1. Acceptance of Terms & Scope of Services
These Terms of Service ("Terms") establish a legally binding agreement between you ("User", "Merchant", or "Customer") and PoP Protocol ("we", "us", or "our") governing your access to and utilization of our escrow-based automated payment gateway, hosted checkout endpoints (/pay), point-of-sale interfaces, developer APIs, and merchant management portal (collectively, the "Service").
By accessing, browsing, integrating, or utilizing any component of the Service, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agreed to be legally bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not accept these Terms in full, you must immediately terminate all use of our software and interfaces.
2. Escrow Architecture & Zero-Passphrase Principle
PoP Protocol is technically engineered to operate on an automated escrow model ensuring complete transparency and zero-knowledge security:
- Automated Escrow & Settlement: PoP Protocol utilizes the official Pi Core Team payment architecture where consumer payments are accepted via secure User-to-App (U2A) transactions into the platform escrow buffer, immediately followed by programmatic App-to-User (A2U) multi-operation settlement to distribute the merchant net payout and protocol fee.
- Zero Passphrase Policy: We will never ask you to input, share, or reveal your 24-word recovery passphrase or private key. Any website, communication, or agent requesting your passphrase claiming affiliation with PoP Protocol is an unauthorized, fraudulent entity.
- Client-Side Execution: All payment approvals and initial blockchain transaction signing occur entirely on the user's local device within the official Pi Browser environment. Authorizations are submitted directly to the decentralized Pi Network consensus nodes.
3. Fee Structure & Transparent Multi-Operation Settlement (A2U)
Transactions processed through the PoP Protocol gateway utilize automated App-to-User (A2U) multi-operation payment instructions on the Pi Network blockchain to guarantee real-time split settlement:
- Automated Revenue Split: In every verified transaction, net proceeds are credited immediately and programmatically to the Merchant's designated Pi settlement wallet via A2U server payout. The applicable protocol service fee is routed to the Platform HQ wallet in the identical atomic blockchain settlement.
- Atomic Execution: Because both payments (merchant settlement and protocol fee) are bundled into a single atomic multi-operation transaction on the blockchain, partial settlements or intermediary deductions are cryptographically impossible. Either both transfers succeed simultaneously, or the entire transaction fails.
- Network Ledger Costs: Standard blockchain gas fees (e.g., 0.01 PI) established by the Pi Network Stellar Consensus Protocol are paid directly to network validators and are entirely distinct from the protocol service fee.
4. Disclaimer of Liability, Irreversibility & Refund Obligations
Due to the decentralized and immutable properties of blockchain technology:
- No Liability for On-Chain Errors: Blockchain transactions confirmed on the Pi Network ledger are immutable, final, and mathematically irreversible. PoP Protocol possesses no administrative capability, master key, or backdoor to pause, reverse, or redirect transactions. PoP Protocol is not liable for user error, mistaken input of amounts, or payments directed to incorrect wallet addresses.
- Merchant Responsibility for Refunds: PoP Protocol does not hold reserve balances or process consumer refunds. All refund obligations, return policies, warranty fulfillments, and chargeback disputes remain exclusively and entirely the legal responsibility of the Merchant who sold the corresponding product or service.
- Dispute Resolution: Customers requesting a refund must communicate directly with the merchant from whom the goods or services were purchased. Merchants may execute refunds directly from their own Pi wallets to customer public addresses.
5. Merchant Eligibility & Acceptable Use Policy
Merchants operating on PoP Protocol must maintain compliance with lawful commercial standards and ecosystem guidelines:
- Merchants must maintain legitimate commercial registration and comply with all applicable local consumer protection, taxation, and licensing requirements.
- Merchants are strictly prohibited from utilizing the gateway for illicit purposes, including money laundering, financing terrorism, selling prohibited contraband, or running fraudulent schemes.
- Merchants are prohibited from falsely representing an official corporate endorsement by Pi Community Company or SocialChain Inc.
6. Limitation of Warranties & System Availability
THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED.
PoP Protocol disclaims all warranties regarding uninterrupted service, network validator uptime, exchange rate oracle synchronization delays, or third-party telecommunications outages. In no event shall PoP Protocol be liable for lost profits, lost data, or loss of digital assets arising from underlying blockchain network congestion or forks.
7. Legal Governance & Contact Information
These Terms are governed by international commercial standards and blockchain compliance best practices. For compliance inquiries, audit verification, or legal notices, please reach out to our legal department: