Official Rules for Submissions
Please note that there are specific rules for each program, but the following rules apply to all SCF programs and initiatives.
Participant Eligibility
1.1 Each SCF Award Program or Initiative is open to:
Teams of Eligible Individuals, as defined below in Section 1.3 (“Teams”); and
Organizations (including corporations, not-for-profit corporations, and other nonprofit organizations, limited liability companies, partnerships, and other legal entities) that consist of Eligible Individuals and that are duly organized or incorporated and in good standing at the time of submission (“Organizations”).
(the above Teams of Eligible Individuals and Organizations are referred to collectively as “Participants”).
In any given SCF Award Program or Initiative, an Eligible Individual may not join more than one Team or Organization, and an Eligible Individual who is part of a Team or Organization may not also enter submission for other SCF Awards on an individual basis.
1.2 If a Team or Organization is entering an SCF Award Program or Initiative:
The Team or Organization must appoint and authorize one Eligible Individual (the “Representative”) to represent, act, and enter a submission on their behalf. By entering a submission to the SCF Award Program or Initiative on behalf of a Team or Organization, you are representing and warranting that you are the Representative authorized to act on behalf of your Team or Organization.
For Kickstart, your Team or Organization must appoint and authorize at least 2 Eligible Individuals to be available during the preparation webinars, actively participate in bootcamp activities, and should you be interested and get selected as one of the finalists, present during the investor demo day.
1.3 An “Eligible Individual” is a natural person who:
Is 18 years of age or older;
Is not a citizen of, located in, or otherwise normally residing in Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, any Russian-controlled region of Ukraine, or any other country or region subject to sanctions by the US Department of Treasury Office of Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC”), as may be updated from time to time;
is not identified on the Specially Designated Nationals or Blocked Persons list provided by OFAC; and
Does not reside in a jurisdiction where the transfer and holding of cryptocurrency is illegal or would require a special license or authorization that the such person does not possess.
Submission Eligibility
Applicable law and our internal policies restricts SDF from providing financial or promotional support to certain categories of teams and companies. A team or company will be ineligible to participate in SCF or receive an SCF Award if they are or offer products/services that:
violate any applicable laws, regulations, orders, judgements or rules; infringe or violate any proprietary right of any party, including patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, right of privacy, right of publicity, or other rights;
involve, facilitate, support, or promote unlawful activities, including, but not limited to: fraud, drug trafficking, purchases on dark web markets, theft, illegal arms trafficking, human trafficking, abduction, extortion, embezzlement, corruption of public officials, acts of terrorism or terrorist financing, and intellectual property violations;
involve, facilitate, or promote gambling;
are offensive, deceptive, harmful, or libelous;
are/ or contain sexually obscene content;
are discriminatory or abusive toward any individual or group;
contain, transmit, or instill malware or phishing pages or devices;
are primarily focused on promoting a specific token or a specific NFT or NFT collection with no real-world use case;
are primarily focused on use cases that do not contribute to the growth and development of Soroban, the Stellar network, the Stellar ecosystem, and protocol (e.g., relying on Stellar for arbitrary data storage).
If you are unsure whether your company or team falls into one or more of these categories, please contact us at communityfund@stellar.org. SDF reserves the right, in its absolute discretion, to disqualify any Participant, without warning, from any SDF programs, and to ban them from future SDF funding programs, if they breach these Rules and Eligibility Guidelines (the “Official Rules”) or any applicable law, or otherwise act in a way that is inappropriate, not in the best interests or spirit of the SDF programs or otherwise in bad faith, including, without limitation, any direct or indirect tampering with or manipulation of the entry, or abusive behavior towards mentors and other participants.
Restrictions on Use of Funds
You agree that SDF shall not be obligated to make or deliver any Awards to you if you (i) are reasonably suspected by SDF to have performed or engaged in unlawful activity, such as fraud, wash trading, or market manipulation; or (ii) use any part of any Award, directly or indirectly, to engage in: (a) speculation, wash trading, short selling, insider trading, spoofing, price fixing, market manipulation or other unlawful, illegal, fraudulent, deceptive or manipulative activity related to or involving Stellar lumens (“XLM”) or any other Stellar-based digital asset; (b) providing investment advice, including without limitation, statements on potential profitability or value appreciation of XLM or any other Stellar-based digital asset; (c) marketing or promoting any product or feature that promises interest, a dividend, or other appreciation, yield, or return on XLM; (d) short selling XLM or manipulating the price or volume of XLM, or causing, influencing, or incentivizing the short selling of XLM or manipulating the price or volume of XLM; (e) using XLM for any public marketing activities without the prior consent of SDF in each instance; (f) facilitating or furthering any transactions or engagement with Sanctioned Jurisdictions or Sanctioned Persons (each as defined below); or (g) engaging, directly or indirectly, in any activities in connection with anti-money laundering and/or terrorism financing, or any other acts in breach or contravention of any applicable laws, including Sanctions laws as defined below (the activities described in clauses (i) and (ii) collectively, the “Restricted Uses”).
Sanctions Compliance
For purposes of these Legal Acknowledgements, “Sanctions” mean all economic or financial sanctions or trade embargoes imposed, administered, or enforced by the United States (including U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) and the U.S. Department of State), European Union, United Kingdom, United Nations, or other relevant sanctions authority. “Sanctioned Jurisdiction” means any jurisdiction that is the target of comprehensive Sanctions, including as of the date hereof, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine (currently, Crimea, so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, and so-called Luhansk People’s Republic). “Sanctioned Person” means any individual, entity, organization, or government: (i) designated on a Sanctions-related list maintained by the United States (including OFAC’s List of Specially Designated Persons and Blocked Persons), European Union (including the Consolidated list of persons, groups and entities subject to EU financial sanctions), United Kingdom (including the UK Sanctions List), United Nations, and any other relevant Sanctions authority; (ii) subject to a blocking order by the United States or a relevant Sanctions authority; (iii) located, organized, or ordinarily resident in a Sanctioned Jurisdiction; or (iv) owned or controlled (directly or indirectly) by any individual, entity, organization, or government described in clauses (i), (ii), and (iii).
General Rules
Marketing and Publication Rights
You are granting to SDF and its assigns, licensees, and successors a royalty-free, irrevocable, non-exclusive and unlimited right and permission to use your submission, name, picture, statements, project name, likeness, and voice, and any material based thereon or derived therefrom in connection with SCF (collectively, the “Content”), in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed, and to use, edit, modify, duplicate, distribute, publish, publicize and/or create derivative works from the Content, throughout the world, in perpetuity, without limitation and without payment of any royalties or compensation, consideration, notice or permission, except where prohibited by law, for the purpose of creating educational, informational, and promotional materials or creative assets (any such materials or assets that feature the Content are referred to herein as “Assets”), including, without limitation, on social media, or on any website owned or affiliated with SDF. You will have no right of approval, no claim to any compensation, and no claim arising out of the use, alteration, or distortion or use in any composite form of the Content. You waive the right to inspect or approve versions of the Content made or modified for SDF’s usage (including in any Assets), and unconditionally release SDF and SDF’s assigns, licensees, and successors from any claims that may arise in connection with such usage, including any claims of defamation, invasion of privacy, or infringement of moral rights, rights of publicity or copyright. To the extent that any third party licensed content is included in any Content or Assets you create as part of your participation in SCF, such material will be deemed included in the definition of “Content” and you grant to SDF the same usage rights as set out herein, warrant that use by SDF will not infringe any intellectual property or other rights of any third party, and indemnify SDF against any breach of that warranty. You further affirm that you have permission from any and all individuals mentioned or displayed in the submission to use such individual’s name and/or likeness in the submission and to grant the rights set forth above. You further represent that all Content shared by you with SDF in connection with SCF has been and will be accurate and shared in good faith. SDF is permitted, though not obligated, to include your name as a credit in connection with the usage of your Content. SDF is not obligated to utilize any of the rights granted herein.
Disclaimers & Limitations of Liability
Participants acknowledge and understand that XLM is a highly risky and volatile asset, and that SDF does not provide any representations, warranties, or guarantees of its value.
‍In addition to the disclaimers, limitation of liability, and indemnities agreed to in the main SDF Terms of Service, Participants also specifically agree to release and hold harmless SDF and its respective affiliates, employees, and agents from any and all liability or any injury, loss or damage of any kind arising from or in connection with the SCF Award Program or Initiative and its promotion, or any SCF Awards granted in connection with SCF Kickstart, SCF Build or any other SDF program.
General Conditions
SDF reserves the right, in their sole discretion, to cancel, suspend and/or modify any SCF Award Programs or Initiatives, or any part of it including any or all Awards or the Official Rules for any reason.
All SCF Award Programs or Initiatives are governed by the SDF Terms of Service and the Official Rules. If there is any conflict or inconsistency between the SDF Terms of Service and the Official Rules, the Official Rules will prevail. If there is any discrepancy or inconsistency between the terms and conditions of the Official Rules and disclosures or other statements contained in any SCF Award Programs or Initiatives, and any SCF Award Program or Initiative materials, including but not limited to any SCF Award Program or Initiative Submission Form and /or the SCF website, then the Official Rules shall prevail.
The terms and conditions of the Official Rules are subject to change at any time, including the rights or obligations of the Participants and SDF. SDF will post the terms and conditions of the amended Official Rules on the SCF Website. To the fullest extent permitted by law, any amendment will become effective at the time specified in the posting of the amended Official Rules or, if no time is specified, the time of posting.
SDF’s failure to enforce any term of the Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. Should any provision of the Official Rules be or become illegal or unenforceable in any jurisdiction whose laws or regulations may apply to a Participant such illegality or unenforceability shall leave the remainder of the Official Rules, including the Rule affected, to the fullest extent permitted by law, unaffected and valid. The illegal or unenforceable provision shall be replaced by a valid and enforceable provision that comes closest and best reflects the SDF’s intention in a legal and enforceable manner with respect to the invalid or unenforceable provision.
Data Privacy
SDF collects personal information from Participants when they enter any SCF Award Programs or Initiatives. The information collected is subject to the privacy policy located here: https://www.stellar.org/privacy-policy.
Contact
Join the Stellar community on Discord. If you have any specific questions or concerns you can also email SDF at communityfund@stellar.org.
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