Terms of Service

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are an agreement between you and [Company legal name], [registration number], [registered address] ("Sela", "we", "us"). They apply to the Sela website, the Sela Telegram bot and mini app, and every related service (together, the "Platform"). By creating an account or using the Platform you accept these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Platform.

1. What Sela is

Sela is a person-to-person marketplace where users buy and sell USDT (Tether) with Ethiopian birr. Users trade with each other, not with Sela. Sela provides the marketplace, holds the seller's USDT in escrow during a trade, keeps each user's USDT balance, and resolves disputes. Birr payments are made directly between users through Telebirr, M-Pesa or a bank, outside the Platform. Sela never receives or holds the birr side of a trade.

Sela is not a bank, does not give investment, tax or legal advice, and does not guarantee the price, value or availability of USDT.

2. Who can use Sela

• You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter into a binding contract.
• You may hold only one account, in your own name, used only by you.
• You must not use Sela if you are prohibited from doing so by any law that applies to you, or if you are on a sanctions list.
• You are responsible for making sure that using the Platform is lawful where you live. [Counsel to confirm the position of the National Bank of Ethiopia and other Ethiopian rules on digital assets, and any licence Sela requires.]

3. Your account and security

• Give accurate information and keep it up to date.
• Keep your password, authenticator app, passkeys, recovery codes and security key private. Sela staff will never ask for your password, 2FA code, email or Telegram code, or security key.
• If you create a security key (Settings → Security), keep it somewhere safe. Support may ask for it to confirm that you own the account (for example to unfreeze it or recover access); without one we confirm ownership in other ways, such as an identity check.
• Sensitive actions (signing in from a new device, releasing USDT, withdrawals, transfers and some security changes) must be confirmed with your authenticator app, or with a code sent by email or Telegram. Above an amount set by Sela, an authenticator app or passkey is required.
• Every withdrawal and transfer is emailed to you with a "Freeze my account" link. Use it immediately if the action was not yours: it signs everyone out, stops anything not yet sent on the blockchain and blocks sign-in until support has checked the account with you.
• You are responsible for everything done through your account until you tell us it has been compromised. Contact [email protected] straight away if you suspect unauthorised access.

4. Identity verification

Before you can trade, withdraw, transfer or post ads you must verify your identity with a National ID (Fayda), driving licence or passport and a live selfie taken with your camera. We may ask for more information at any time, and may refuse or withdraw verification. One identity document can verify only one account. The name on the payment accounts you trade with must match the name on your verified identity. Verified accounts have trading, withdrawal and transfer limits, shown in your account and on the Fees page; we may change them.

5. Trading and escrow

• Ads. Verified users can post ads to buy or sell USDT at a fixed price, with minimum and maximum order sizes and accepted payment methods. You must have enough USDT available to cover a sell ad's orders.
• Orders. When an order opens, the seller's USDT (plus any advertiser fee owed by the seller) is locked in Sela escrow. The buyer has 20 minutes to pay the exact birr amount to the payment account shown in the order, from an account in their own name, and then mark the order as paid with proof of payment. Unpaid orders are cancelled automatically when the time runs out.
• Release. After the buyer marks the order as paid, the seller must check their own bank or mobile money account and release the USDT only once the money has actually arrived. A screenshot is not proof of payment. The seller has 30 minutes to check before either side can open a dispute.
• Releasing is final. USDT released to the buyer cannot be reversed by Sela.
• Cancelling. A buyer may cancel before paying. Never cancel after you have paid; open a dispute instead. On a sell ad the seller may ask the buyer to cancel; the buyer decides. Cancelling or letting orders expire repeatedly can temporarily block you from opening new orders.
• Payment details. Only pay to, and only accept money from, the accounts shown in the order. Do not move the conversation or the payment outside the order.

6. Disputes

Either side can open a dispute after the seller's check time has passed. While a dispute is open the escrowed USDT is frozen. Both sides have 3 hours to send evidence (for example statements showing the time, amount and transaction reference), after which a Sela moderator decides whether the USDT goes to the buyer or back to the seller. Sela decides from the evidence provided and the trade chat; it does not have direct access to your bank. The moderator's decision is final as to the escrowed USDT. Sela is not responsible for recovering birr paid outside the order or to the wrong account.

7. Strikes, suspensions and closure

The party at fault in a dispute may receive a strike. Strikes 1 to 4 block sign-in for 24 hours, 2 days, 1 week and 2 weeks respectively; a fifth strike permanently restricts the account to withdrawing its remaining funds. You can appeal a strike within 7 days using the link in the strike email; a different moderator reviews the appeal.

We may also suspend, restrict or close an account, pause ads, freeze funds or refuse a transaction if we reasonably believe it is needed to comply with law, to investigate fraud, money laundering or other misuse, to protect other users or the Platform, or because these Terms were broken. Where the law allows, we will tell you why and how to contact us.

8. Wallet, deposits and withdrawals

• Sela supports USDT on Ethereum (ERC-20), Base and BNB Chain (BEP-20) only. Sending any other token, or USDT on another network, to your deposit address may result in permanent loss that Sela cannot recover.
• Deposits are credited after the network confirmations shown on the deposit screen. Deposits below the minimum are not credited.
• Withdrawals go only to addresses you have saved. Check the address and network carefully: blockchain transactions cannot be reversed. Withdrawals are normally sent automatically within minutes, but may be delayed or held for security checks, network problems or the protective limits Sela applies to its wallets.
• Withdrawals may be paused for 24 hours after a password reset or other security change.
• Transfers to another Sela user are instant and final.
• Balances are recorded in Sela's ledger. Sela holds users' USDT in wallets it controls and keeps it separate from its own operating funds. [Counsel to confirm the wording of custody and segregation commitments.]

9. Fees

Taking an ad is free. Advertisers pay a fee on completed trades, and withdrawals carry a flat fee. Paid ad promotions are optional. Current fees are always listed on the Fees page and may change; changes apply to new trades, withdrawals and promotions only.

10. Prohibited use

You must not:

• use the Platform for fraud, money laundering, terrorist financing, scams, or to receive the proceeds of crime;
• trade on behalf of another person, use someone else's identity or payment account, or let anyone else use your account;
• pay or accept payment from a third party's account, or use stolen or reversed payments;
• mark an order as paid when you have not paid, or ask a counterparty to release before money has arrived;
• harass, threaten or deceive other users, or ask them to trade outside the Platform;
• interfere with the Platform's security, scrape it, or use automated means without our permission.

We may report suspicious activity to the authorities where the law requires or allows it.

11. Risks

Digital assets carry risk. The value of USDT may change, the issuer or a blockchain network may fail or be disrupted, and regulation may change. Person-to-person trading carries counterparty risk; escrow reduces but does not remove it. You use the Platform at your own risk and are responsible for any taxes that apply to you.

12. Liability

The Platform is provided "as is". To the extent the law allows, Sela is not liable for indirect or consequential losses, lost profits, losses caused by your own actions or failure to secure your account, payments made outside an order, blockchain or third-party failures, or events beyond our reasonable control. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law. [Counsel to set any overall cap on liability.]

13. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms. We will show the date of the latest version on this page and, for material changes, tell you by email or in the app before they take effect. If you keep using the Platform after the changes take effect, you accept them. If you do not accept them you may close your account and withdraw your balance.

14. Governing law and disputes with Sela

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. [Counsel to confirm the competent courts or any arbitration clause.] Please contact us first — most problems can be solved quickly.

15. Contact

Support: [email protected] · Telegram @SelaSupportBot · Monday–Saturday, 9 AM–6 PM EAT. Legal notices: [legal contact address].