ESPEES
ESPEES
P2P Exchange
Legal

Terms & Conditions

Last updated: 20 April 2026

These Terms form a binding agreement between you (the User) and ESPEES Exchange (Pty) Ltd, a company incorporated in the Republic of South Africa (the Platform, we, us). They are governed by South African law, including the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 (ECTA), the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (CPA), the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001 (FICA) and the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA).

1. Acceptance

By creating an account or using the Platform you confirm that you are at least 18 years old, have full legal capacity to contract under South African law, and accept these Terms, the Privacy Policy, the AML/KYC Policy and the Risk Disclosure. If you do not agree, you must not use the Platform.

2. Nature of the service

ESPEES Exchange is a peer-to-peer marketplace that allows verified users to advertise, discover and execute trades exchanging the ESPEES crypto-asset for South African Rand (ZAR), Nigerian Naira (NGN) or US Dollar (USD). The Platform is not a bank, a money remitter, or an authorised financial services provider (FSP) for financial advice. We facilitate trades, hold ESPEES in escrow during a trade, and provide dispute resolution.

3. Account & verification (FICA)

  • You must provide accurate identity information and complete the KYC tier required for the activity you intend to perform.
  • We are obliged to identify and verify clients in accordance with FICA and may request additional documentation, source-of-funds or proof of address at any time.
  • You may only operate one personal account. Business accounts require additional verification.

4. Trading & escrow

  • When a trade opens, the seller's ESPEES are locked in Platform-controlled escrow until the buyer's fiat payment is confirmed.
  • Trades have a 30-minute payment window. If the buyer does not mark payment as sent within the window, the trade auto-cancels and ESPEES are returned to the seller.
  • Fiat payments are made directly between the parties using the merchant's listed payment method (bank transfer, mobile money or cash). The Platform never receives or transmits fiat on your behalf.
  • The seller must release escrow only once the agreed fiat amount has been received and is irrevocably credited.

5. Fees

Platform fees are displayed before you confirm a trade. We may amend the fee schedule on 14 days' notice published on the site. Network or payment-method fees are borne by the party causing them.

6. Prohibited use

  • Money laundering, terrorist financing, sanctions evasion, fraud, market manipulation, wash trading or structuring.
  • Use of stolen identities, third-party payment instruments or proceeds of crime.
  • Automated trading, scraping or reverse-engineering of the Platform without written consent.
  • Trading on behalf of an unverified third party.

7. Disputes

Either party may open a dispute on a trade where escrow has not been released. A Platform moderator will review evidence and may release escrow to either party. Decisions are made on the balance of probabilities and are binding within the Platform, without prejudice to your right to pursue civil remedies.

8. Suspension & termination

We may suspend or close an account where we reasonably suspect a breach of these Terms, of FICA, or of any applicable law, or where we are directed to do so by a competent authority. Where lawful, we will give notice and reasons.

9. Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by South African law (and subject to the CPA where it applies), the Platform is provided "as is". We are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, loss of profit, loss of opportunity or loss of data. Our aggregate liability to you in any 12-month period is limited to the fees you paid us in that period. Nothing in these Terms limits liability for fraud, gross negligence, death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or any liability that cannot be excluded by law.

10. Cooling-off & CPA

Crypto-asset trades are executed against live market prices and are exempt from the ECTA cooling-off right (section 44(1)(a)) and the CPA cooling-off right (section 16) where applicable. KYC subscriptions, if any, retain their statutory cooling-off rights.

11. Tax

You are responsible for declaring and paying any tax due on your trading activity to the South African Revenue Service (SARS) or other competent authority. We may be required to report user activity to SARS or the FIC.

12. Changes to these Terms

We may amend these Terms by posting an updated version with a new "Last updated" date. Material changes will be notified by email at least 14 days before they take effect.

13. Governing law & jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa. The parties consent to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Division, Johannesburg.

14. Contact

Questions about these Terms: legal@espees.exchange.