staking Foundation’s intellectual property rights by User, indemnification obligations, or the User’s payment obligations.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, neither The Staking Foundation nor its affiliates, suppliers, or subcontractors shall be held liable to the User under or in connection with any of the Website Terms & Conditions for any direct damages caused by The Staking Foundation or its affiliates, suppliers, or subcontractors, regardless of whether those damages were caused by negligence or gross negligence. In any case and with respect to all kinds of loss, costs, and damages, The Staking Foundation shall not be liable, in the aggregate, for more than the amount paid by the User to The Staking Foundation under the Website Terms & Conditions.

Unless prohibited by applicable law, the User will defend and indemnify The Staking Foundation and its affiliates against any settlement amounts approved by the User and damages and costs finally awarded against the User and its affiliates by a court of competent jurisdiction in any formal legal proceeding filed by an unaffiliated third party before a court or government tribunal (including any appellate and cassation proceeding) to the extent arising from the User’s use of or access to this and/or any other The Staking Foundation Sites.

3. Miscellaneous

3.1 Intellectual Property

The visual interfaces, graphics, design, systems, methods, information, computer code, software, services, “look and feel,” organisation, a compilation of the content, code, data, and all other elements of any content provided on this and/or any other The Staking Foundation Sites are released free and unencumbered into the public domain under the most permissible open source licence. Anyone is free to copy, modify, publish, use, compile, sell, or distribute those materials and/or software, either in source code form or as a compiled binary, for any purpose, commercial or non-commercial, and by any means. In jurisdictions that recognize or allow the author’s or copyrights holders to waive copyrights, the author or authors of the materials and/or software dedicate any and all copyright interest in the materials and/or software to the public domain. This dedication is made for the benefit of the public at large and to the detriment of The Staking Foundation heirs and successors. The Staking Foundation intends this dedication to be an overt act of relinquishment in perpetuity of all present and future rights to the software and related materials under copyright law.

Except as expressly set forth herein, the use of this and/or any other The Staking Foundation Sites itself does not grant the User any ownership of or any other rights with respect to any content, code, data, or other materials that the User may access on or through this and/or any other The Staking Foundation Sites.

Failure to comply with this representation and warranty constitutes an infringement that may result in the User’s civil and/or criminal liability.

3.2 Assignment

The User shall not assign or otherwise transfer the User’s rights and obligations under any of the Website Terms & Conditions without the prior written consent of The Staking Foundation. The Staking Foundation may, at its sole discretion, decide to retroactively accept or decline, in parts or in full, any assignment or transfer made in breach of this Section.

At any time and without the need for the User’s consent, The Staking Foundation may assign any obligation or right hereunder, or transfer any of the Website Terms & Conditions to any third party, at The Staking Foundation ’s sole discretion. Subject to the foregoing, all of the Website Terms & Conditions will be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties and their respective permitted successors and assigns. The User may not merge any of the Website Terms & Conditions with any other agreements to which The Staking Foundation may be a party.

3.3 Disputes

These terms require You to arbitrate certain disputes and claims with The Staking Foundation and limit the manner in which You can seek relief from us, unless You opt out of arbitration by following the instructions set forth below. In addition, arbitration precludes You from suing in court or having a jury trial. You and The Staking Foundation agree that any dispute arising out of or related to these Terms or our Services is personal to the User and The Staking Foundation and that any dispute will be resolved solely through individual action, and will not be brought as a class arbitration, class action or any other type of representative proceeding.

The User and The Staking Foundation waive their rights to a jury trial and to have any dispute arising out of or related to these Terms or our Services resolved in court. For any dispute or claim that You have against The Staking Foundation or relating in any way to the Staking Foundation Sites, You agree to first contact The Staking Foundation and attempt to resolve the claim informally by sending a written notice of your claim (“Notice”) to The Staking Foundation by email at [email protected] . The Notice must include your name, email address, and telephone number, describe the nature and basis of the claim and set forth the specific relief sought. Our notice to you will be similar in form to that described above. If you and The Staking Foundation cannot reach an agreement to resolve the claim within thirty (30) days after such Notice is received, then either party may submit the dispute to binding arbitration administered by the ICC International Court of Arbitration (“ICC”), or, under the limited circumstances set forth above, in court. All disputes submitted to ICC will be resolved through confidential, binding arbitration before one arbitrator. The most recent version of the ICC Rules are available on the ICC Website and are hereby incorporated by reference. You acknowledge and agree that you have read and understand the ICC Rules or waive your opportunity to read the ICC Rules and waive any claim that the ICC Rules are unfair or should not apply for any reason.

The arbitrator, The Staking Foundation, and the User will maintain the confidentiality of any arbitration proceedings, judgments and awards, including, but not limited to, all information gathered, prepared and presented in relation to the disputes. The arbitrator will have the authority to make appropriate rulings to safeguard confidentiality, unless the law provides to the contrary. The duty of confidentiality does not apply to the extent that disclosure is necessary to prepare for or conduct the arbitration hearing on the merits, in connection with a court application for a preliminary remedy or in connection with a judicial challenge to an arbitration award or its enforcement, or to the extent that disclosure is otherwise required by law or judicial decision. The User and The Staking Foundation agree that for any arbitration the User initiates, the User will pay the filing fee and the User and the Staking Foundation will evenly split the remaining ICC fees and costs.

Any claim arising out of or related to these Terms or our Services must be filed within one year after such claim arose; otherwise, the claim is permanently barred, which means that the User or the Staking Foundation, as applicable, will not have the right to assert the claim. The User have the right to opt out of binding arbitration within 30 days of the date the User first accepted these Terms by emailing us at [email protected] .

Notwithstanding the foregoing, The Staking Foundation and the User agree that The Staking Foundation may bring suit in any court of law to enjoin infringement or other violations or misuses of The Staking Foundation ’s intellectual property rights.

To the extent permissible by law, all claims must be brought in a party’s individual capacity and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class, collective action, or representative proceeding (collectively “class action”). The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person’s claims or engage in any class action. The User acknowledges that, by agreeing to any of the Website Terms & Conditions, each party waives the right to a trial by jury and the right to participate in a class action.

3.4 Entire Agreement

The Website Terms & Conditions set out all the terms agreed between the parties hereto and thereto and supersede all other agreements and/or understandings relating to its subject matter. In entering into the Website Terms & Conditions, neither party has relied on, and neither party will have any right or remedy based on, any statement, representation, or warranty (whether made negligently or innocently), including conversations, discussions, presentations or announcements of any kind, whether through oral or electronic communication (including any communications on social media, which includes Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter) or any whitepaper, etc., except those expressly set out in the relevant Website Terms & Conditions.

If any portion of these Terms is found to be unenforceable or unlawful for any reason, the unenforceable or unlawful provision will be severed from these Terms, and the severance of the unenforceable or unlawful provision will have no impact whatsoever on the remainder or the parties’ ability to compel arbitration of any remaining claims on an individual basis, and to the extent that any claims must therefore proceed on a class, collective, consolidated, or representative basis, such claims must be litigated in a civil court of competent jurisdiction and not in arbitration, and the parties agree that litigation of those claims will be stayed pending the outcome of any individual claims in arbitration.

3.5 Force Majeure

The Staking Foundation and its affiliates will not be liable for any failure or delay in performance of an obligation under any of the Website Terms & Conditions where the failures or delay results from any cause beyond reasonable control, including acts of God, labor disputes, or other industrial disturbances, electrical or power outages, utilities or other telecommunications failures, earthquake, storms or other elements of nature, blockages, embargoes, riots, acts or orders of government, acts of terrorism, or war. Force Majeure events include upgrades to the validation rules of a given blockchain network (e.g., a “hard fork” or “soft fork”).

3.6 Governing Law

The interpretation and enforcement of these Terms, and any dispute related to these Terms, the Sites or the Services, will be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the Cayman Islands, as applicable, without regard to conflict of law rules or principles. You agree that we may initiate a proceeding related to the enforcement or validity of our intellectual property rights in any court having jurisdiction. With respect to any other proceeding that is not subject to arbitration under these Terms, the courts located in the Cayman Islands will have exclusive jurisdiction. You waive any objection to venue in such courts.

3.7 Notices to the User and The Staking Foundation

The Staking Foundation may provide any notice to the User under any of the Website Terms & Conditions by (i) posting a notice on any of The Staking Foundation Sites; or (ii) sending a message to the email address associated with the User’s account on any of The Staking Foundation Sites. Notices provided on The Staking Foundation Sites will be effective upon posting. Notices provided by email will be effective when the email is sent. It is the User’s responsibility to keep the User’s email address current. To give The Staking Foundation notice under the Website Terms & Conditions, the User must contact The Staking Foundation at [email protected] . The Staking Foundation may update the address for notices by posting the relevant notice on any of The Staking Foundation Sites.

The Staking Foundation may provide disclosures and notices required by law and other information to Users electronically by posting it on any of The Staking Foundation Sites, or emailing it to the email that the User has provided to The Staking Foundation . Electronic disclosures and notices have the same meaning and effect as if The Staking Foundation had provided the User with hard copies thereof. Such disclosures and notices are considered received by the User within twenty-four (24) hours of the time posted to The Staking Foundation Sites or within twenty-four (24) hours of the time emailed to the User unless The Staking Foundation receives notice that the email was not delivered.

3.8 Interpretation

The word “including” or any variation thereof as used in these Website Terms & Conditions means “including, without limitation” and shall not be construed to limit any general statement that it follows to the specific or similar items or matters immediately following it.