BFG Toronto Ltd. provides a digital platform through which eligible users may access digital-asset trading and conversion, custodial services, deposits, withdrawals, transfers, payment-related services and over-the-counter (“OTC”) services, subject to jurisdictional availability, eligibility, identity-verification requirements and the applicable terms.
This Risk Disclosure applies to the services provided by BFG (Toronto) Ltd. (“BFG”, “we”, “us” or “our”) through the BFG platform and should be read together with our Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy, and, where applicable, our OTC Terms of Service.
Important warning
Digital Assets are high-risk and speculative. Their value can rise or fall quickly and may become highly volatile or illiquid. You may lose all or a substantial part of the money or Digital Assets that you use through the Services.
BFG Toronto Ltd. is not a bank. Unless expressly stated otherwise in the applicable product terms, funds and Digital Assets held through the Platform are not bank deposits and are not protected by the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government deposit-protection scheme.
The Services may not be suitable for all users. You should not use the Services unless you understand the relevant risks, can bear the risk of loss and have obtained independent legal, tax, financial, accounting or other advice where appropriate.
No investment advice
Nothing on the Platform, in any communication from BFG, or in any information, price, chart, content, quote, market commentary or material made available through the Services is investment, legal, tax, accounting or other professional advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell, hold or transact in any Digital Asset.
You are solely responsible for deciding whether a transaction is appropriate for you.
Digital Asset price risk
Digital Assets can be highly volatile. Their prices may change significantly over a short period, including as a result of market conditions, liquidity, supply and demand, public announcements, technological developments, market sentiment, trading activity, actions by governments or regulators, cybersecurity events or the failure of a Digital Asset project, issuer, exchange, custodian, liquidity provider or other market participant.
A Digital Asset may lose all or substantially all of its value. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance.
Liquidity and execution risk
There may not always be an active market for a Digital Asset. You may be unable to buy, sell, convert, withdraw or otherwise transact in a Digital Asset at the time you wish, at the price you expect, or at all.
Market volatility, reduced liquidity, system outages, disrupted payment rails, blockchain congestion, third-party failures, network events, legal restrictions or risk-management measures may delay, suspend, restrict or prevent transactions.
Displayed prices may change before a transaction is completed. The price at which you buy a Digital Asset may differ from the price at which you can sell it. A quoted exchange rate may include a spread or margin in addition to any separately disclosed fee.
Custody and insolvency risk
BFG may hold Digital Assets on a custodial basis. Although BFG may use controls intended to safeguard customer Digital Assets and maintain records designed to distinguish customer assets from BFG’s own assets, custody involves risk.
Risks include the insolvency, operational failure, cyber compromise, fraud, negligence, misconduct or failure of BFG, a custodian, wallet provider, liquidity provider, financial institution, payment provider or other third-party service provider.
The manner in which Digital Assets are held, recorded, segregated or controlled may affect your rights in the event of insolvency or another adverse event. Segregation by ledger entry may not eliminate all legal, operational or insolvency risk.
Cybersecurity and account-security risk
Digital Assets and accounts may be vulnerable to cyberattacks, hacking, malware, phishing, social engineering, identity theft, SIM-swap attacks, credential theft, unauthorised access, ransomware, distributed denial-of-service attacks and other security incidents.
You are responsible for protecting your account credentials, devices and communication channels. Do not disclose your password, one-time authentication codes, private key, seed phrase or recovery phrase to any person.
BFG will not ask you to disclose your password, one-time authentication code, private key, seed phrase or recovery phrase.
Blockchain and network risk
Digital Asset transactions may rely on decentralised networks, protocols, validators, miners, nodes, smart contracts, wallet software or other third-party technology that BFG does not own or control.
Network congestion, technical failures, protocol bugs, forks, chain reorganisations, consensus failures, validator/miner failures, smart-contract vulnerabilities, cyberattacks, changes in transaction fees, delayed confirmations or other network events may delay, disrupt, prevent or permanently affect a transaction.
A transaction broadcast to a blockchain network may be irreversible. If you provide an incorrect wallet address, select an unsupported network, use incorrect transaction information or send assets to an incompatible destination, the assets may be lost permanently and may not be recoverable.
Supported-asset risk
BFG may add, restrict, suspend or remove support for a Digital Asset at any time, including due to legal, regulatory, liquidity, technological, security, market-integrity or risk-management concerns.
If BFG stops supporting a Digital Asset, you may be required to withdraw it within a stated period. If you fail to do so, BFG may take steps permitted under the applicable Terms and applicable law, which may include suspension of the asset, conversion into another supported asset or fiat currency, or another reasonable measure.
BFG does not guarantee that any Digital Asset will remain available, retain value, remain liquid, be transferable, be accepted by others or be listed on the Platform.
Stablecoin and value-referenced asset risk
A Digital Asset that is designed or marketed to maintain a stable value may fail to do so. It may become volatile, lose its peg, be subject to redemption delays or restrictions, experience liquidity problems, be affected by the failure or insolvency of an issuer, reserve custodian, banking partner or service provider, or become unavailable because of legal or regulatory developments.
You should not assume that a value-referenced Digital Asset is equivalent to cash, a bank deposit, a government security or a guaranteed investment.
OTC transaction risk
OTC transactions may involve different pricing, liquidity, settlement, counterparty and execution risks from transactions made through other platform features.
A quote may be time-limited and may cease to be available before acceptance. A transaction may become binding when you accept a quote or otherwise submit an instruction in accordance with the OTC Terms of Service.
You should review the quoted price, quantity, fees, spread, Digital Asset, settlement method and all transaction details before accepting an OTC transaction. Errors may not be capable of correction after acceptance or execution.
Payment, deposit and withdrawal risk
Deposits, withdrawals, payment instructions and transfers may be delayed, rejected, reversed, frozen, restricted or returned due to bank processing times, payment-provider requirements, incorrect information, fraud-prevention controls, sanctions screening, AML/ATF requirements, legal obligations, system failures, account restrictions or other operational reasons.
Third-party financial institutions, payment service providers, correspondent banks, blockchain networks and other intermediaries may charge fees, impose limits or take action that BFG does not control.
You are responsible for ensuring that all payment, bank-account, wallet-address and transaction information you provide is accurate and complete.
Legal, regulatory and tax risk
Laws, regulations, enforcement priorities and tax treatment relating to Digital Assets, custody, payments, transfers, OTC services and blockchain technology may change rapidly and differ between jurisdictions.
A legal or regulatory change may affect the availability, transferability, use, custody, value or treatment of a Digital Asset or the Services. BFG may need to restrict, modify, suspend or terminate access to the Platform or a service to comply with applicable law, regulation, sanctions, court orders, regulatory expectations or internal risk requirements.
You are responsible for understanding and complying with laws, regulations, reporting obligations and tax requirements that apply to you.
Compliance and account-restriction risk
BFG may be required to obtain and verify information about you, your source of funds, source of wealth, transaction purpose, counterparties, wallet addresses, beneficial owners or other matters.
We may delay, decline, suspend, freeze, restrict, cancel or report a transaction or account where required or permitted by applicable law, regulation, sanctions obligations, AML/ATF requirements, fraud-prevention controls, risk-management policies or the applicable Terms.
BFG may not be able to provide reasons for certain restrictions where doing so is prohibited by law or could compromise an investigation or compliance process.
Technology and service-availability risk
The Platform and Services depend on technology, internet connectivity, cloud infrastructure, telecommunications networks, third-party systems, software and service providers. These may fail, become unavailable, be interrupted or experience security incidents.
The Platform may be unavailable due to maintenance, upgrades, outages, market conditions, emergency risk controls, technical failures or events outside BFG’s control. You may not be able to access your account or make a transaction when you wish.
No guarantee or insurance
BFG does not guarantee that:
- (a)Any Digital Asset will retain its value.
- (b)Any transaction will be completed within a particular time.
- (c)Any price, quote, conversion rate or liquidity will be available.
- (d)The Platform will be available without interruption or error.
- (e)A transaction can be reversed or recovered.
- (f)Digital Assets will be protected against every loss, theft, cyber incident, insolvency event or third-party failure.
Any insurance or risk-transfer arrangement maintained by BFG does not create a right or claim for you unless BFG expressly states in writing that the relevant arrangement applies for your benefit.
Further information
This Risk Disclosure is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider whether the Services and any Digital Asset transaction are appropriate for you in light of your financial circumstances, experience, objectives and risk tolerance.
Please read our Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy and, where applicable, OTC Terms of Service before using the Services. If you do not understand any part of the Services or the risks involved, you should seek independent professional advice before proceeding.