This Act lets Digital Companies hold Union Licences for the activities they carry on, so that customers can see what a company is licensed to do and on what conditions.
Licences are optional. A Digital Company may carry on any lawful activity without one. It is made by the Founding Council under Article 5 of the Charter.
Article 1Union Licences
- 1.1A Union Licence is the Union's authorisation for a Digital Company to carry on an activity class listed in the Schedule.
- 1.2A Union Licence is valid within the Union and its Digital Realm. It is a licence of the Union, not of any state.
- 1.3Holders remain responsible for any licence, registration or approval required by the law of any place where they operate or offer their services.
Article 2Who may hold a licence
- 2.1Any Digital Company registered under the Digital Companies Act and in good standing may apply for one or more licences.
- 2.2A company may hold any number of licence classes at the same time. Each class is applied for, granted and renewed separately.
- 2.3The Union does not grant a licence for an activity that the Digital Companies Act does not allow.
- 2.4The Union does not license, in any class: short-term, high-cost lending to consumers (payday lending); binary options and other fixed-return bets on price movements offered as investments; the sale or supply of medicines, cannabis, CBD or other controlled substances; debt collection; or dealing in physical precious metals.
Article 3Application and grant
- 3.1The company applies from the owner's account, choosing the classes it needs and confirming the conditions in Article 4.
- 3.2For a class marked as protected in the Schedule, the licence is granted only once the Protection Deposit required by the Protection Deposit Act has been received.
- 3.3A licence runs with the company's registration. Licences chosen at formation run for the years registered; a licence added later runs to the end of the current registration. Licences are renewed with the registration.
Article 4Conditions
- 4.1Every licence holder publishes its terms for customers and a way to contact it about complaints, and answers complaints within a reasonable time.
- 4.2Every licence holder carries on the licensed activity honestly and as described to its customers, and keeps its registered details up to date.
- 4.3A holder of a protected class keeps its customers' money and assets separate from its own and keeps its Protection Deposit at or above the required minimum.
- 4.4A holder of a class in which customers stake, trade or invest (G2 to G6, V9 and V10) tells customers plainly, before they commit, the risks of losing what they stake or invest, and lets them set limits or close their account at any time.
- 4.5A holder of T3 lets customers cancel a recurring payment as easily as they started it, before the next payment is taken.
- 4.6A holder of A1 or A2 admits adults only. A holder of A1 keeps a record that every person shown is an adult and consented to the content and its publication, removes content on the request of a person shown in it, and publishes nothing unlawful.
- 4.7A holder of I1 or I2 holds enough assets to meet the claims it covers, and a holder of I2 insures only the risks of its own group.
Article 5The register
- 5.1The licence classes held by a company, with their dates, appear in its entry in the Register of Digital Companies and on its company documents.
- 5.2Anyone who has a company's Company ID can see its licences at /registry.
- 5.3A company with an active licence may show the licence mark, “Licensed by UHDU · Union Licence holder”, under the same rules as the protection mark in the Protection Deposit Act, Article 8.
Article 6Suspension and revocation
- 6.1The Union may suspend or revoke a licence if its holder breaches the conditions in Article 4, fails to keep a required Protection Deposit, or is struck off.
- 6.2Except where urgent action is needed to prevent harm to customers, the holder is told why and may respond before a final decision.
- 6.3Every suspension and revocation may be reviewed by the Union Court. Anyone affected by a holder's conduct may also bring the matter to the Court.
Article 7Fees
- 7.1The yearly fee for each licence class is set in the Schedule: 0.005 BTC for a standard class, 0.02 BTC for a protected class, 0.05 BTC for the classes of the financial and gaming tier, and 0.1 BTC for casino, betting, exchange, custody, derivatives and merchant payment processing.
- 7.2A licence added to a registered company is charged for each started year left on its registration. A renewal of the registration includes the yearly fee of every licence the company holds.
- 7.3Fees are paid in Bitcoin, are final and are not refunded if a licence is suspended, revoked or given up.
Article 8Amendment
- 8.1The Founding Council may amend this Act, including the Schedule and the fees, at any time.
ScheduleLicence classes
- 1Virtual assets: V1 Virtual-asset advisory (0.005 BTC a year); V2 Virtual-asset management (0.05 BTC a year; protected, minimum deposit 0.25 BTC); V3 Broker-dealer (0.05 BTC a year; protected, minimum deposit 0.25 BTC); V4 Exchange (0.1 BTC a year; protected, minimum deposit 0.5 BTC); V5 Custody (0.1 BTC a year; protected, minimum deposit 0.5 BTC); V6 Lending and staking (0.05 BTC a year; protected, minimum deposit 0.25 BTC); V8 Token issuance (0.05 BTC a year; protected, minimum deposit 0.1 BTC).
- 2Games and gambling: G1 Games without stakes (0.005 BTC a year); G2 Skill competitions (0.02 BTC a year; protected, minimum deposit 0.025 BTC); G3 Casino and games of chance (0.1 BTC a year; protected, minimum deposit 0.1 BTC); G4 Sports and event betting (0.1 BTC a year; protected, minimum deposit 0.1 BTC); G5 Poker and peer-to-peer games (0.05 BTC a year; protected, minimum deposit 0.05 BTC); G6 Virtual-item and skin marketplaces (0.05 BTC a year; protected, minimum deposit 0.05 BTC); G7 Gaming platforms for operators (0.005 BTC a year); G8 Gaming affiliates (0.005 BTC a year).
- 3Adult and dating: A1 Adult content and subscriptions (0.005 BTC a year); A2 Dating platforms (0.005 BTC a year).
- 4Trading and investment: V9 Derivatives and leveraged trading (0.1 BTC a year; protected, minimum deposit 0.5 BTC); V10 Investment funds (0.05 BTC a year; protected, minimum deposit 0.25 BTC).
- 5Payments: V7 Transfer and payments (0.05 BTC a year; protected, minimum deposit 0.1 BTC); F1 Merchant payment processing (0.1 BTC a year; protected, minimum deposit 0.1 BTC).
- 6Insurance: I1 Digital-asset cover and mutual protection (0.05 BTC a year; protected, minimum deposit 0.5 BTC); I2 Captive insurance (0.05 BTC a year; protected, minimum deposit 0.25 BTC).
- 7Digital trade and e-commerce: T1 Digital trade (0.005 BTC a year); T2 Marketplace with escrow (0.02 BTC a year; protected, minimum deposit 0.05 BTC); T3 Subscriptions and recurring billing (0.02 BTC a year; protected, minimum deposit 0.025 BTC).
- 8Technology: S1 Software and SaaS (0.005 BTC a year); S2 AI services (0.005 BTC a year); S3 Data and analytics (0.005 BTC a year).
- 9Professional and creative services: P1 Consultancy (0.005 BTC a year); P2 Creative and marketing (0.005 BTC a year); P3 Education and training (0.005 BTC a year); P4 Media and publishing (0.005 BTC a year).