Documents
Risk Disclosure
Trading crypto assets and other financial instruments carries real risk, including the possible loss of some or all of the amount invested. This page sets out the specific risks you should understand before you fund an account.
1. Introduction and general warning
Nothing on this page, or anywhere on this site, is financial advice or a promise of any particular outcome. Crypto asset prices can move sharply in short periods, and both experienced and first-time investors can lose money. Before you deposit, make sure you understand the risks below, decide how much you can afford to put at risk, and read this page in full rather than skimming it.
This disclosure applies to every product offered on Polar Zinsmere, including AI-assisted stock analysis, tracked cryptocurrency assets, and any automated monitoring features you enable. It does not attempt to list every conceivable risk in financial markets; it covers the risks most relevant to how our platform is used. If you're unsure whether a specific risk applies to your situation, ask your personal manager or email [email protected] before you fund an account, not after you've already taken a position.
2. Market risk
Crypto asset and market prices can be highly volatile, moving significantly within minutes based on news, sentiment or broader macroeconomic events. A position that looks profitable can turn against you quickly, and there is no guarantee that a losing position will recover. Set a level of loss you're prepared to accept before you open a position, not after.
Market risk applies equally to equities tracked through our AI-powered stocks product and to every asset on the tracked crypto list. No amount of analysis, automated or manual, removes the underlying possibility that an asset's price moves against the direction you expected, sometimes for reasons unrelated to the asset itself, such as a broader shift in investor sentiment across an entire sector.
3. Liquidity risk
Some assets or trading pairs have lower trading volume than others, which can make it harder to execute an order at the price you expected. This is known as slippage: your order fills, but at a worse price than the one displayed a moment earlier. Liquidity risk tends to increase during periods of high volatility, exactly when it matters most.
Thinner liquidity can also widen the gap between the price you see on a chart and the price you actually receive when an order executes, particularly for larger positions or during sudden market-wide moves. We track only assets with meaningful trading volume for this reason, but liquidity conditions can still shift quickly, and no venue can guarantee execution at a specific price during a fast market.
4. API and integration risk
If you connect an external exchange account by API key, misconfiguration, an expired key, or an overly broad permission scope can create problems ranging from a failed connection to, in a worst case, unauthorised access if a key is mishandled. Always scope API keys to the minimum permissions needed (market data and trading only, never withdrawal) and treat your key like a password.
Exchange platforms occasionally update their own API behaviour or impose rate limits without much notice, which can briefly interrupt data flow or order placement on our end while we adapt. We monitor connected integrations and flag any disruption on your dashboard as soon as it's detected, but the underlying dependency on a third-party exchange's own API availability is not something we can fully control.
5. Counterparty and custody risk
Where funds or assets are held with a third-party exchange or provider, you are exposed to that provider's own operational and financial stability, separate from Polar Zinsmere's own controls. Choose connected exchanges carefully, and understand that a third-party provider's insolvency or security failure is outside our direct control.
This is a well-documented risk across the crypto industry, and it applies whenever any funds sit with any third party rather than in your own direct custody. Diversifying where you hold significant balances, rather than concentrating everything with a single provider, is a reasonable way to reduce your exposure to any one counterparty's failure.
6. Operational risk
Technical faults, software bugs, infrastructure outages, or connectivity issues can occasionally interrupt access to the platform or delay the execution of a strategy. We test and monitor our systems continuously to minimise this, but no platform can guarantee zero downtime, and an outage during a fast-moving market can affect your results.
We maintain monitoring and incident-response procedures designed to detect and resolve operational issues quickly, and we communicate known outages through your dashboard where possible. Even so, an interruption at the exact moment a market is moving sharply can mean a position isn't adjusted or closed as quickly as you'd have liked, and this possibility should be factored into how much risk you're willing to carry on any single position.
7. Cybersecurity and phishing
Account takeover attempts, phishing emails impersonating our brand, and credential theft are risks across the entire industry, not unique to any one platform. Enable two-factor authentication, never share your password or 2FA codes with anyone including someone claiming to be our support team, and check the Fraud Warning page if you receive a suspicious message.
We will never ask for your password or a one-time verification code over phone, email or chat, and genuine communication from Polar Zinsmere never pressures you to act within minutes to "save" your account. Treat any message with that pattern as suspicious by default, and verify directly through your dashboard or a known support channel before responding.
8. Automation and model risk
Automated strategies and pattern-recognition tools are built on historical and real-time data, and are subject to real limitations: models can misread an unusual market event, a strategy that worked well in one market condition can underperform in another, and no automated system can guarantee a profitable outcome. Automation reduces manual workload, it does not remove risk.
You retain the ability to review, pause, or override automated settings at any time from your dashboard, and we encourage you to check in on active strategies periodically rather than treating automation as something to set up once and never revisit. Market conditions change, and a configuration that suited one environment may need adjusting as conditions shift.
9. Service availability
Scheduled maintenance, unscheduled technical issues, or events outside our control can make the platform temporarily unavailable. We aim to communicate planned maintenance windows in advance and resolve unplanned outages as quickly as possible, but availability is not guaranteed at every moment.
Where practical, planned maintenance is scheduled outside peak trading hours and announced on your dashboard ahead of time. Unplanned outages, by their nature, can't always be foreseen, and we recommend not relying on split-second manual intervention as your sole risk-management approach for exactly this reason.
10. Before you start
Before funding an account, take the time to understand the strategy you plan to use, decide in advance the maximum loss you're comfortable accepting, and secure your account with two-factor authentication and a strong, unique password. Review your positions and settings regularly rather than leaving a strategy unattended indefinitely, and never invest funds you cannot afford to lose. If anything on this page is unclear, contact [email protected] before you deposit, not after.
A useful habit is to revisit this page periodically, not just once at signup, since your own risk tolerance and financial situation can change over time even when the risks themselves stay the same. If you're ever unsure whether a decision fits your comfort level, pause before acting and talk it through with your personal manager; there's no penalty for asking a question before you commit funds, and it's always better than asking after.
Past performance, including any figures shown in reviews, case studies or the calculator on this site, does not guarantee future results. All trading and investment activity carries financial risk, including the possible loss of the amount invested.