A · General risks of virtual assets
- Not legal tender. Virtual assets are not backed by any government; no one is obliged to accept them as payment now or in the future. Holders rely on decentralized, largely anonymous networks maintained by cryptography and peer-to-peer operation.
- Loss of value, volatility, uncertainty of future performance. Pricing can have limited fundamental basis; historic volatility exceeds fiat currencies; valuation is speculative and may even result in no value.
- Market forces. Speculative bubbles, manipulation, scams and fraud are possible.
- Financial crime & cyber attacks. The ecosystem is fully digital: 51% attacks can interfere with block recording and payment history; malware, fake/hijacked addresses, stolen keys and irreversible mistakes on addresses; money laundering and terrorism-financing flows exist.
- Availability. Every virtual asset on our platform requires FSRA approval — which may be withdrawn; delisting can occur without notice; hard-fork assets also need approval first.
- Technology risk. Open-source protocols are outside our control and subject to sudden change (forks, rollbacks, airdrops, bootstraps); complex software can impair use, access or transactions.
- Regulatory risk. Regulation varies by jurisdiction (ADGM vs other parts of the UAE) and changes frequently; actions by the FSRA or other authorities may affect use, transfer, exchange or value; we are not responsible for all loss types beyond applicable law and agreement terms.
- Operational risk. Failures of payment software, hardware, internal processes, internal fraud or external events (e.g. major power outage) can cause loss or inconvenience.
B · Specific risks of stablecoins
Changer.ae only acts as custodian for stablecoin activities — it is not an issuer, operator, manager or beneficiary of any stablecoin. Stablecoins aim at a 1:1 fiat peg, but they are not subject to deposit insurance, and reserves are not a redemption guarantee: reserves may be insufficient or unavailable during extreme demand; volatility spikes may deviate pegs; regulatory changes may affect use, transfer, exchange and value. Review each issuer's project page and particular terms before transacting — see our stablecoin insights article for structure.
C · USDC — specific risk points
USDC (launched 2018) is a centralized fiat-backed token issued by the Centre Consortium (founded by Coinbase and Circle), designed to be backed by USD collateral with monthly reserve reporting. It is not deposit-insured; reserves are not a redemption guarantee; reserves may be unavailable at peak demand. Regulatory changes may impose unfavorable rules or tax liabilities; the issuer decides supported countries and eligible persons — the UAE being removed from supported jurisdictions is a licensed-risk scenario where Changer.ae may have to stop accepting, remove or close USDC activity. Support:support@Changer.ae.
D · Custody disclosure statement
Definitions follow the Client Agreement; read together with the agreement.
- Protection — assets in Changer.ae custody are subject to the Safe Custody Rules in COBS Chapter 15 (FSRA rules).
- Safe custody — accepted assets received from clients are received and securely stored; Changer.ae is the sole custodian of the private keys.
- Interest — none is provided on assets held in custody.
- Jurisdiction — client assets are held in the ADGM. Holding them outside ADGM requires prior email disclosure about differing regimes (market practices, insolvency, law).
- Segregation — client assets remain segregated from Changer.ae's own assets.
- Pooling — client assets are pooled with other clients' assets into an omnibus wallet: not physically separated from other clients' assets, but always segregated from the company's.
- Reconciliation & statements — daily reconciliation of client holdings; statements are available near-real-time and described in the Agreement.
- Client default — on an event of default or a determination that obligations will not be performed, access to the Custody Service may be suspended immediately.