Last updated: 1st June 2023
1. ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS
The following Terms and Conditions (these “Terms”) apply, in addition to Luno’s standard Terms of Use, to any person that utilises Luno’s staking services (the “Staking Services”), through Luno.com or any associated mobile applications, website, or APIs (together, the “Luno Site”). Defined terms used but not specifically defined in these Terms shall bear the meaning ascribed thereto in Luno’s standard Terms of Use.
These Terms are an addendum to, and therefore form part of, the above mentioned Terms of Use. These Terms accordingly constitute a legally binding agreement between you and the Luno entity with whom you have contracted under Luno’s Terms of Use. If a matter is not specifically provided for in these Terms, they will be regulated by the Terms of Use. If any conflict is identified between these Terms and the Terms of Use, the provisions of these Terms will prevail. Repetition in these Terms of certain but not all of the provisions of the Terms of Use is for emphasis only and should not be interpreted as meaning that the provisions of the Terms of Use that have been omitted do not apply.
For the purposes of these Terms, any reference to “we”, “us”, “our”, “Luno” and/or any similar term shall be construed as reference to the Luno entity with whom you are contracting.
By utilising Luno’s Staking Services, you unconditionally accept these Terms and agree to be bound by and act in accordance with them. You also accept and agree that you are solely responsible for understanding and complying with all laws, rules, regulations and requirements of the jurisdiction in which you live that may be applicable to your use of Luno’s Staking Services, including but not limited to, those related to taxation, export or import activity, or foreign currency transactions.
Please read these Terms carefully before using the Staking Services because they affect your legal rights and obligations.
2. AMENDMENT OF TERMS
Luno may amend these Terms from time to time. You should visit the Luno website regularly to check when these Terms were last updated and to review the current Terms. We will do our best to notify you of any amendments to these Terms that we consider likely to materially affect your rights and obligations. Any such notice will be posted on the Luno Site, or sent by email to the email address associated with your Luno Account.
The continued use of the Staking Services, after any amendment to these Terms, constitutes your acceptance of the Terms, as modified by such amendment. If you do not accept the Terms, or any amendment to them, you must immediately stop using the Staking Services.
3. LUNO’S STAKING SERVICES
Staking is a process that allows you to participate in the functioning of a blockchain protocol by supporting the network's validation process. In order to stake, you are required to commit cryptocurrency to a blockchain “validator” in exchange for a share of the newly minted tokens and/or transaction fees from that validator.
When you use Luno’s Staking Service you agree to use Luno’s staking wallet infrastructure and, by doing so, you are instructing Luno to commit your cryptocurrency to a third party validator. As a result, you will have the opportunity to participate in the validation of transactions, subject at all times to the applicable protocol rules. Third party providers will be utilised based on the assets that they support, protections against slashing and other commercial considerations. You further instruct Luno to facilitate any ancillary services which are necessary to the performance of the Staking Service.
You acknowledge and agree that there may be a delay between when you elect to stake your cryptocurrency, and when that cryptocurrency is in fact utilised to verify blockchain transactions, thereby earning rewards. This is because the protocol and/or the validator may require that a specific amount of cryptocurrency be placed on a node, in order for that node to be eligible to verify transactions and because, once staking has been initiated, a validator will enter a queue to become activated (known as a “Warm-Up Period”). Luno may, in its discretion, offer rewards to customers out of its own corporate float of staked cryptocurrency, as an interim measure during such a Warm-Up Period, but this shall be subject always to sufficient availability of staked corporate funds, and the rate of rewards may differ from the rewards earned on your own staked funds. While you will retain ownership of your own staked funds, you acknowledge that you do not have an ownership interest over any such corporate float of stake funds, nor the staking rewards thereon.
4. PROTOCOL RULES
As staking is an inherent feature of POS protocols, Luno does not determine the rules which govern how staking operates on these protocols. By using the Staking Service, you accept and agree to the following:
- Lock-in period: Some cryptocurrency networks require that a certain amount of staked assets be locked for a certain period of time while they are staked. During this lock-in period you will be unable to sell or transfer your cryptocurrency. Furthermore you acknowledge that cryptoassets are highly volatile and their value can fluctuate, Luno is not liable for any losses that you suffer as a result of price fluctuation of cryptocurrency prices during the period when your assets are locked in or due to an unexpected extension of the lock-in period.
- Waiting period: Depending on the protocol there may be certain rules that limit the period of time during which your staked assets can generate a reward, also known as the Warm Up Period. In some cases, withdrawal of staked assets may be delayed as a result of protocol un-staking periods or network conditions. You acknowledge and agree that this may affect the time taken to process a withdrawal of cryptocurrency out of your staking wallet.
- Protocol updates: Staking protocols undergo periodic reviews in which the rules of staking might change (e.g., the duration of the lock-in period might change). We’ll do our best to inform you about any significant changes and how it affects you, but this might not always be possible. These changes might temporarily affect the earning of staking payouts or alter payout cycles.
- Slashing: Some cryptocurrency networks subject staked assets to “slashing” if the validator representing those assets incorrectly validates a transaction.
- Governance and Voting: For certain cryptocurrencies, the underlying protocols offer stakers the ability to vote on matters related to the governance of protocol-level issues. Luno may or may not support voting for such assets, and may cease supporting voting at any time in its discretion.
5. OWNERSHIP OF STAKED CRYPTOCURRENCY
Even though we use a third party validator to provide the Staking Services, your staked cryptocurrencies are not transferred to a third party. Luno will continue holding these cryptoassets on your behalf and you remain the beneficial owner of your cryptocurrencies in accordance with our Terms of Use.
6. SLASHING PENALTIES
Certain acts or omissions of our validator providers can cause slashing penalties being imposed by the applicable network protocol to the cryptocurrency you staked. This can be due to extended downtime or malicious activity or events that compromise the security of the network and may result in a loss of staking rewards or the principal of the staking assets. By using the Staking Services you acknowledge that you are aware of this risk and agree that neither Luno or a validator provider are liable for any slashing penalties you may incur.
7. STAKING REWARD PAYOUTS
If our third party provider successfully validates using your staked cryptocurrency, a reward may be granted by the network or the third party validator. Rewards are determined by the protocols. You acknowledge and agree that the exact quantum of your staking reward, and hence any payouts, will be determined by the protocols of the applicable network, the third party validator or us, to the amount staked. Luno will use commercially reasonable efforts to restake payouts on your behalf. Rewards will be credited to your wallet by taking into account the amount of your principal and previously accrued payouts that remain staked with Luno. Luno will credit your staking wallet with any earned rewards after receipt by Luno, less applicable fees.
8. FEES
You acknowledge and agree that, as consideration for developing and making the Staking Services available to you, Luno will earn fees payable by you. The fees and costs can be viewed on the Fees page of the Luno website. Luno reserves the right to change our fees and costs at any time and will update the Fees page accordingly. Luno may change these rates at its discretion and without formal notice to you. Luno may also offer lower fees for certain cryptocurrencies on a promotional basis, and these promotional commissions may differ among Luno users at our discretion.
9. WITHDRAWALS
You are able to unstake all or a portion of your staked cryptocurrency at any time. In some cases, withdrawal of staked assets may be delayed as a result of protocol unstaking periods or network conditions. Furthermore, you acknowledge that funds which have not yet been staked, but which are in the queue to be staked are also subject to protocol withdrawal periods, during which time your funds will not be participating in the validation process and therefore unable to earn staking rewards.
10. SERVICE AVAILABILITY
While we will do everything we can to provide continuous operations, Luno does not provide any warranty or guarantee in relation to the availability of the Staking Services. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, we do not guarantee continuous access to the Luno Site or to the Staking Services, and make no representation that the Luno Site, Luno API, your Luno Account and/or the Staking Services offered therein will be available without interruption; or that there will be no delays, failures, errors, omissions or loss of transmitted information.
11. DISCLAIMER AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
The Staking Services and any related products or services are offered on a strictly “as-is” and “where-available” basis and Luno expressly disclaims, and you waive, all warranties of any kind, whether express or implied. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Staking Services and any related products or services are offered without any warranty as to merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose.
You acknowledge and agree that use of the Staking Services is at your own risk. To the maximum extent allowed by law, Luno, its affiliates and subsidiaries, its licensors, and their respective employees, contractors, agents, suppliers and vendors shall have no liability or responsibility whatsoever for any damages or loss - whether direct or indirect, consequential, incidental, punitive or otherwise - arising in connection with Staking Services or any data or values relating thereto, whether arising out of negligence or otherwise. Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall Luno have any liability for any lost profits or indirect, punitive, special or consequential damages or losses, even if notified of the possibility thereof.
The above limitations of liability shall apply to the fullest extent permitted by law in the applicable jurisdiction. Because some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or the limitation or exclusion of liability for incidental or consequential damages, some of the limitations in this section may not apply to you.
12. RESTRICTION, SUSPENSION AND TERMINATION
Luno reserves the right to restrict, suspend or terminate Staking Services without notice where:
- we reasonably suspect that your Luno Account and/or the Staking Services is the subject of an operational or other error, in which case we may be required to suspend the Staking Services or access to your account until such time as the error is rectified;
- we reasonably suspect that your Luno Account and/or the Staking Services has been or is being used in relation to any unlawful, fraudulent or Prohibited Activity, or in breach of these Terms or our standard Terms of Use;
- we reasonably suspect that you or your Luno Account and/or the Staking Services is or has been associated with, or poses a high risk of, money laundering, financing of terrorism, fraud, or any other financial crime;
- we reasonably suspect your involvement in any attempt to gain unauthorised access to any Luno Account and/or Staking Services;
- your Luno Account and/or the Staking Services which Luno offers is, or appears to be, the subject of any legal, regulatory or government process and/or we, in our sole discretion, consider there to be a heightened risk of legal or regulatory non-compliance;
- we are compelled to do so by a prima facie valid subpoena, court order, or other binding order of a government or regulatory authority; or
- your name appears on a government or international body sanctions list.
Luno will make all reasonable efforts to provide you with notice of any decision to restrict, suspend or terminate your Luno Account and/or the Staking Services which Luno offers, unless we are prevented from doing so by any legal or regulatory process or requirement, or where doing so may compromise Luno’s security and/or risk management procedures. You accept and agree that Luno is under no obligation to disclose to you the fact of or reason for any decision to restrict, suspend or terminate your Luno Account or the Staking Services, and shall have no liability to you in connection with the restriction, suspension or termination of your Luno Account.