Risk Disclosures

DRAFT — NOT LEGAL ADVICE. HAVE A LAWYER REVIEW BEFORE PUBLISHING OR RELYING ON THIS. It is not in force.

Last updated: [DATE] · Draft v0.2

Please read these risks before using Fairstep. They form part of our Terms of Service. Only use funds you can afford to lose.

Testnet beta: test tokens have no value

Fairstep currently runs only on public test networks (Base Sepolia and Ethereum Sepolia). Test USDC and test ETH have no monetary value. They can't be sold, redeemed or swapped for real money or for any future token, and testnets can be reset at any time. Never send real funds to a testnet address, and never pay anyone for test tokens. Using the testnet does not earn rewards or guarantee eligibility for any airdrop. Mainnet is planned only after an external audit.

Fairstep is non-custodial

Your USDC is held by a smart contract, not by Fairstep or any company. Fairstep can't move, freeze, reverse or return funds, can't recover lost keys, and can't undo a transaction you signed. If you lose access to your wallet, funds owed to you may be lost permanently.

Audit status

The Fairstep smart contract has not yet been audited by an independent security firm. [AFTER AUDIT, REPLACE WITH: "The contract was reviewed by [FIRM] in [MONTH YEAR]. Report: [LINK]. All findings were fixed or acknowledged as listed in the report."] It has an automated test suite (unit, fuzz and invariant tests) and static analysis. Tests and audits reduce risk; they don't eliminate it. We don't claim the contract is safe, secure or bug-free.

Smart contract risk

The contract could contain bugs or design flaws that lead to partial or total loss of funds, or funds becoming stuck. The contract is not upgradeable: a fixed version would be a new contract, and funds in the old one follow the old rules. To limit exposure during launch, the contract limits the size of each deal and the total amount it can hold, and new deals can be paused. Pausing never blocks payouts, refunds, disputes or withdrawals from existing deals.

Blockchain and network risk

Blockchains can be congested, slow or expensive, or suffer outages, forks or attacks. Base is a layer-2 network that depends on its sequencer and on Ethereum. Time-based rules (review windows, dispute timeouts, delivery deadlines) use block timestamps, and a transaction may land later than you expect — act well before deadlines.

USDC and stablecoin risk

USDC is issued by Circle, not Fairstep. Its value could lose its dollar peg. Circle can blacklist addresses, including your wallet, a counterparty's wallet or the Fairstep contract itself, which could block payouts or withdrawals until the blacklist is lifted. If your own address is blacklisted, you can withdraw any credit owed to you to a different address you control.

Counterparty and referee risk

Fairstep doesn't vet clients, freelancers or referees and doesn't judge work quality. A counterparty might not deliver, might approve late, or might dispute in bad faith. A referee you appoint could be wrong, biased or unavailable; their decision is final on-chain. If a dispute isn't resolved before its timeout, the milestone is split 50/50, which may not reflect who was right. Fairstep does not guarantee any dispute outcome. Referee fees, if any, are paid out of the disputed milestone. A freelancer can dispute only after marking a milestone delivered, and a milestone with a delivery deadline can be returned to the client if it isn't delivered in time.

Security and phishing risk

Scammers copy websites, apps, ads and social accounts. Always check the URL, and check that the contract address in your wallet matches the official addresses below. Fairstep will never ask for your seed phrase or ask you to "validate" or "sync" your wallet. Never sign messages or transactions you don't understand. Beware of unlimited token approvals.

Legal, tax and regulatory risk

Laws about digital assets are changing and differ by country. Changes could restrict or end the Interface in your region. You are responsible for your own taxes, invoices and contracts. Sanctioned persons and regions may not use the Interface.

No investment advice; the planned $FSTP token

Fairstep is a payment tool. Nothing we publish is financial, investment, legal or tax advice, or an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any asset.

No Fairstep token exists today. $FSTP is only planned. Its supply, allocation, utility and the planned buyback-and-burn mechanism (part of protocol fees buying and burning $FSTP) are plans that may change, be delayed or never happen. We make no promise or prediction about whether a token will launch, or about its value, price, liquidity or tradability, and a token may have little or no value. The planned burn is a supply mechanism, not a dividend, revenue share, yield or return. Don't use Fairstep, join the waitlist or hope for an airdrop expecting to make money. Any airdrop is at our discretion, may change or be cancelled, and is void where prohibited (see the Terms).

There is no $FSTP presale, sale or claim today. Anyone offering you a "Fairstep token", $FSTP, an airdrop claim or a presale that isn't announced on our official website and @usefairstep is not us. Treat it as a scam. The only official contract address will be posted on our official website and @usefairstep at launch.

Official contract addresses