Trading crypto assets, even with an automated AI-assisted tool, carries a real risk of loss. This page explains the main risks in plain language and what you can do about each of them before you put money in.
General risk warning. Crypto assets are volatile. You can lose part or all of the money you invest. Do not invest money you cannot afford to lose, and do not borrow to fund your account. Using an automated platform does not remove risk, and not needing trading experience does not mean there is no chance of loss.
Each risk has a short explanation and a practical step you can take.
Crypto prices can rise or fall sharply within minutes, driven by news, regulation, large orders or changing sentiment. A price can move against any position faster than anyone can react, including an automated system, and past performance of an asset says little about its future.
What to do: decide in advance the amount you are prepared to lose, and keep your allocation to this account within it.
In thin or fast markets there may be too few buyers or sellers at the price you expect. Orders can then be filled at a worse price than planned, which is called slippage, or may not be filled in full. Smaller assets are usually more exposed than the largest ones.
What to do: prefer strategies focused on widely traded pairs, and expect results to differ from the displayed price during sharp moves.
If you connect an exchange account, a key that is wrongly configured, shared or leaked can lead to unwanted trades or loss of funds at the exchange. Connection errors can also delay or block an order from reaching the exchange.
What to do: create a key with trading rights only, never withdrawal rights, restrict it to known addresses where the exchange allows it and rotate it regularly.
Assets held at an exchange or payment provider are exposed to that provider's solvency, security and operational standing. If a third party fails, freezes accounts or is breached, your funds there may be delayed or lost. Crypto assets are generally not covered by CDIC or CIPF protection.
What to do: use established providers, avoid keeping more on an exchange than you need and review their terms.
Software errors, infrastructure faults, data feed problems or connection outages can interrupt analysis or delay execution. These failures can occur on our side, at an exchange or with your own internet connection and device.
What to do: keep alerts on, check the dashboard regularly and tell support quickly if something looks wrong.
Criminals impersonate platforms, send convincing messages and try to take over accounts. A stolen password, a fake support call or a cloned website can result in unauthorised access and loss of funds.
What to do: turn on two-factor sign-in, use a unique password and read the Fraud warning page.
Algorithms and AI models learn from historical data and probabilities. They can misread unusual conditions, behave differently in new market regimes and cannot predict events. No bot or strategy guarantees a result, and a good period does not promise another one.
What to do: monitor strategies, understand their settings and adjust or pause them when your situation changes.
Scheduled maintenance, upgrades, outages or heavy load can make the platform temporarily unavailable. During that time you may be unable to view positions, change settings or request a withdrawal.
What to do: do not rely on being able to act at an exact moment, and read maintenance notices when published.
A few minutes of preparation reduces most avoidable problems. None of these steps removes risk, but together they keep a bad outcome within limits you have chosen.
Read also the Crypto basics guide and the Fees and pricing page.
Risk lists can feel abstract, so it helps to picture two ordinary situations. In the first, a major exchange announces a regulatory problem on a Sunday evening. Prices across many assets drop within minutes, spreads widen and orders that would normally fill cleanly are filled at poorer prices. An automated system will be running during that move, and the result may be a loss that is larger than the figures you saw in a calm week.
In the second, a user connects an exchange with a key that has withdrawal rights switched on, then reuses the same password elsewhere. A data breach on an unrelated site exposes that password. The loss in this case has nothing to do with the market at all, and it could have been avoided with a restricted key and two-factor sign-in.
Automation removes some risks and adds others. It takes emotion out of execution and does not get tired, so it will not panic at three in the morning. At the same time it concentrates the risk in the settings: a wrong limit or an over-aggressive strategy is repeated mechanically until someone notices. That is why we ask you to review reports regularly and why alerts exist.
The protective pauses built into the platform are designed to respond to periods of high volatility. They reduce exposure to some kinds of event, but they do not prevent losses, they may not trigger in time, and a pause can itself mean missing a recovery. Treat them as one safeguard among several, not as a promise of capital protection.
Regulation sets standards for how firms behave, but it does not insure your investment against market losses. Canadian deposit and investor protection schemes have defined scopes, and crypto assets are generally outside them. Details are on the Security page, and complaint routes are described on the Complaints page.
If you can answer these honestly, you are in a better position than most people who start. How much could I lose without it affecting my rent, my family or my sleep? Do I have savings that are separate from this money? Would I know what to do if this account lost a quarter of its value next week? Am I doing this because I understand it, or because someone told me it was easy?
If any answer worries you, reduce the amount, wait or ask your account manager to walk through the numbers. Nobody on our team will mind a slower start.
Your account manager will go through these points with you on the first call, in plain language and without pressure.