Legal

Terms and Conditions

These terms govern your access to MarketCortex's API, console, SDKs, and related services operated by C-ERA INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGY LIMITED (“MarketCortex”, “we”, “us”). Please read them — they include important provisions about how the Service works, eligibility, trading risk, liability, and dispute resolution.

1. Agreement to terms

By creating an account, generating an API key, or otherwise accessing MarketCortex (the “Service”), you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you are accepting on behalf of a company or other legal entity, you represent that you have authority to bind that entity. These Terms apply to MarketCortex Cloud and, where applicable, to MarketCortex Runtime; an enterprise order form may supplement or override them.

2. The service

MarketCortex provides programmable execution infrastructure that connects your customer-facing systems and your own automation to trading venues, brokers, and protocols you already use. The Service lets you connect accounts you own, read account state, run descriptive analytics, and — where the capability is enabled and permitted — forward your own self-directed orders to your venue.

The Service is software infrastructure only. It is not, and does not provide: a brokerage or dealer; an exchange or trading venue; an order-matching, execution, or clearing facility; money transmission; custody of client money or assets; investment advice; trading signals; portfolio or fund management; broker introduction, referral, or ranking; or a copy-trading marketplace. We do not custody customer assets unless an explicit custody addendum is signed (we do not currently offer custody).

MarketCortex is offered as MarketCortex Cloud (a shared hosted API) and MarketCortex Runtime (dedicated delivery; DESK and FABRIC). Where you purchase under an order form, its terms supplement these Terms and control to the extent of any conflict.

3. Eligibility & regional availability

You must be at least 18 years old, not located in or resident in a sanctioned jurisdiction, and not on any restricted-party list maintained by the U.S., EU, U.K., Singapore, or Hong Kong.

Read-only access, demo (simulated) trading, and descriptive analytics may be offered broadly. Live order routing (“Live Write”) is a gated capability, and its availability depends on your jurisdiction, customer type, asset class, venue, and account facts. Live Write through MarketCortex Cloud is not offered to customers in mainland China, Hong Kong, or Macau, and in other jurisdictions may be withheld, downgraded to read-only, or routed only through a licensed partner at our discretion.

You agree to provide accurate location and eligibility information, and not to misrepresent your location or identity, use VPNs, proxies, or other means to circumvent regional or risk controls, or access capabilities not enabled for you. You acknowledge that you approached MarketCortex on your own initiative and that we do not market restricted capabilities into restricted jurisdictions.

4. Accounts, credentials & API keys

You are responsible for safeguarding your account credentials, API keys, and 2FA devices. API keys may be scoped (for example, read-only, demo, or Live Write), and you are responsible for the scopes you create and distribute. Any activity performed with valid credentials or API keys — including by your software, scripts, webhooks, or agents — is deemed yours. Enabling the Live Write switch is an explicit instruction that you accept live trading on the connected account. Notify us promptly at security@marketcortex.io if you suspect compromise.

5. Connected trading accounts

You may connect trading accounts held at third-party venues or brokers. You represent and warrant that you own or are lawfully authorised to control each connected account, and that your use of the Service with that account complies with the venue's or broker's terms, including any rules on API, EA, or third-party software access. MarketCortex does not open accounts for you, does not introduce, recommend, or rank brokers or venues, and does not receive broker commissions, spread rebates, or account-opening incentives. Your venue or broker — not MarketCortex — holds your funds and executes your trades. MarketCortex is not your broker, does not hold your money or assets, and is not a party to your trades.

6. Self-directed orders, not investment advice

All trading instructions executed through the Service originate from you or from systems and agents you operate. You alone decide whether to trade and select the direction, instrument, quantity, price, leverage, and any stop-loss or take-profit. MarketCortex authenticates, validates, applies the permissions and limits you configure, forwards, audits, and synchronises status — it does not originate, alter, or recommend trading decisions, does not provide best-execution advice, and does not choose venues on your behalf.

Any analytics, metrics, health signals, or diagnostics we provide (such as PnL, drawdown, exposure, slippage, latency, or rejection data) are descriptive and informational only. They are not investment advice, a recommendation, or a signal to buy, sell, or hold, and must not be presented to third parties as such.

7. Automated systems & AI agents

You may operate scripts, bots, webhooks, and AI agents that use your credentials or API keys. You are solely responsible for their configuration and behaviour, including the permissions, symbol scopes, size and frequency limits, and human-approval steps you set. Orders generated by your automation or agents are your self-directed orders. MarketCortex provides permission, limit, and audit controls as product features; it does not supply trading strategies and does not decide what your automation trades.

8. No custody, no fund movement

MarketCortex never holds, transmits, or controls your money or assets. The Service does not provide deposits, withdrawals, transfers, payouts, wallet or private-key custody, or currency exchange. The API and venue permissions you grant must exclude withdrawal and transfer rights, and you are responsible for not granting such rights.

9. Risk controls, suspension & emergency stop

The Service includes controls such as rate limits, idempotency, per-account permission scopes, risk checks, circuit breakers, and read-only downgrade. We may apply, change, or invoke these controls — including suspending Live Write, throttling, or downgrading an account to read-only — where we reasonably believe it is necessary for safety, stability, security, legal or compliance reasons, or to prevent abuse. We will try to give notice where practical but may act first where risk requires. These controls are safeguards, not guarantees, and do not transfer responsibility for your trading to us.

10. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Use the Service for market manipulation, layering, spoofing, wash trading, or any conduct prohibited by venue rules or applicable law.
• Misrepresent your location or identity, or circumvent regional eligibility, risk controls, rate limits, or IP restrictions.
• Use accounts you do not own or are not authorised to control, or breach your venue's or broker's terms.
• Present our descriptive analytics to others as investment advice, signals, or a performance solicitation, or operate a public copy-trading, signal, leaderboard, or broker-referral service on top of the Service.
• Reverse engineer, scrape, or replicate the Service except as permitted by law, or share API keys outside your organisation.
• Resell or white-label the Service without a written agreement.

11. Fees, billing & trials

Plan fees, usage charges, and any overage rates are set out on our current pricing page or in your order form. Fees are billed in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted, in advance for subscription components and in arrears for usage. New accounts may start a 7-day free trial (one demo account with read/write access and one live account with read-only access; Live Write is off by default during the trial). Refunds are governed by our Refund Policy.

12. Customer data & audit records

You retain all rights in data you submit. We process customer data only to provide and improve the Service, in accordance with our Privacy Policy. To operate, secure, and audit the Service, we keep records of requests and instructions (such as instruction identifiers, account and key identifiers, parameters, policy decisions, and venue responses). We do not sell customer data and do not use the substance of your orders or strategies for proprietary trading or to train models.

13. Intellectual property

The Service, including all software, documentation, and brand assets, is owned by C-ERA INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGY LIMITED and its licensors. We grant you a non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the Service per these Terms. SDKs released under open-source licenses are governed by their own license terms.

14. Third-party venues & brokers

The venues, brokers, and protocols you connect to are operated by third parties under their own terms. MarketCortex is not responsible for their acts or omissions, including order rejections, requotes, slippage, spreads, margin or liquidation decisions, downtime, data accuracy, account closures, or insolvency. Connectivity may depend on third-party systems we do not control.

15. Trading risk disclosure

Trading financial instruments involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for every investor.

Leverage can work against you as well as for you. Past performance of any strategy or copy-trading master account does not guarantee future results. MarketCortex provides execution plumbing only — the trading decisions, parameters, and risk allocations are entirely yours. You should consult a qualified advisor and ensure you understand the risks before deploying capital.

16. Compliance, not professional advice

You are responsible for your own compliance with the laws, licensing, registration, financial-promotion, and tax obligations that apply to you and your activity in your jurisdiction. MarketCortex provides software infrastructure and does not provide legal, regulatory, tax, or investment advice. Nothing in the Service is an offer or solicitation where such an offer or solicitation would be unlawful.

17. Beta & roadmap features

Some capabilities may be described as upcoming, beta, or roadmap. They may be unavailable, change, or be withdrawn, and should not be relied upon. When released, such features are governed by these Terms.

18. Warranties & disclaimers

The Service is provided “as is” and “as available” without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory. We do not warrant uninterrupted operation or that the Service will be free of errors. Our service-level commitments, if any, are stated separately in your order form.

19. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, neither party shall be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, lost data, or lost trading opportunities. Our aggregate liability arising from these Terms shall not exceed the fees paid by you in the three months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

20. Term & termination

These Terms remain in effect while you use the Service. Either party may terminate for material breach uncured after 30 days' notice. We may suspend or restrict access immediately — including under Section 9 — for security incidents, suspected market abuse, legal or compliance reasons, or non-payment. On termination, your right to use the Service ends; sections that by their nature should survive will survive.

21. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Any dispute relating to these Terms shall first be addressed through good-faith discussion and, failing that, resolved by arbitration administered by the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) under its rules, in English.

22. Changes to these terms

We may update these Terms by posting a revised version with a new effective date. Material changes will be announced at least 30 days in advance via email and an in-console banner. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance.

23. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Reach us at legal@marketcortex.io.