1. Best-effort service, interruptions and closure

Astraeus is provided on a best-effort, “as available” basis. We aim to operate the service with reasonable care, but do not offer a service-level agreement or guarantee uninterrupted availability, error-free operation, acceptance of every share, block discovery, mining income, a response or recovery time, or continued operation for any minimum period. Software, hardware, hosting, network and blockchain failures can cause downtime, rejected or lost work, incorrect or delayed information, and unsuccessful block submissions. Except for the commitments expressly made in these terms and obligations imposed by law, we give no additional voluntary warranty that the service will meet a particular mining objective or generate a particular return. This does not remove our responsibility to perform the service’s essential obligations with the care required by law.

We reserve the right to pause, restrict or permanently discontinue all or part of the pool, hosted connection or portal, on either or both chains. Reasons may include maintenance, upgrades, security incidents, malfunction, third-party failures, legal requirements, costs or economic viability, or the operator’s decision to retire the project because of personal circumstances or insufficient resources. There is no commitment to fund the service indefinitely, restore a discontinued service, or arrange a replacement provider.

For a planned permanent closure, we will give at least 30 days’ advance notice through the portal and any additional notice required by law. For planned temporary interruptions, we will give reasonable advance notice where practicable. Unforeseen failures, serious security risks, urgent legal requirements or other serious grounds may require immediate suspension or closure without advance notice. We will provide information as soon as reasonably practicable, through an available Astraeus channel if the portal is unavailable. Applicable notice requirements always prevail.

You remain responsible for monitoring your equipment, connection, accepted shares and payouts, and for choosing whether to stop or redirect mining during disruption. Configure an alternative pool where your equipment supports it. Do not base equipment purchases or ongoing expenditure on an assumption that Astraeus or its Founder programme will continue indefinitely.

2. Liability and mining losses

Mining is probabilistic. You bear ordinary equipment, electricity and connectivity costs and the risk that compliant mining produces no reward. A change in network difficulty, block timing or asset value does not by itself establish a failure by Astraeus. We do not offer additional contractual uptime credits or guarantee compensation merely because an interruption or closure occurs.

If you are a consumer, responsibility for loss caused by our failure to meet our obligations is determined by applicable law; these terms do not exclude your statutory remedies. If you use the service for business purposes, and only where lawful and reasonable, we exclude liability for indirect or consequential losses, including business opportunities or anticipated profits that constitute such losses. This exclusion does not apply to direct losses merely because they involve mining rewards, wasted work, operating expenses or data, or to our failure to perform the service’s essential obligations. All limitations remain subject to section 3.

Accepted shares and displayed estimates are not a pool-held balance or a guarantee of a future block reward. Suspension or closure does not, by itself, create a right to payment for hypothetical future blocks or unused Founder discounts. It also does not cancel any payment or other obligation that has already arisen, change the recorded fee on previously accepted work, or permit us to retain funds legally due to a miner.

3. Your legal rights

These terms do not exclude or limit rights, remedies or liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited. In particular, the limitations do not apply to fraud, intentional misconduct, gross negligence, death or personal injury caused by negligence, breach of the service’s essential obligations, or duties or consumer rights for which applicable law prohibits an exclusion or limitation. These protections also cover conduct by people for whose actions we are legally responsible. If a provision is unenforceable, the remaining terms continue only to the extent permitted by law. Neither “best effort”, “as available” nor “promotion” removes duties of care, rights or remedies that applicable law gives you.

You may raise service, accounting or eligibility concerns through the Astraeus contact channel. A complaint is not a prerequisite to exercising a legal remedy, and these terms impose no contractual claim deadline, mandatory arbitration or waiver of access to competent courts. Applicable law determines jurisdiction, including any protections available to consumers in their country of habitual residence.

4. Pool fees

The current base pool fee on Bitcoin Blake2B is —. Eligible Founders receive a — reduction in that fee, giving a current Founder fee of —. The effective fee equals the base fee multiplied by one minus the discount percentage. At a 2% base fee and a 30% discount, the Founder fee is 1.4%. During the two-year protected period, the fee is the lower of 1.4% and the base fee after applying at least a 30% discount. A change to the base fee cannot override either protection.

Checking current rates…

Fees apply to your share of mining rewards under the pool’s verified TIDES accounting. Amounts are rounded to whole satoshis when outputs are calculated. Estimates are not balances, guaranteed rewards or guaranteed profitability.

5. Founder eligibility

Founder eligibility belongs to a payout address whose first independently verified share comes before or is the share that finds the chain’s first node-recognised Astraeus block. Existing qualifying addresses are included. A first-ever share that finds that block qualifies and receives the applicable Founder fee. Eligibility is held pending for addresses joining after an unresolved possible first block; work accepted during that hold uses the base fee.

The two chains have independent histories. Qualification on one does not confer qualification on the other. Tentative shares and temporary, non-durable history do not qualify. There is no application fee. Eligibility and discounts do not automatically transfer between addresses.

6. Founder commitment: two years minimum, intended for life

For each eligible payout address on each chain, we commit to a discount of at least 30% of the generally applicable base pool fee for two calendar years from the address’s first accepted qualifying verified share on that chain. During those two years, the effective Founder fee will not exceed 1.4%, even if the base fee increases. The lower of this cap and the discounted base fee applies. The period ends on the second anniversary of that start time (or 28 February if the corresponding date does not exist). No minimum hashrate, continuous mining or additional payment is required to retain the benefit.

During that protected period, we will not reduce the discount below 30%, remove an otherwise eligible address, or end the programme for that address while the chain’s pool continues operating. A general programme or base-fee change cannot override the 30% minimum discount or the 1.4% maximum fee during this period. Demonstrable eligibility errors, fraud or manipulation remain subject to section 8; mandatory legal requirements remain applicable. The base fee is separate and may change only as described in section 7, subject to the protected 1.4% cap. We will not introduce a Founder-specific surcharge or use a base-fee change to evade the discount commitment.

We intend to continue the benefit for the life of this chain’s pool, with no scheduled expiry or automatic reduction after two years. That intention is not a guarantee that the percentage will never change after the protected period. Any later adverse change must meet section 7. Founder status records the address’s qualifying contribution.

This is a minimum discount commitment while the relevant pool operates, not a commitment to operate the pool for two years or indefinitely. Section 1 governs genuine interruptions and closure. An outage or a miner’s break does not cancel eligibility; the protected period runs in calendar time. If the same chain’s Astraeus pool resumes within that period, the remaining protection continues. We will not use suspension, relabelling or relaunch to evade it. Closure does not remove accrued rights or mandatory remedies; the benefit has no separate cash-redemption promise.

7. Changes to fees or the Founder programme

The base fee is variable. We may adjust it where reasonably necessary to reflect documented changes in hosting, infrastructure, energy, network, security or compliance costs, or material changes in pool participation or reward revenue affecting the service’s economic viability. Adjustments must be proportionate to those changes and apply on the same basis to the chain’s general base fee. We will explain the relevant cost or revenue changes and how they justify the revised rate. These grounds do not permit arbitrary increases or circumvention of the protected Founder discount or its 1.4% fee cap. The 1.4% cap ends on the second anniversary disclosed in section 6; after that, the ongoing discount applies to the base fee. Any additional notice required by applicable law remains due. After an address’s protected period ends, we may change its discount or end its participation in the programme for those economic reasons, material technical or security requirements, or legal requirements, subject to the notice below and applicable law. We may improve the discount at any time. This clause does not authorise unrelated changes to the service contract, retroactive removal of accrued rights, or changes requiring consent without obtaining it.

For a planned change that increases an eligible miner’s effective fee or materially reduces the benefit, we will publish the reason, revised terms, rates and effective date prominently on the promotion page at least 30 days before it takes effect, and deliver any additional notice, including information on a durable medium, required by law. A shorter period may apply only to the extent a binding legal requirement makes the full period impossible. Urgent security action may suspend affected service under section 1, but does not permit an unannounced fee increase or removal of the protected discount. Fee reductions may take effect immediately. Unexpected outages, malfunctions and urgent suspensions are addressed separately in section 1; they are not subject to an advance-notice period that cannot reasonably be met.

You may stop directing new work to Astraeus at any time without an exit fee. Changes apply to newly issued work from the effective time. Already issued work retains its issued fee policy until expiry, and accepted work retains its recorded fee. We do not retroactively increase fees on accepted work. If applicable law requires consent or further rights, those requirements prevail. Merely publishing revised terms or a miner continuing to use the service does not replace consent or notice where the law requires it.

8. Founder programme integrity

We may correct demonstrable eligibility errors and restrict benefits obtained through fraud or manipulation, subject to applicable law. Where reasonably possible, we will explain the reason and provide an opportunity to challenge the decision; our records are not conclusive proof against you. Keep control of the qualifying address: we cannot recover its private keys.

9. Software licences and third-party services

Software distributed for use with Astraeus is governed by its accompanying licence. Open-source permissions, attribution requirements and software-specific warranty disclaimers continue to apply according to that licence and applicable law. A software licence’s “as is” disclaimer does not replace this service agreement or remove rights concerning a service supplied by Astraeus.

Third-party networks, nodes, hosting and software have their own terms where applicable. Their involvement does not automatically release Astraeus from obligations for which it is legally responsible. No statement here grants rights in third-party software beyond its applicable licence.

10. Ending participation and consumer rights

You may stop directing new work to Astraeus at any time without an exit fee. Stopping does not remove rights or obligations that have already arisen. Any statutory right to withdraw from a distance service contract, obtain a refund or seek another remedy remains available where applicable. Starting mining is not treated by these terms as an automatic waiver of such rights. If the law requires an express request to start a service during a withdrawal period, or a separate acknowledgement about loss of a withdrawal right, those steps must be obtained separately.

We do not require a blanket indemnity or require you to pay for losses caused by our own breach. These terms do not classify every miner as a business; your legal status depends on your actual circumstances.