Trading cryptoassets is high-risk. You may lose all of the money you put in, and you should not invest more than you can afford to lose. This page explains the main risks in plain language, so that you can decide whether this product is suitable for you before you deposit anything.
1. Introduction and general warning. Cryptoassets are largely unregulated and highly volatile. The value of your holdings can fall as quickly as it rises, you may not be able to sell when you wish, and you are unlikely to have access to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme or the Financial Ombudsman Service if something goes wrong. Automated trading does not change these facts. Using an AI-assisted tool means that decisions are taken faster and with less manual effort, but it does not make them safer. Nothing on this website is investment advice, and past performance is not a reliable guide to future results.
Each card says what the risk is and, where it helps, what you can do about it.
Cryptoasset prices can swing by double-digit percentages within hours, and sometimes in minutes. A fall can wipe out a large part, or all, of the money you have allocated. Past movements say little about the next one, and a rise yesterday does not make a rise tomorrow more likely.
What to do: Only allocate money you could lose without changing how you live, and set a loss limit you can tolerate before you begin.
In a fast or thin market there may be too few buyers or sellers at the price you expected. Orders can then fill at a worse price than the one on screen, which traders call slippage, or may not fill in full. Smaller coins and quiet hours are most exposed.
What to do: Prefer widely traded assets, and remember that the price you see is not always the price you get during sharp moves.
The platform connects to your exchange account through an API key. A wrongly set key, an exchange outage or a change on the exchange side can interrupt connections, delay orders or cause a trade to be placed differently from how you intended. A leaked key can be misused if it carries more rights than it should.
What to do: Grant read and trade rights only, never withdrawal rights, restrict the key to our server addresses and revoke it if you are unsure.
Your assets sit with a third-party exchange, not with us. If that exchange is hacked, suspends withdrawals, fails or is shut down, you may be unable to reach or recover your assets. Exchanges differ widely in how they are run and regulated, and none of this is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
What to do: Spread the risk, avoid keeping more on an exchange than you are actively using, and read the exchange's own terms.
Software has bugs, servers fail and internet connections drop. Any of these can delay an order, miss a signal or show out-of-date information. We test and monitor the platform constantly, but we cannot promise that it will always run without a fault.
What to do: Check your dashboard regularly and tell support quickly if something looks wrong.
Criminals try to steal logins, one-time codes and API keys by sending convincing emails, texts and fake sites. If they succeed they could trade or move assets on your accounts at the exchange. A strong platform cannot protect an account whose owner has handed over the keys.
What to do: Use two-factor sign-in, a unique password and the anti-phishing code, and never share codes with anyone, including people claiming to be from us.
Algorithms learn from past data, and markets change. A strategy that worked for months can stop working when conditions shift, and a model can misread an unusual event. Automation carries out rules quickly but cannot judge news or context the way a person might. There is no guarantee of results.
What to do: Understand what a strategy does before you switch it on, review it often and be ready to pause it.
The platform may be unavailable during maintenance, upgrades, exchange problems or events outside our control. While it is unavailable you may not be able to view positions, change settings or start and stop strategies.
What to do: Know how to reach your manager by phone, and do not rely on the platform alone for time-critical decisions.
A little preparation does more to protect you than any feature. Work through this short list before your first deposit.
That is a perfectly good reason to wait. You can read Crypto basics, ask a question through Contact or speak to an independent financial adviser. If trading begins to feel stressful or you are tempted to chase losses, stop and take a break.
See also our Fees and Withdrawal policy pages, which describe the practical conditions of using your account.
Risk is not only in the market. It also sits in how people react to it. Watch for these signals in yourself: checking the balance many times an hour, adding money to recover a loss, borrowing to fund a deposit, hiding losses from people close to you, or feeling that the next trade must win. Any of them is a reason to pause the strategy and step back.
Pausing costs nothing. You can resume when you are calm, or leave it switched off. If you want to talk it through, your manager will listen without trying to sell you anything, and free, independent debt and money guidance is available in the UK.
It is not a complete list of every risk, and it is not advice on whether the product suits you. Your circumstances are your own. If you are unsure, speak to an independent financial adviser before you deposit.
Rules on cryptoassets are still developing. Taxes, promotions rules or access to certain services can change, sometimes quickly, and a change may affect the value of your holdings or your ability to trade them. Gains may be taxable in the UK, and it is your responsibility to keep records and report correctly.
Most coins are priced in US dollars or stablecoins. If the pound moves against the dollar, the sterling value of your account can change even when the coin does not. Conversion costs also apply whenever money moves between currencies.
If trading is causing you stress, or you are worried about debt, free and impartial guidance is available from organisations such as MoneyHelper and StepChange. Speaking to someone early almost always leaves you with more options.