# Non-custodial positioning — ADR-0006

* **Status:** Accepted
* **Date:** 2026-05-23
* **Supersedes/relates:** complements CLAUDE.md §18 (Legal-Safe Language) and PR L-1 (`fix/legal-safe-language`).

## Context

DevSwap settles work via **on-chain smart contracts** (`DevSwapEscrow` / `DevSwapEscrowV2_1`). The contract — not the company — holds and releases USDT. Using language that implies **custody**, **payment processing**, or **financial guarantees** ("we hold your funds", "we pay you", "guaranteed", "insured", "escrow service") could create regulatory obligations the project does not intend to assume (money-transmitter / custodian / financial-services / insurance framings vary by jurisdiction — e.g. SAMA, VARA, and others). It can also be read as a promise the protocol cannot legally make.

A real instance was found and fixed: user-facing copy said "escrow / ضمان" and "refund / استرداد", and the Arabic hero literally read "ادفع بضمان" ("pay with a guarantee"). See PR L-1.

## Decision

All **user-facing** copy positions DevSwap as a **decentralized protocol**, not a service provider:

* The **smart contract** is the actor that locks and releases funds — *"funds are locked in the smart contract", "released automatically upon delivery"* — never *"we hold / we pay / we release"*.
* DevSwap **does not hold, send, guarantee, or insure** funds. It is the **interface** to a publicly deployed contract.
* Forbidden/required vocabulary is codified in **CLAUDE.md §18** and enforced by CI (`scripts/check-legal-language.sh`).
* The **technical exception** stands: `escrow` may be used in ADRs, technical docs, and variable names (`escrowBalance`, `DevSwapEscrowV2_1`), but **never** in user-facing copy.

**Canonical positioning statement** (rendered on `/how-to-start`; home hero is already non-custodial post-L-1):

> EN — "DevSwap is a decentralized protocol connecting clients and developers through on-chain smart contracts. We don't hold funds or process payments. All settlement happens autonomously per the publicly deployed smart contract."
>
> AR — «DevSwap بروتوكول لامركزي للعمل الحرّ. نربط بين العملاء والمطوّرين عبر عقود ذكية على السلسلة. لا نحفظ أموالاً، ولا نُجري دفعات. كل التسوية تتمّ تلقائياً وفق العقد الذكي المنشور علناً.»

## Consequences

* **Legal:** reduced regulatory exposure (not eliminated — independent counsel still required before mainnet / public launch; this is positioning, not legal advice).
* **UX:** slightly more technical language, offset by clear first-encounter explainer copy (UX-5).
* **Marketing:** strengthens the decentralization moat (DOC-3 / MOAT).
* **Engineering:** code variable names unaffected; only user-facing copy is regulated.
* **Note:** the positioning statement deliberately uses negated forms ("we don't hold / لا نحفظ"); the §18 CI guard must allow negated usage in the positioning key and only flag affirmative custodial claims.


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