Whitepaper

Risk Factors

Read This First

Using Starzip carries real risk of loss. A Store Token can lose all of its value, a token sale can fail to sell out, a store can close, and a token can be removed from trading. Nothing on Starzip is capital-protected, insured, or guaranteed by anyone.

This page lists the risks we consider material. It is not exhaustive. Only commit funds you can afford to lose entirely.

Store Tokens and STAR are utility tokens. They are not securities, equity, or investment contracts, and they confer no ownership, dividends, revenue share, or guaranteed returns.

This page is informational only and is not an offer or solicitation. Access is restricted in some jurisdictions.

Token Value and Liquidity

  • Price volatility. Store Token prices are set by the order book, not by Starzip. Prices can fall sharply and without warning, and there is no floor price and no buyback obligation.
  • Thin liquidity. A store token market can be small. Initial order-book liquidity is seeded with the sale proceeds left after the 5% listing fee, but that provides no guarantee that you can sell at a price you want, at a size you want, or at all.
  • Concentration. A small number of holders may control a large share of a token supply. Their selling can move the price far more than it would on a larger market.
  • Supply unlocks. Circulating supply grows as the owner allocation unlocks month by month for 24 months, after a 3-month lock-up from listing. Each unlock adds potential sell pressure.

Token Sale Risks

  • No guaranteed sell-out. A sale has no end date and no goal amount. If the sale supply is not sold out, the sale stays open and the token is not listed.
  • Price and sell-back. The price is higher the more of the sale is sold. Selling back is at the current price, which can be lower than what you paid.
  • No listing. Selling out does not oblige the issuer to list. Starzip does not admit a Store Token to trading on its own initiative, and listing happens only after the issuer confirms it.

Business and Listing Risks

  • Store closure. A Store Token is tied to a real business. If the store closes, its benefits stop and the token may become worthless even if it remains tradable.
  • Benefit changes. The issuer decides the store benefits attached to its token, including pricing, menu, rewards, and events. Holders have no vote on those decisions and no contractual right to any particular benefit.
  • Delisting. A token can be removed from trading. Starzip gives advance notice and allows the store a period to respond before a delisting takes effect, and holders are given a window to withdraw.
  • Review does not equal endorsement. Starzip reviews stores for compliance, authenticity, and platform suitability. Passing review is not a judgement about whether the business will succeed or whether its token is worth buying.
  • Disclosure quality. Store information and quarterly statements come from the issuer. Starzip does not audit a store's finances.

Technology Risks

  • Smart contracts. Contract code can contain defects. A defect in the escrow, settlement, vesting, or token contracts could cause loss of funds or of tokens.
  • Self-custody. Users hold their own wallet keys. If you lose your keys or your recovery method, Starzip cannot restore access to your wallet.
  • Wrong-network transfers. Sending assets on the wrong network or to the wrong address can cause permanent loss that no one can reverse.
  • Network dependency. Starzip runs on BNB Smart Chain (BSC). Congestion, an outage, or a chain reorganisation can delay or block deposits, withdrawals, and settlement.
  • Off-chain matching. Orders are matched off-chain and settled on-chain. An outage in the matching service can prevent you from placing or cancelling orders even when the chain is healthy.
  • Security incidents. No platform is immune to compromise. A successful attack on Starzip or on a dependency could result in loss of assets or of data.

Regulatory Risks

RiskWhat it could mean for you
ReclassificationA regulator could treat Store Tokens, STAR, or StarGenesis NFTs as regulated instruments. That could force changes to the product, restrict trading, or end a feature entirely.
New restrictionsStarzip may have to block additional countries at short notice. If your country is added, you may lose access with limited time to withdraw.
LicensingObtaining or failing to obtain a licence in a given market can change what Starzip is able to offer there.
TaxTax treatment of tokens differs by country and can change. You are responsible for your own tax position.
Compliance screeningSanctions and anti-money-laundering screening can result in an account being restricted.
Starzip is unavailable in a number of places, including the United States, every European Union member state, and Taiwan. See Restricted Jurisdictions for the full list.

StarGenesis Risks

  • Rewards are not a return. StarGenesis rewards are utility distributions from a fixed platform allocation. They are not a yield, and no amount is promised or guaranteed.
  • Rewards depend on activity Starzip does not control. Listing airdrops only occur when stores in your location actually list a token. If no store lists, there is no airdrop.
  • Dilution among holders. Rewards for a location are divided among eligible holders. More eligible holders means a smaller share each.
  • Provisional parameters. Emission, hashpower, durability, and repair figures are provisional and may change before launch.
  • Claim windows and durability. Rewards must be claimed inside a short monthly window, and letting durability fall reduces or stops what you receive. Inaction has a cost.
  • STAR does not exist yet. Rewards denominated in STAR depend on a future token generation event whose date and terms are not set. STAR-denominated features may be delayed or changed.

Platform and Operational Risks

  • Policy changes. Fee rates, tokenomics parameters, and platform rules can change. Changes are announced in advance through official channels, and the current values are published in the Console and on this site.
  • Feature availability. Features described in this whitepaper may ship later than expected, ship in a reduced form, or not ship at all.
  • Key personnel and funding. Starzip is an early-stage venture. Its ability to operate and to develop the platform depends on continued funding and on a small team.
  • Third parties. Fiat on-ramps, custody tooling, identity verification, and infrastructure providers are operated by third parties. Their failure or withdrawal can interrupt the service.
  • Forward-looking statements. Statements about future plans reflect current intent, not commitments, and are not a forecast of results.