Risk Disclosure: AO Trading
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Risk Disclosure

Risk Disclosure

Last updated: 16 April 2026

Don't invest unless you're prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 minutes to learn more.

Cryptoassets are considered high-risk investments. They are largely unregulated in the UK. You are unlikely to have access to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) or the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) if things go wrong. You should not invest money you cannot afford to lose.

This Risk Disclosure is published by AO Trading Limited (company number 16582061, registered office 12 Fratton Road, Portsmouth, PO1 5BX, England). It forms part of our Terms of Service and applies to every product and service we operate — AO Crypto signals, AO Forex copy trading, AO Shadow software, and our Discord community.

Read it before paying for a membership, connecting an exchange, copy-trading, or acting on any signal.

1. You can lose all of your money

Trading cryptoassets, foreign-exchange pairs including gold (XAUUSD), contracts-for-difference, perpetual futures, options, and any other leveraged derivative involves a substantial risk of loss. You may lose some or all of the capital you deposit. With leveraged products you can lose more than your initial deposit (subject to any negative-balance protection your broker offers).

If losing the money you deposit would cause you real financial harm — including missing rent, bills, food, or other essentials — do not trade.

2. We are not FCA-authorised and we do not give financial advice

AO Trading Limited is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and is not a broker, exchange, investment adviser, portfolio manager, or fund manager under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA). We do not hold client money.

Nothing we publish — signals, dashboards, commentary, educational content, AO Shadow settings, Concierge AI suggestions, newsletters, Discord messages, blog articles, tweets, or videos — is a personal recommendation, regulated investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice. It is generic commentary and education.

You are solely responsible for deciding whether any trade, strategy, or product is suitable for your circumstances. If you need regulated advice, consult an FCA-authorised independent financial adviser.

3. Cryptoassets are unregulated in the UK

The FCA does not regulate most cryptoassets. You will not have recourse to the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme in respect of cryptoasset trading losses. Exchanges can fail, freeze withdrawals, be hacked, or become insolvent. You are exposed to:

  • Market risk — extreme price swings, including overnight gaps, gaps on weekends, and flash crashes.
  • Liquidity risk — wide spreads and slippage, especially on smaller-cap coins.
  • Leverage risk — liquidation at speeds faster than retail stop-loss orders can react, especially in volatile markets.
  • Exchange risk — loss of deposits from exchange failure, hack, or freeze.
  • Custody risk — loss of self-custodied assets due to lost seeds, phishing, or malware.
  • Regulatory risk — rules may change and a product you currently access may become unavailable.
  • Smart-contract risk — bugs, exploits, or rug-pulls affecting tokens or DeFi protocols.

4. Forex and XAUUSD (gold) — additional risks

Foreign exchange and gold trading carry high risk. Small price movements can cause large percentage losses on leveraged positions. You may lose more than your initial deposit where leverage applies. AO Forex operates through the broker VT Markets and reflects the trades of our lead trader on a copy-trade basis. Returns vary by account size, timing of activation, broker execution, slippage, and withdrawal timing.

5. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results

We publish detailed performance data — win rates, profit percentages, MyFXBook-verified forex statements, live dashboards (dashboard.aotrading.io) updated every 60 seconds, trade-by-trade logs — because we believe in transparency. These numbers are historical. Future results can, and very often do, differ. We do not guarantee profits, win rates, returns, or any specific trading outcome.

Any example outcome published on our Site, Discord, emails, social channels, or video content is illustrative. Your results will depend on market conditions, your risk settings, position sizing, entry timing, leverage, exchange, broker, and many factors outside our control.

6. Copy trading and signal-following — specific risks

AO Crypto signals, AO Forex copy trading, and AO Shadow's Echo copy-trading feature share the trades of our named human traders and automated systems with their own capital on the line. Copying them means:

  • You assume the same risk as the original trader, scaled to your position size.
  • You may experience worse results due to latency, slippage, different fill prices, different leverage settings, or different account equity.
  • A trader who has been profitable for months can have a drawdown or losing streak at any time.
  • Automated systems (AO Crusher, AO Algo, AO Robotberg, Shade Bots, DCA strategies) can and do lose money, sometimes in quick succession.
  • You choose which trader to follow, at what size, with what risk parameters. We do not assess whether a copy-trading setup is suitable for you.

7. AO Shadow — software and operational risk

AO Shadow is software that places and manages orders on your connected Bybit or MEXC account according to your chosen settings. You should be aware of:

  • Software risk — bugs, regressions, race conditions, or logic errors may cause unintended trading behaviour despite our testing and monitoring.
  • Infrastructure risk — if our servers, databases, or WebSocket connections go down, AO Shadow may fail to place, amend, or close an order.
  • Exchange risk — the exchange itself may experience downtime, API rate limits, maintenance windows, or order rejections.
  • Conditional-order limitation — conditional orders placed on the exchange fire even if AO Shadow is offline, but exchange-side issues can still prevent execution.
  • API-key risk — if your exchange API key is compromised outside of AO Shadow (phishing, malware, third-party tools), trading losses may result. Use trade-only permissions. Never grant withdrawal.
  • Configuration risk — you set the position size, leverage, stop-loss, take-profit, DCA behaviour, and copy targets. A misconfiguration can cause outsized losses. Start small, test on a paper or low-size account, and confirm behaviour before scaling up.

AO Shadow is a tool, not an oracle. It executes your instructions. It does not decide whether a trade is a good idea.

8. Leverage

Leveraged products magnify both profit and loss. Most of our traders and signals reference leveraged positions on Bybit or MEXC perpetual futures, and our live dashboard shows leverage often around 20–25×. Leverage is high-risk. Liquidation can happen in seconds. Use leverage you understand and can afford to lose.

9. Tax

Profits and losses from cryptoasset and forex trading may be subject to income tax, capital gains tax, or corporation tax depending on your circumstances and jurisdiction. We do not provide tax advice. Consult a qualified tax adviser in your country.

10. Simulation and "back-tested" results

Where we publish back-test data, paper-trading results, or simulated performance (for example, during research on a new Shade Bot or signal strategy) these are hypothetical. They do not reflect live trading. Simulated results have inherent limitations, including the benefit of hindsight and the absence of slippage, fees, exchange outages, and real-world emotional factors.

11. Marketing, testimonials, and social proof

Testimonials, Trustpilot reviews, screenshots, and trader leaderboards we publish are based on real people and real trades but are not representative of every member's experience. For every successful trader, others lose money. Do not assume your results will match any specific example.

12. Suitability — your own assessment

Before trading:

  • Consider your financial situation, experience, and investment objectives.
  • Consider whether the risk of total loss is acceptable.
  • Consider whether you can afford the time, attention, and emotional discipline required.
  • If in doubt, seek FCA-authorised independent advice.

Under FCA financial promotions rules for cryptoassets (effective October 2023), new investors are expected to take a cooling-off period and complete an appropriateness assessment when engaging with a regulated promoter. We are not a regulated promoter. Our Services are educational and tool-based, not an invitation to purchase cryptoassets. You must decide for yourself, in your own time, whether to trade.

13. Restricted jurisdictions

We do not offer paid Services to US persons. If your local law restricts access to cryptoasset services, forex copy trading, or leveraged derivatives, it is your responsibility to comply. We may block or remove accounts to comply with sanctions or legal obligations.

14. No guarantees — summary

We do not promise, guarantee, or warrant that you will make money using AO Trading, AO Shadow, AO Crypto, or AO Forex. We do not promise specific win rates, returns, or outcomes. Historical statistics are genuine records of past trading; they are not a prediction of your future results.

15. Contact

If you have questions about this disclosure or need to raise a concern:

Trade responsibly. Never risk more than you can afford to lose.