# Privacy Cash

Privacy Cash is licensed under the **Business Source License (BSL) 1.1**, with an automatic transition to **GPL v2.0 or later** on 12/27/2027.

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## License Summary

- **License:** Business Source License 1.1 (BSL)
- **Protection Period:** 2 years from first public release of each version
- **Change License:** GNU General Public License v2.0 or later (GPL-2.0-or-later)

This licensing model is the same structure used by Uniswap v3.

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## What You Can Do Today

Under the Business Source License, you **may**:

- View and audit the source code
- Modify the code for research or non-commercial purposes
- Use the software internally within your organization
- Build on top of Privacy Cash without offering a competing product

You **may NOT**:

- Offer Privacy Cash (or a substantially similar system) as a paid or hosted service
- Embed this code into a competing commercial product
- Monetize a fork that overlaps with Privacy Cash’s paid offerings

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## Commercial Use & Competition

Offering the Licensed Work to third parties on a **hosted, embedded, or paid basis** in a way that competes with Privacy Cash’s paid offerings is **not permitted** during the BSL protection period.

If your use case does not compete (e.g. internal use, non-commercial use, research, unpaid tools), it is allowed.

If you are unsure whether your use qualifies, please reach out.

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## License Change (Automatic)

After **two (2) years** from the date a given version is first published:

- The Business Source License **automatically expires**
- That version becomes licensed under:

> **GNU General Public License v2.0 or later (GPL-2.0-or-later)**

No action is required from you or us.

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## Why This License

This model balances:
- Transparency and auditability
- Protection against copy-paste competitors
- Long-term commitment to open source

After the protection window, the code is permanently open source under GPL.

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## Disclaimer

TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE LICENSED WORK IS PROVIDED ON
AN "AS IS" BASIS. LICENSOR HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS,
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING (WITHOUT LIMITATION) WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND
TITLE.