Terms of Service

Last updated: February 12, 2026

1. Agreement to Terms

By accessing or using the Paywalless protocol ("Service"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not access or use the Service. Your continued use of the Service constitutes acceptance of any updates or modifications to these Terms.

2. Service Description

Paywalless is a non-custodial payment protocol deployed on the Base blockchain (Ethereum Layer 2). The Service enables sellers to create payment links for digital content and buyers to pay using USDC stablecoin. Paywalless is a payment routing protocol — it is not a marketplace, store, content host, or financial institution. Paywalless does not buy, sell, curate, review, endorse, or guarantee any content sold through the protocol.

3. Non-Custodial Nature

Paywalless never holds, controls, or has access to user funds at any point during or after a transaction. All payments are split atomically via a smart contract deployed on the Base blockchain: 95% is routed directly to the seller's wallet address and 5% to the protocol treasury. There is no escrow, no balance holding, and no custodial wallet. Once a transaction is submitted to the blockchain, Paywalless has no ability to reverse, modify, or intercept the payment.

4. Strings-Only Architecture

Paywalless never hosts, caches, proxies, stores, or transmits seller content. The Service stores only encrypted string references (URLs, access tokens, or API keys) that point to content hosted entirely on the seller's own infrastructure. Paywalless has no knowledge of, access to, or control over the actual content delivered to buyers. The seller is solely responsible for the hosting, availability, legality, and quality of their content.

5. Stateless Identity

Paywalless does not require or maintain user accounts. There are no usernames, passwords, email addresses, or personal profiles. Your blockchain wallet address serves as your sole identity within the protocol. You are entirely responsible for the security and management of your wallet, private keys, and seed phrases. Paywalless cannot recover lost wallets, reset credentials, or verify identity by any means other than wallet ownership.

6. Smart Contract Interactions

By using the Service, you acknowledge that:

• All transactions are executed through immutable smart contracts on the Base blockchain.
• Blockchain transactions are final and irreversible once confirmed.
• Paywalless cannot reverse, cancel, modify, or refund any transaction after it is submitted to the blockchain.
• Smart contracts operate autonomously according to their code and are not subject to manual intervention.
• You are responsible for reviewing transaction details before confirming any payment.
• Network congestion, gas fees, and blockchain downtime are outside the control of Paywalless.

7. Fees

Paywalless charges a 5% protocol fee on each transaction, deducted atomically at the smart contract level. This fee is non-negotiable and non-refundable. All blockchain gas fees required to submit, approve, and execute transactions are the sole responsibility of the user initiating the transaction. Paywalless does not control gas pricing and is not responsible for failed transactions due to insufficient gas or network issues.

8. Seller Responsibilities

By creating a product on Paywalless, you as a seller represent and warrant that:

• You have the legal right, authority, and all necessary licenses to distribute the content linked through your product.
• Your content does not violate any applicable law, regulation, or third-party rights (including intellectual property, privacy, and publicity rights).
• Your product descriptions and titles are accurate and not misleading.
• You are responsible for the availability, quality, and delivery of your content at the destination URL.
• You will maintain the accessibility of your content for the duration specified in the product configuration.
• You are solely responsible for any tax obligations arising from your sales.
• You will not use the Service to sell prohibited content as defined in Section 10.

9. Buyer Acknowledgements

By purchasing content through Paywalless, you as a buyer acknowledge that:

• All purchases are final and non-refundable. There are no chargebacks, disputes, or refund mechanisms within the protocol.
• Access to purchased content is governed by the duration set by the seller (permanent or time-limited).
• Paywalless does not guarantee the quality, accuracy, availability, legality, or fitness of any content purchased.
• The seller is solely responsible for delivering the content they have described.
• You are responsible for verifying that you want to proceed with a purchase before confirming the blockchain transaction.
• Disputes regarding content quality, accuracy, or delivery are strictly between you and the seller.

10. Prohibited Uses

You may not use Paywalless to create, sell, distribute, or facilitate access to:

• Child sexual abuse material (CSAM) or any content exploiting minors.
• Content that violates any applicable law or regulation in any jurisdiction.
• Stolen, pirated, or copyright-infringing material.
• Malware, ransomware, spyware, viruses, or any malicious software.
• Phishing pages, credential-harvesting tools, or social engineering attacks.
• Content used to facilitate fraud, scams, money laundering, or terrorist financing.
• Sanctions-violating transactions or transactions with sanctioned entities.
• Content designed to harass, threaten, defame, or harm individuals.
• Non-existent or intentionally misleading products designed to defraud buyers.

Paywalless reserves the right to remove product listings that violate these terms and to cooperate with law enforcement when required by applicable law.

11. No Warranties

The Service is provided "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory. Paywalless expressly disclaims all warranties, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement. Paywalless makes no warranty that the Service will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free. No advice or information, whether oral or written, obtained from Paywalless shall create any warranty not expressly stated in these Terms.

12. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Paywalless and its operators, developers, contributors, and affiliates shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of profits, revenue, data, or goodwill, arising from or related to:

• The quality, accuracy, legality, or availability of content sold by sellers.
• Smart contract bugs, exploits, vulnerabilities, or unintended behavior.
• Blockchain network outages, congestion, forks, reorgs, or delays.
• Loss of funds due to user error, including sending to wrong addresses, incorrect amounts, or lost private keys.
• Wallet security breaches, compromised private keys, or phishing attacks.
• Gas fees paid for failed, reverted, or pending transactions.
• Third-party service failures (including blockchain infrastructure, wallet providers, and hosting services).
• Regulatory actions or changes in law affecting cryptocurrency or the Service.
• Any unauthorized access to or alteration of your data or transactions.

In no event shall the total aggregate liability of Paywalless exceed the amount of protocol fees (5%) actually received by Paywalless from your transactions in the twelve (12) months preceding the claim.

13. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Paywalless and its operators, developers, contributors, and affiliates from and against any and all claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from or related to: (a) your use of the Service; (b) your violation of these Terms; (c) content you create, sell, or distribute through the Service; (d) your violation of any law, regulation, or third-party right; or (e) any dispute between you and another user of the Service.

14. Dispute Resolution

Buyer-Seller Disputes: All disputes regarding content quality, delivery, accuracy, or satisfaction are strictly between the buyer and seller. Paywalless is a payment protocol, not a mediator, arbitrator, or marketplace. Paywalless has no obligation or ability to resolve buyer-seller disputes, issue refunds, or reverse transactions.

Claims Against Paywalless: Any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service shall be resolved through binding arbitration administered under the rules of the American Arbitration Association. The arbitration shall be conducted in the State of Delaware, United States. You agree to waive any right to participate in a class action lawsuit or class-wide arbitration against Paywalless. The arbitrator's decision shall be final and binding.

15. Modification of Terms

Paywalless reserves the right to modify these Terms at any time. Updated Terms will be posted on this page with a revised "Last updated" date. Your continued use of the Service after any modification constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms. It is your responsibility to review these Terms periodically. Material changes will be indicated by updating the date at the top of this document.

16. General Provisions

Governing Law: These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware, United States, without regard to its conflict of law principles.

Severability: If any provision of these Terms is held to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, and the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.

Entire Agreement: These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Paywalless regarding the Service and supersede all prior agreements and understandings.

Waiver: The failure of Paywalless to enforce any provision of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of that provision or any other provision.

Assignment: You may not assign or transfer any rights or obligations under these Terms without prior written consent. Paywalless may assign these Terms without restriction.

Contact: For questions about these Terms, please reach out via the project's public channels.