Risk disclosure
Trading crypto assets and stocks through Striven Steadex carries real financial risk, including the possible loss of some or all of the amount you invest. Read this page in full before you deposit.
1. General warning
Trading digital assets and stocks is speculative and unsuitable for money you cannot afford to lose. Past performance, including the results shown by other clients, does not predict future returns. Automated analysis and AI-driven strategies reduce certain manual burdens but do not remove the underlying risk of loss.
This page summarises the main categories of risk so you can make an informed choice before depositing. It does not cover every possible scenario, and it should be read alongside the Security, AML/KYC and Withdrawal Policy pages, which touch on related risk areas from a different angle. If you're not comfortable with any part of it, speak with your account manager before you fund an account, not after.
2. Market risk
Crypto and equity prices can move sharply and unpredictably in short periods, driven by news, liquidity conditions or broader economic events. A strategy that performs well in calm conditions can lose value quickly during a volatile stretch. Only allocate funds you're prepared to see fluctuate, and review your risk settings periodically.
Because Striven Steadex trades a mix of crypto assets and stocks, you're exposed to the market dynamics of both: equities can gap on earnings or macroeconomic news, while crypto assets can move sharply on exchange incidents, regulatory headlines or shifts in broader sentiment. Diversifying across assets and setting a sensible allocation per position are two of the more practical ways clients manage this risk day to day.
3. Liquidity risk
In thin markets, an order may be filled at a worse price than expected — known as slippage — or take longer to execute. This is more common with lower-volume assets and during sudden market moves, and it can affect both the entry and exit price of a trade.
Liquidity can also change quickly within a single trading session — an asset that trades smoothly in the morning can thin out during a sharp move, widening spreads and increasing the gap between the price you expect and the price you get. Strategy presets on the platform take typical liquidity conditions into account, but they cannot fully anticipate a sudden, unusual drop in market depth.
4. API and integration risk
Connecting an external exchange account introduces its own risks: a misconfigured API key, a connection error, or a compromised key can affect how your strategies execute. Always scope API keys to read and trade only, never withdrawal, and review connected integrations regularly.
If you disconnect or regenerate an API key on the exchange side without updating it on our platform, your connected strategy may stop executing correctly until the connection is restored, which is another reason to check your integrations periodically rather than only at setup. Report a suspected key compromise to support immediately so the connection can be disabled.
5. Counterparty and custody risk
Where funds or assets sit with a third-party exchange or custodian, you're exposed to that provider's own operational and financial soundness, which is outside our direct control. We work only with established providers, but no third party is entirely risk-free.
This is a structural risk of any service that relies on external exchanges or custodians rather than holding assets entirely in-house, and it cannot be fully eliminated by any platform. We monitor the providers we integrate with on an ongoing basis and will notify affected clients if a material issue arises with a specific provider.
6. Operational risk
Software bugs, infrastructure outages or connectivity issues can occasionally affect order execution or platform availability. We test and monitor the platform on an ongoing basis, but no technology system can guarantee uninterrupted, error-free operation.
Examples include a delayed price feed, a temporary connectivity issue between our platform and a connected exchange, or a bug introduced during a software update. Where an operational issue affects executed trades, our support and engineering teams investigate and communicate the outcome directly to affected clients.
7. Cybersecurity and phishing
Account credentials and personal data can be targeted by phishing or other attacks. Use a unique password, enable two-factor authentication, and never share login details or 2FA codes with anyone, including someone claiming to represent Striven Steadex. See our Security page for the full detail.
Beyond phishing, be cautious of unsolicited messages offering to "help" manage your account, guarantee returns, or request remote access to your device — these are common patterns used by scammers impersonating legitimate platforms. See our Fraud warning page for more detail on recognising impersonation attempts specifically.
8. Model and automation limits
AI-driven and algorithmic strategies analyse historical and current market data to identify patterns, but no model can predict markets with certainty. Automated strategies can underperform, especially in conditions that differ from the data they were built on, and there is no guarantee of profit from any preset or custom strategy.
Markets can also shift into conditions a model has not seen before — a genuinely new type of event, for example — where historical pattern-matching is less reliable by definition. This is one of the reasons the platform includes a volatility circuit breaker and why we recommend reviewing your strategy periodically rather than leaving it completely unattended for long stretches.
9. Service availability
Scheduled maintenance, unplanned outages or third-party infrastructure issues can make the platform temporarily unavailable. We aim to keep disruption brief and to notify clients of planned maintenance in advance where possible.
During a planned maintenance window, open positions and existing orders are not cancelled automatically; they remain governed by your existing strategy settings. If you have concerns about an upcoming maintenance window and an open position, contact support in advance so we can talk through the options with you.
10. Before you start
Before funding an account: understand the strategy you're about to run, decide in advance how much loss you're prepared to accept, secure your account with 2FA, and keep an eye on your strategy settings rather than leaving them unattended indefinitely. If you're unsure about any of this, talk to your account manager before depositing.
It's also worth reviewing your strategy settings after any significant deposit or withdrawal, since your risk exposure as a proportion of your total balance changes with it. A setting that felt conservative at a smaller balance may not feel the same at a larger one, and adjusting it is quick from your dashboard.
This page is a summary of key risk categories, not an exhaustive list. If anything here is unclear, contact [email protected] before you deposit funds.