Disclosures

1. Overview

These disclosures describe how Pieces works and the material considerations of using it. By backing, bonding, or creating a Piece, you confirm that you have read and understood them. Pieces is a novel crowdfunding mechanism built on public blockchain infrastructure. It is not a savings product, an investment vehicle, a security, or a guaranteed-return scheme. You should not commit funds you cannot afford to lose.

Nothing on Pieces constitutes financial, legal, tax, or investment advice. You are solely responsible for your decisions and for understanding how the mechanics described below affect your funds.

2. How Funds Move

A Piece has a funding goal, a duration, and a bond pool. Two distinct roles can commit funds:

• Backers contribute funds toward the funding goal. If the goal is met by the deadline, the creator receives the funded amount less the platform fee and the kickback owed to bonders, and the source content is released publicly. If the goal is not met, backers are eligible to reclaim their full contribution plus a pro-rata share of the forfeited bond pool.
• Bonders commit funds to the bond pool to signal confidence in a Piece. If the Piece funds successfully, bonders reclaim their principal plus a pro-rata share of the kickback, which is sized as a percentage of the funded amount. If the Piece does not fund, bonders forfeit their principal and it is distributed to backers as described above.

3. For Backers

3.1 Content

Source content is encrypted until a Piece's funding goal is met. You may back a Piece based only on its preview (if any) and the creator's reputation. The released content may not match your expectations, may be of lower quality than the preview suggested, or may be substantively different from what you anticipated. Creator reputation and our Content Guidelines provide partial protections, but they are not guarantees.

3.2 Refund Mechanics

Refunds for failed Pieces are not automatic. You must submit a claim transaction after the Piece's deadline to receive your contribution and any refund bonus (your pro-rata share of forfeited bonds). Failure to claim leaves funds in the smart contract. The refund bonus is pro-rata and may be zero if no bonds were posted to the Piece.

3.3 Delivery

Once a Piece is funded and the content is released, Pieces' role in the transaction is complete. We do not guarantee, escrow, or arbitrate any additional promises a creator makes outside of the released source content (for example, future updates, derivative works, or off-platform deliverables). Disputes about anything beyond the released content are between you and the creator.

4. For Bonders

4.1 Principal at Stake

Bonds are at stake. If the Piece you bond on does not reach its funding goal and any backers contributed to it, your bond principal is forfeited and distributed pro-rata to those backers, and is not returned to you. This is by design: bonders take on the downside so that backers face less downside, which is how the mechanism encourages honest signaling.

4.2 Kickback Is Not Guaranteed

The kickback paid to bonders on a successful Piece is a pro-rata share of an amount sized as a percentage of the funded amount, where the percentage is set by the creator when the Piece is published. Your effective return depends on the total bond pool and the kickback percentage. Returns shown in the interface are projections and may change as additional bonds are posted before the deadline.

4.3 Claim Required

As with refunds, bond payouts require a claim transaction submitted after the Piece's deadline. Unclaimed bonds remain in the smart contract.

5. For Creators

• If your Piece does not reach its funding goal, you receive nothing and the source content is not released publicly. You retain ownership of the content.
• Once a Piece funds and the content is released, the unencrypted hash is published on-chain and the content is distributed via decentralized storage networks. You should treat any released content as permanently public. See our Content Guidelines for restrictions on what may be published.
• Platform fees and the kickback owed to bonders are deducted from the funded amount before disbursement to you. The displayed creator payout reflects these deductions.

6. Smart Contract and Blockchain Considerations

• Code: The smart contracts that hold and route funds are software. Despite testing and review, undiscovered bugs or vulnerabilities could result in loss of funds, stuck funds, or unexpected behavior.
• Network: Transactions are subject to the availability, congestion, fees, and finality characteristics of the underlying blockchain. We cannot guarantee transaction inclusion or settlement times.
• Stablecoin: Pieces are denominated in a US dollar stablecoin. The issuer of that stablecoin is a third party. The stablecoin could de-peg, be frozen at the issuer level, or otherwise lose its expected value, which would affect the value of funds held in or paid out by the contract.
• Irreversibility: Blockchain transactions are generally irreversible. Funds sent to incorrect addresses, transactions submitted in error, or actions taken on the wrong Piece typically cannot be undone.

7. Wallet and Account

• Pieces wallets are non-custodial: you control the private key. If you lose access to your account, lose your private key, or expose it to a third party, we cannot recover your funds.
• Exporting your private key removes the protections of our interface. Anyone with your private key can move your funds.
• Phishing, malware, browser extensions, and social engineering are common ways users lose crypto funds. Verify URLs, never share your private key, and treat unsolicited messages with suspicion.

8. Service Availability

The Pieces interface, our backend services, and decentralized storage networks may be unavailable, degraded, or slow at times. While the underlying smart contracts remain accessible directly on-chain, our interface may not be able to display state or build transactions during outages. We make no uptime guarantees.

9. Regulatory and Tax

Cryptocurrency regulation is evolving and varies by jurisdiction. Backing, bonding, or creating a Piece may have legal, regulatory, or tax consequences in your jurisdiction. You are solely responsible for determining whether your activity on Pieces is permitted where you live and for reporting and paying any applicable taxes.

10. No Investment Advice

Nothing on Pieces, including any projected kickbacks, projected refund bonuses, creator pages, rankings, or rating displays, constitutes investment, financial, legal, or tax advice. Projections are estimates based on current state and assumptions; actual outcomes depend on whether the Piece funds and on the final state of bonds and backings when it funds or at the deadline.

11. Acknowledgement

By using Pieces you acknowledge that you have read these disclosures, that you understand the mechanics described, and that you accept the possibility of partial or total loss of any funds you commit to a Piece. If you do not accept these terms, do not use the platform.