Terms of Service
These terms of service, together with any documents and additional terms they incorporate by reference (collectively, these “Terms”), are entered into between SmartContract Chainlink Limited SEZC (“Chainlink,” “we,” “us,” and “our”) and you or the company or other legal entity that you represent (“you” or “your”).
Please read these Terms carefully as they govern your use of our site located at chain.link and all associated sites (the “Website”) and our Services (defined below) and describe your rights and obligations and our disclaimers and limitations of legal liability. By accessing or using any part of the Website or the Services, you agree to become bound by the terms and conditions of these Terms. If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not access or use our Website or the Services. Please carefully review the disclosures and disclaimers set forth in Section 8 in their entirety before accessing the Website, our Services, or using any software developed by Chainlink. Please refer to our privacy policy available at chain.link/privacy-policy for information about how we collect, use, share and otherwise process information about you. In addition, you agree to comply with the Chainlink Community Code of Conduct with respect to any interactions on or arranged through the Website.
We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to modify these Terms from time to time. If we make changes, we will provide you with notice of such changes by sending an email, providing a notice through the Website or our Services or updating the date at the top of these Terms. Unless we say otherwise in our notice, any modifications are effective immediately, and your continued use of the Website or our Services will confirm your acceptance of the changes. If you do not agree to the amended Terms, you must stop using our Services.
1. Services
The Website enables users to access open source documentation and related services, including (without limitation) resources, data and computation services, information about the decentralized network of node operators that are selling usage of specific data via data feeds, APIs and various off-chain payment capabilities directly to smart contracts integrating Chainlink software (“Chainlink Network”), and resources for the Chainlink community (the “Services”). Some Services offered by us or other participants in the Chainlink Network require payment or otherwise involve the use of an underlying blockchain or other decentralized or permissioned infrastructure (“Distributed Ledger Technology”), which may require that you pay a fee, such as “gas” charges on the Ethereum network, for the computational resources required to perform a transaction on the particular Distributed Ledger Technology (such payments and fees, “Charges”). You acknowledge and agree that Chainlink has no control over any Distributed Ledger Technology transactions, the method of payment of any Charges, if applicable, or any actual payments of Charges, if applicable. Accordingly, you must ensure that you have a sufficient balance of the applicable Distributed Ledger Technology network tokens stored at your Distributed Ledger Technology-compatible wallet address (“Distributed Ledger Technology Address”) to complete any transaction on the Chainlink Network or the Distributed Ledger Technology before initiating such a transaction.
2. Your representations and warranties; conditions
You must be able to form a legally binding contract online either on behalf of a company or as an individual to use the Website or the Services. Accordingly, you represent that you have the legal authority to bind the company or other legal entity to these Terms (if you are agreeing to these Terms on behalf of a company or other legal entity) and you are at least 18 years old (or the age of majority where you reside, whichever is older), can form a legally binding contract online, and have the full, right, power and authority to enter into and to comply with the obligations under these Terms. Additionally, you represent and warrant that you are not a citizen or resident of a state, country, territory or other jurisdiction that is embargoed by the Cayman Islands or the United States or where your use of the Website or the Services would be illegal or otherwise violate any domestic or foreign law, rule, statute, regulation, by-law, order, protocol, code, decree, or other directive, requirement or guideline, published or in force which applies to or is otherwise intended to govern or regulate any person, property, transaction, activity, event or other matter, including any rule, order, judgment, directive or other requirement or guideline issued by any domestic or foreign federal, provincial or state, municipal, local or other governmental, regulatory, judicial or administrative authority having jurisdiction over Chainlink, you, the Website or the Services, or as otherwise duly enacted, enforceable by law, the common law or equity (“Applicable Law”).
As a condition to accessing or using the Services or the Website, you represent, warrant and agree that you: (i) will only use the Services and the Website for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms; (ii) will ensure that all information that you provide on the Website is current, complete, and accurate; (iii) will maintain the security and confidentiality of access to your Distributed Ledger Technology Address; (iv) will identify and assess the accuracy, availability and quality of data that you choose to consume via the Chainlink Network; and (v) agree (A) that no Protected Party (defined below) will be responsible for any loss or damage incurred as the result of any interactions you have with other users of the Website, Services or the Chainlink Network, including any loss of Chainlink’s utility tokens (“Link Tokens”), any other tokens or other unit of value; and (B) if there is a dispute between you and any other site or other user, no Protected Party will be under any obligation to become involved.
As a condition to accessing or using the Website or the Services, you represent, warrant and agree that you will not: (i) violate any Applicable Law, including, without limitation, any relevant and applicable anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing laws and any relevant and applicable privacy and data collection laws, in each case as may be amended; (ii) export, reexport, or transfer, directly or indirectly, any Chainlink technology or Chainlink Network data in violation of applicable export laws or regulations; (iii) infringe on or misappropriate any contract, intellectual property or other third-party right, or commit a tort while using the Website or the Services; (iv) misrepresent the truthfulness, sourcing or reliability of any content on the Website or through the Services; (v) use the Website or Services in any manner that could interfere with, disrupt, negatively affect, or inhibit other users from fully enjoying the Website, Services or the Chainlink Network, or that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair the functioning of the Website, Services or the Chainlink Network in any manner; (vi) attempt to circumvent any content filtering techniques or security measures that Chainlink employs on the Website or the Services, or attempt to access any service or area of the Website or the Services that you are not authorized to access; (vii) use any robot, spider, crawler, scraper, or other automated means or interface not provided by us, to access the Website or Services or to extract data; (viii) introduce any malware, virus, Trojan horse, worm, logic bomb, drop-dead device, backdoor, shutdown mechanism or other harmful material into the Website or the Services; (ix) post content or communications on the Website or through the Services (including User Content (as defined below)) that are, in our sole discretion, libelous, defamatory, profane, obscene, pornographic, sexually explicit, indecent, lewd, vulgar, suggestive, harassing, hateful, threatening, offensive, discriminatory, bigoted, abusive, inflammatory, fraudulent, deceptive or otherwise objectionable or in violation of the Chainlink Community Code of Conduct; (x) post content on the Website or through the Services containing unsolicited promotions, political campaigning, or commercial messages or any chain messages or user content designed to deceive or trick the user of the Service; or (xi) encourage or induce any third party to engage in any of the activities prohibited under these Terms.
You represent and warrant that you: (i) have the necessary technical expertise and ability to review and evaluate the security, integrity and operation of any of Link Tokens that you decide to acquire, sell or use; (ii) have the knowledge, experience, understanding, professional advice and information to make your own evaluation of the merits, risks and applicable compliance requirements under Applicable Law of any Link Token; and (iii) know, understand and accept the risks associated with your use of the Chainlink Network, your Distributed Ledger Technology Address, the Distributed Ledger Technology, Link Tokens and other network tokens, including the risk of mining attacks such as “double-spend attacks,” “majority mining power attacks,” “selfish-mining attacks,” “race condition attacks” and the risks identified in Section 14 below. The Chainlink Network enables access to data from multiple sources and you acknowledge and agree that the accuracy, availability or quality of data provided via the Chainlink Network may be impacted by various factors, including as a result of the underlying data being of low quality, volatile, or otherwise compromised at the data source.
3. PROPRIETARY RIGHTS
Excluding any open source software or third-party software that the Website or the Services incorporates, as between you and Chainlink, Chainlink owns the Website and the Services, including all technology, content and other materials used, displayed or provided on the Website (including all intellectual property rights), and hereby grants you a limited, revocable, non-transferable, license to access and use those portions of the Website and the Services that are proprietary to Chainlink in accordance with their intended uses and using their designated public interfaces.
Certain of the Services are governed by the most recent version of the open source license commonly known as the MIT License, a copy of which (as it applies to the Website and the Services) can be found at: https://github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink (as of the date these Terms were last updated) and any other applicable licensing terms for the Website and the Services in these Terms (collectively, the “Chainlink License”). You acknowledge that the Website, the Services or the Chainlink Network may use, incorporate or link to certain open-source components and that your use of the Website, Services and/or the Chainlink Network is subject to, and you will comply with any, applicable open-source licenses that govern any such open-source components (collectively, “Open-Source Licenses”). Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, you may not resell, lease, lend, share, distribute or otherwise permit any third party to use the Website or the Services or otherwise use the Website or the Services in a manner that violates the Chainlink License or any other Open-Source Licenses.
Any of Chainlink’s product or service names, logos, and other marks used in the Website or as a part of the Services, including Chainlink's name and logo are trademarks owned by Chainlink, its affiliates or its applicable licensors. You may generally use Chainlink’s name and logo to refer to Chainlink’s products or services, provided that it does not in any way suggest or imply sponsorship or approval by Chainlink. You may also indicate the relationship of your products and services to Chainlink’s products or services by using an accurate descriptive term in connection with your product or service. You may not use Chainlink’s name and logo in a manner that may cause confusion with others or result in genericization. Chainlink reserves its right to prohibit the use of the Chainlink marks by anyone that we believe misuses our trademarks. Except as provided in the foregoing, you may not copy, imitate or use Chainlink marks without Chainlink’s (or the applicable licensor’s) prior written consent.
Chainlink will be free to use, disclose, reproduce, license, and otherwise distribute and exploit any suggestions, comments, or other feedback provided by you to Chainlink with respect to the Website or Services (“Feedback”) provided to it as it sees fit, entirely without obligation or restriction of any kind, on account of intellectual property rights or otherwise.
The Website provides access to certain third-party websites (“External Sites”) that provide third-party services, including services provided by Chainlink Labs, or one of its subsidiaries or affiliates (“Third Party Services”) solely as a convenience to you and not based on any affiliation with the External Sites. The content of such External Sites is developed and provided by others. You should contact the site administrator and reference the terms of use associated with such External Sites if you have any questions or concerns regarding such Third Party Services. We make no warranties or representations, express or implied, about such Third-Party Services. You acknowledge sole responsibility for and assume all risk arising from your use of any Third-Party Services.
4. USER CONTENT
Chainlink allows users to distribute streaming live and pre-recorded audio-visual works, to use services, such as chat, bulletin boards, forum or blog postings, wiki contributions and to participate in other activities in which you may create, post, transmit, perform, or store content, videos or other materials through the Website (“User Content”). All User Content must comport with these Terms and the Chainlink Community Code of Conduct.
If you submit, transmit, display, perform, post or store User Content using the Website, you grant Chainlink and its sublicensees, to the fullest extent and for the maximum duration permitted by Applicable Law (including in perpetuity if permitted under Applicable Law), an unrestricted, worldwide, irrevocable, fully sublicensable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free right to (a) use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform and display such User Content in any form, format, media or media channels now known or later developed or discovered; and (b) use the name, identity, likeness and voice (or other biographical information) that you submit in connection with such User Content. Should such User Content contain the name, identity, likeness and voice (or other biographical information) of third parties, you represent and warrant that you have obtained the appropriate consents and/or licenses for your use of such features and that Chainlink and its sublicensees are allowed to use them to the extent indicated in these Terms. To the furthest extent permitted by Applicable Law, you hereby agree that Chainlink shall not be liable for any unauthorized copying, use or distribution of User Content by third parties and release and forever waive any claims you may have against Chainlink for any such unauthorized copying or usage of the User Content, under any theory.
You are solely responsible for your User Content and the consequences of posting or publishing it. You represent and warrant that: (1) you are the creator and owner of the User Content or otherwise have sufficient rights and authority to grant the rights granted herein; (2) your User Content does not and will not (a) infringe, violate, or misappropriate any third-party right, including any copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, moral right, privacy right, right of publicity, or any other intellectual property or proprietary right or (b) defame any other person; and (3) your User Content does not contain any viruses, adware, spyware, worms, or other harmful or malicious code. Chainlink reserves all rights and remedies against any users who breach these representations and warranties. Further, you agree that your User Content will comply with the guidelines issued by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission from time to time, as well as any other advertising guidelines required under applicable law. You are solely responsible for any endorsements or testimonials you make regarding any product or service through the Website.
5. CHANGES; SUSPENSION; TERMINATION
The Chainlink Network is intended to be decentralized and self-operating, with or without any Services provided by Chainlink. Accordingly, we may, at our sole discretion, from time to time and with or without prior notice to you, modify, suspend or disable, temporarily or permanently, the Services offered by Chainlink, in whole or in part, for any reason whatsoever, including, but not limited to, as a result of a security incident.
We will not be liable for any losses suffered by you resulting from any modification to any Services or from any suspension or termination, for any reason, of your access to all or any portion of the Website or the Services.
All of these terms will survive any termination of your access to the Website or the Services, regardless of the reasons for its expiration or termination, in addition to any other provision which by law or by its nature should survive.
6. ELECTRONIC NOTICES
You consent to receive all communications, agreements, documents, receipts, notices, and disclosures electronically (collectively, our “Communications”) that we provide in connection with these Terms or any Services. You agree that we may provide our Communications to you by posting them on the Website or through the Services or by emailing them to you at the email address you provide in connection with using the Services. You should maintain copies of our Communications by printing a paper copy or saving an electronic copy. You may also contact our support team to request additional electronic copies of our Communications by filing a support request at legal@chain.link
7. INDEMNIFICATION
You will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Chainlink, our affiliates, and our and our affiliates’ respective shareholders, members, directors, officers, employees, attorneys, agents, representatives, suppliers, licensors and contractors (collectively, Protected Parties”) from any claim, demand, lawsuit, action, proceeding, investigation, liability, damage, loss, cost or expense, including without limitation reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising out of or relating to your use of, or conduct in connection with, the Website, Services, the Chainlink Network or Link Tokens, Distributed Ledger Technology assets associated with your Distributed Ledger Technology Address, any other digital assets, any Feedback or User Content; your violation of these Terms; your violation of Applicable Law or regulations; or your infringement or misappropriation of the rights of any other person or entity. If you are obligated to indemnify any Protected Party, Chainlink (or, at its discretion, the applicable Protected Party) will have the right, in its sole discretion, to control any action or proceeding and to determine whether Chainlink wishes to settle, and if so, on what terms.
8. DISCLOSURES; DISCLAIMERS
Chainlink is a developer of open-source software. Chainlink does not operate a virtual currency or derivatives exchange platform or offer trade execution or clearing services and therefore has no oversight, involvement, or control with respect to your transactions, including Link Token purchases and sales.
You are responsible for complying with all laws and regulations applicable to your transactions, including, but not limited to, the Commodity Exchange Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”), and the federal securities laws and the regulations promulgated thereunder by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).
You understand that Chainlink is not registered or licensed by the CFTC, SEC or any financial regulatory authority. No financial regulatory authority has reviewed or approved the use of the Chainlink open-source software. The Website, the Services, and the Chainlink open-source software do not constitute advice or a recommendation concerning any commodity, security or other asset. Chainlink is not acting as an investment adviser or commodity trading adviser to any person.
Chainlink does not own or control the underlying software protocols that are used in connection with the Link Tokens. In general, the underlying protocols are open-source and anyone can use, copy, modify, and distribute them. Chainlink is not responsible for the operation of the underlying protocols, and Chainlink makes no guarantee of their functionality, security, or availability.
To the maximum extent permitted under Applicable Law, the Website and the Services (and any of their content or functionality) provided by or on behalf of us are provided on an “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE” basis, and we expressly disclaim, and you hereby waive, any representations, conditions or warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, legal, statutory or otherwise, or arising from statute, otherwise in law, course of dealing, or usage of trade, including, without limitation, the implied or legal warranties and conditions of merchantability, merchantable quality, quality or fitness for a particular purpose, title, security, availability, reliability, accuracy, quiet enjoyment and non-infringement of third party rights. Without limiting the foregoing, we do not represent or warrant that the Website or the Services (including any related data) will be uninterrupted, available at any particular time or error-free. Further, we do not warrant that errors in the Website or the Service are correctable or will be corrected.
You acknowledge that your data on the Website or through the Services may become irretrievably lost or corrupted or temporarily unavailable due to a variety of causes, and agree that, to the maximum extent permitted under Applicable Law, we will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by denial-of-service attacks, software failures, viruses or other technologically harmful materials (including those which may infect your computer equipment), protocol changes by third party providers, Internet outages, force majeure events or other disasters, scheduled or unscheduled maintenance, or other causes either within or outside our control.
The disclaimer of implied warranties contained in these Terms may not apply if and to the extent such warranties cannot be excluded or limited under the Applicable Law of the jurisdiction in which you reside.
9. EXCLUSION OF CONSEQUENTIAL AND RELATED DAMAGES
In no event will Chainlink, together with any Protected Party, be liable for any incidental, indirect, special, punitive, exemplary, consequential or similar damages or liabilities whatsoever (including, without limitation, damages for loss of data, information, revenue, goodwill, profits or other business or financial benefit) arising out of or in connection with the Website, the Services and the Chainlink Network (and any of their content and functionality), any execution or settlement of a transaction, any performance or non-performance of the Services, your Distributed Ledger Technology assets, other digital assets, Link Tokens or any other product, service or other item provided by or on behalf of a Protected Party, whether under contract, tort (including negligence), civil liability, statute, strict liability, breach of warranties, or under any other theory of liability, and whether or not any Protected Party has been advised of, knew of or should have known of the possibility of such damages and notwithstanding any failure of the essential purpose of these Terms or any limited remedy nor is Chainlink in any way responsible for the execution or settlement of transactions between users of Chainlink open-source software or the Chainlink Network.
10. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
In no event will the Protected Parties' aggregate liability arising out of or in connection with the Website, the Services and the Chainlink Network (and any of their content and functionality), any performance or non-performance of the Services, your Distributed Ledger Technology assets, other digital assets, Link Tokens or any other product, service or other item provided by or on behalf of a Protected Party, whether under contract, tort (including negligence), civil liability, statute, strict liability or other theory of liability exceed the amount of fees paid by you to us under these Terms in the twelve (12) month period immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim for liability.
11. RELEASE
To the extent permitted by applicable law, in consideration for being allowed to use the Website, the Services and/or the Chainlink Network, you hereby release and forever discharge Chainlink and all Protected Parties from, and hereby waive and relinquish, each and every past, present and future dispute, claim, controversy, demand, right, obligation, liability, action and cause of action of every kind and nature (including personal injuries, death, and property damage), that has arisen or arises directly or indirectly out of, or that relates directly or indirectly to, the Website, the Services and/or the Chainlink Network (including any interactions with, or act or omission of, other Website or Chainlink Network users or any third-party services). YOU HEREBY WAIVE ANY APPLICABLE PROVISION IN LAW OR REGULATION IN CONNECTION WITH THE FOREGOING, WHICH STATES IN SUBSTANCE: “A GENERAL RELEASE DOES NOT EXTEND TO CLAIMS WHICH THE CREDITOR DOES NOT KNOW OR SUSPECT TO EXIST IN HIS OR HER FAVOR AT THE TIME OF EXECUTING THE RELEASE, WHICH IF KNOWN BY HIM OR HER MUST HAVE MATERIALLY AFFECTED HIS OR HER SETTLEMENT WITH THE DEBTOR.”
12. DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND ARBITRATION
Please read the following section carefully because it requires you to arbitrate certain disputes and claims with Chainlink and limits 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 Chainlink agree that any dispute arising out of or related to these Terms or our Services is personal to you and Chainlink 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.
Except for small claims disputes in which you or Chainlink seeks to bring an individual action in small claims court located in the county or other applicable jurisdiction where you reside or disputes in which you or Chainlink seeks injunctive or other equitable relief for the alleged unlawful use of intellectual property, you and Chainlink waive your rights to a jury trial and to have any dispute arising out of or related to these Terms or our Services resolved in court. Instead, for any dispute or claim that you have against Chainlink or relating in any way to the Services, you agree to first contact Chainlink and attempt to resolve the claim informally by sending a written notice of your claim (“Notice”) to Chainlink by email at legal@chain.link or by certified mail addressed to PO Box 309, Ugland House, South Church Street, Grand Cayman KY1-1104 Cayman Islands. The Notice must include your name, residence address, 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 Chainlink 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 American Arbitration Association (“AAA”), or, under the limited circumstances set forth above, in court. All disputes submitted to AAA will be resolved through confidential, binding arbitration before one arbitrator. Arbitration proceedings will be held in the Cayman Islands, in accordance with the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules (“AAA Rules”). The most recent version of the AAA Rules are available on the AAA website and are hereby incorporated by reference. You either acknowledge and agree that you have read and understand the AAA Rules or waive your opportunity to read the AAA Rules and waive any claim that the AAA Rules are unfair or should not apply for any reason.
You and Chainlink agree that the enforceability of this Section 12 will be substantively and procedurally governed by the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. § 1, et seq. (the “FAA”), to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law. As limited by the FAA, these Terms and the AAA Rules, the arbitrator will have exclusive authority to make all procedural and substantive decisions regarding any dispute and to grant any remedy that would otherwise be available in court, including the power to determine the question of arbitrability. The arbitrator may conduct only an individual arbitration and may not consolidate more than one individual’s claims, preside over any type of class or representative proceeding or preside over any proceeding involving more than one individual.
The arbitrator, Chainlink, and you will maintain the confidentiality of any arbitration proceedings, judgments and awards, including, but not limited to, all information gathered, prepared and presented for purposes of the arbitration or related 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.
You and Chainlink agree that for any arbitration you initiate, you will pay the filing fee and Chainlink will pay the remaining AAA fees and costs. For any arbitration initiated by Chainlink, Chainlink will pay all AAA fees and costs. You and Chainlink agree that the courts of Grand Cayman sitting in the Cayman Islands have exclusive jurisdiction over any appeals and the enforcement of an arbitration award.
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 you and Chainlink will not have the right to assert the claim.
You have the right to opt out of binding arbitration within 30 days of the date you first accepted the terms of this Section 12 by emailing us at legal@chain.link. In order to be effective, the opt-out notice must include your full name and address and clearly indicate your intent to opt out of binding arbitration.
If any portion of this Section 12 is found to be unenforceable or unlawful for any reason, the unenforceable or unlawful provision will be severed from these Terms, severance of the unenforceable or unlawful provision will have no impact whatsoever on the remainder of this Section 12 or the parties’ ability to compel arbitration of any remaining claims on an individual basis under this Section 12, 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. Further, if any part of this Section 12 is found to prohibit an individual claim seeking public injunctive relief, that provision will have no effect to the extent such relief is allowed to be sought out of arbitration, and the remainder of this Section 12 will be enforceable. By opting out of binding arbitration, you are agreeing to resolve disputes in accordance with Section 12.
13. GOVERNING LAW
The interpretation and enforcement of these Terms, and any dispute related to these Terms, the Website 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 (whether of the Cayman Islands or any other jurisdiction) that would cause the application of the laws of any other jurisdiction. 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 any such courts.
14. RISK FACTORS
You acknowledge the following serious risks to any use of the Website or the Services or the Link Token and expressly agree to not hold any Protected Parties liable should any of the following risks occur:
Risk of Regulatory Actions in One or More Jurisdictions: The Website or the Services or the Link Token could be impacted by one or more regulatory inquiries or regulatory actions, which could impede or limit the ability of Chainlink to continue to develop the Website or Services, or which could impede or limit your ability to use the Website or Services or the Link Token.
Risk of Alternative, Unofficial Chainlink Networks: It is possible that alternative Chainlink-based networks could be established, which utilize the same open source code and open source protocol underlying the Chainlink Network and/or Services. The Chainlink Network may compete with these alternative Chainlink-based networks, which could potentially negatively impact the Chainlink Network, the Services and/or the Link Token.
Risk of Insufficient Interest in the Chainlink Network or Distributed Applications: It is possible that Chainlink Network will not be used by a large number of external businesses, individuals, and other organizations and that there will be limited public interest in the creation and development of distributed applications. Such a lack of interest could impact the development of the Chainlink Network and potential uses of Link Tokens. Chainlink cannot predict the success of its own development efforts or the efforts of other third parties.
Risk that the Website and Services, as Developed, Will Not Meet the Expectations of User: You recognize that the Website, Services and the Chainlink Network are under development and may undergo significant changes over time. You acknowledge that any expectations regarding the form and functionality of the Chainlink Network held by you may not be met for any number of reasons including a change in the design and implementation plans, specifications and execution of the implementation of the Website, Services or the Chainlink Network.
Risk of Security Weaknesses in the Chainlink Network Core Infrastructure Software: The Website, Services and the Chainlink Network rest on open-source software, and there is a risk that the Protected Parties, or other third parties not directly affiliated with Chainlink, may introduce weaknesses or bugs into the core infrastructural elements of the Website, Services or the Chainlink Network causing the system to lose Link Tokens stored in one or more of your accounts or other accounts or lose sums of other valued tokens. Furthermore, despite our good faith efforts to develop and maintain the Website, Services and the Chainlink Network, the Website, Services and the Chainlink Network may experience malfunctions or otherwise fail to be adequately developed or maintained, which may negatively impact the Website, Services, the Chainlink Network and Link Tokens.
Risk of Weaknesses or Exploitable Breakthroughs in the Field of Cryptography: Cryptography is an art, not a science. And the state of the art can advance over time. Advances in code cracking, or technical advances such as the development of quantum computers, could present risks to cryptocurrencies and the Website, Services and the Chainlink Network which could result in the theft or loss of Link Tokens. To the extent within its control and otherwise possible, Chainlink intends to update the protocol underlying the Services and the Chainlink Network to account for any advances in cryptography and to incorporate additional security measures, but it cannot predict the future of cryptography or guarantee that any security updates will be made in a timely or successful manner.
Risk of Blockchain Network Attacks: Any blockchain used for the Services and/or the Chainlink Network may be susceptible to mining attacks, including but not limited to: double-spend attacks, reorganizations, majority mining power attacks, “selfish-mining” attacks, and work race condition attacks. Any successful attacks present a risk to the Services, the Chainlink Network, expected proper execution and sequencing of transactions, and expected proper execution and sequencing of contract computations. Known or novel mining attacks may be successful.
Risk of Rapid Adoption and Insufficiency of Computational Application Processing Power of the Services and the Chainlink Network: If the Services and/or the Chainlink Network are rapidly adopted, the demand for transaction processing and distributed application computations could rise dramatically and at a pace that exceeds the rate with which Chainlink services can be provided. Under such a scenario, the Services and Chainlink Network could become destabilized, due to the increased cost of running distributed applications. In turn, this could dampen interest in the Services, the Chainlink Network and Link Tokens. Insufficiency of computational resources and an associated rise in the price of Link Tokens could result in businesses being unable to acquire scarce computational resources to run their distributed applications. This could result in lost revenues and disruption or halting of business operations.
Risks Associated with New and Evolving Laws: The Chainlink Network, and by extension the Website and Services, may be subject to a variety of international laws and regulations, including those with respect to financial or securities regulations, consumer privacy, data protection, consumer protection, content regulation, network neutrality, cyber security, data protection, intellectual property (including copyright, patent, trademark and trade secret laws), defamation, and others. Such laws and regulations, and the interpretation or application of these laws and regulations, could change. In addition, new laws or regulations affecting Chainlink could be enacted. As the Website, Services and Chainlink Network evolve, we may be subject to new laws, and the application of existing laws to us might change. These laws and regulations are frequently costly to comply with and may divert a significant portion of Chainlink’s attention and resources or restrict the way the Chainlink may operate. If we fail to comply with these applicable laws or regulations, we could receive negative publicity and be subject to significant liabilities which could adversely impact the Website, Services, and the Chainlink Network and Link Tokens. Additionally, Chainlink node operators of the Chainlink Network may be subject to industry specific laws and regulations or licensing requirements. If any of these parties fails to comply with any of these licensing requirements or other applicable laws or regulations, or if such laws and regulations or licensing requirements become more stringent or are otherwise expanded, the Chainlink Network and/or Link Tokens could be adversely impacted.
Market Risks: Link Tokens are intended to be used solely in connection with the Chainlink Network, and we do not support or otherwise facilitate any secondary trading or external valuation of Link Tokens. This restricts the contemplated avenues for using Link Tokens, and could therefore create illiquidity risk to Link Tokens you hold. Even if secondary trading of Link Tokens is facilitated by third party exchanges, such exchanges may be relatively new and subject to little or no regulatory oversight, making them more susceptible to market-related risks. Furthermore, to the extent that third parties do ascribe an external exchange value to Link Tokens (e.g., as denominated in a digital or fiat currency), such value may be extremely volatile and diminish to zero.
Specific Risks Relating to Value and Function of Link Tokens: The utility benefits of using Link Tokens to access services provided by Chainlink node operators can only materialize through user-driven adoption over time. Such adoption depends on a variety of factors, including the pace of user adoption, the organic community-driven expansion of the Chainlink Network. As such, the extent of user adoption is entirely outside of our control and cannot be stated with any certainty. The price of Link Tokens may fluctuate in response to competitive and market conditions affecting the general supply of and demand for user-requested services. These conditions are beyond our control. The value of Link Tokens on the Chainlink Network may be lower than the price at which it was purchased. The utility of Link Tokens, and any value associated with that utility, will depend on the ability of the Chainlink Network to adequately facilitate user-requested services. Inadequate supply may result in such services taking more time, while inadequate demand may make it difficult to obtain services, both of which may discourage participation in the Chainlink Network. The compensation for providing Chainlink node services in the Chainlink Network will depend on the resale price for the Link Tokens received for such services, which may be lower than the compensation that might have been received through other arrangements. No promises of future performance or value are or will be made with respect to Link Token, including no promise of inherent value, no promise of continuing payments, and no guarantee that Link Token will hold any particular value.
Unanticipated Risks: Cryptographic tokens such as Link Tokens are a new and untested technology. In addition to the risks included in these Terms, there are other risks associated with the Services, the Chainlink Network and Link Tokens, including those that the Chainlink cannot anticipate. Such risks may further materialize as unanticipated variations or combinations of the risks discussed in these Terms.
15. MISCELLANEOUS
Any right or remedy of Chainlink set forth in these Terms is in addition to, and not in lieu of, any other right or remedy whether described in these Terms, under Applicable Law, at law or in equity. Our failure or delay in exercising any right, power, or privilege under these Terms will not operate as a waiver thereof. The invalidity or unenforceability of any of these Terms will not affect the validity or enforceability of any other of these Terms, all of which will remain in full force and effect. We will have no responsibility or liability for any failure or delay in performance of the Website or any of the Services, or any loss or damage that you may incur, due to any circumstance or event beyond our control, including without limitation any flood, extraordinary weather conditions, earthquake, or other act of God, fire, war, insurrection, riot, labor dispute, accident, action of government, communications, power failure, or equipment or software malfunction. You may not assign or transfer any right to use the Website or the Services, or any of your rights or obligations under these Terms, without our express prior written consent, including by operation of law or in connection with any change of control. We may assign or transfer any or all of our rights or obligations under these Terms, in whole or in part, without notice or obtaining your consent or approval. Headings of sections are for convenience only and will not be used to limit or construe such sections. These Terms contain the entire agreement and supersede all prior and contemporaneous understandings between the parties regarding the Website and the Services. If there is a conflict between these Terms and any other agreement you may have with us, these Terms will control unless the other agreement specifically identifies these Terms and declares that the other agreement supersedes these Terms.
Contact Information:
SmartContract Chainlink Limited SEZC
Strathvale House, 90 North Church Street
Grand Cayman KY1-1102 Cayman Islands
Email: legal@chain.link
© 2022 SmartContract ChainLink Limited SEZC
All rights reserved. All trademarks, logos and service marks displayed on the Website and the Chainlink Network are our property or the property of other third parties.