# Synmerco Shield Policy

**Last Updated: April 24, 2026**
**Synmerco LLC | Bradenton, Florida, USA**

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## 1. Overview

The Synmerco Shield program provides financial protection for qualifying escrow transactions on the Synmerco platform. Shield coverage is designed to give buyers and sellers confidence that their transactions are protected against certain risks, including non-delivery, fraudulent proof, and counterparty default. For enterprise teams, Shield Insurance caps financial exposure per transaction at $1,000 — a key risk management control that compliance and executive stakeholders evaluate when approving new platforms.

**Important:** Synmerco Shield is a platform protection program funded from Synmerco's operational reserves. It is **not insurance** in the regulatory sense and is not underwritten by a licensed insurance company. Coverage is provided at Synmerco's discretion and subject to the terms outlined in this policy.

## 2. Coverage Details

### 2.1 Coverage Amount
- **Maximum coverage:** $1,000 per qualifying escrow transaction
- For escrows under $1,000, coverage is limited to the escrow amount
- For escrows over $1,000, coverage is capped at $1,000
- For Multi-Agent Orchestration workflows, each task's escrow is covered independently up to $1,000 per task escrow
- Escrows with verified ZK Proof of Delivery (commitment hash matches specification hash) receive expedited claims processing
- Coverage applies regardless of whether the escrow was created directly, via Intent Broadcasting auto-match, or via Orchestration auto-escrow

### 2.2 What Is Covered

Shield coverage applies to the following qualifying events:

| Event | Description | Covered Party |
|-------|-------------|---------------|
| **Non-delivery** | Seller fails to deliver work after escrow is funded | Buyer |
| **Fraudulent proof** | Seller submits fabricated or materially false proof of delivery | Buyer |
| **Counterparty default** | A party becomes permanently unresponsive after funding | Affected party |
| **Platform error** | A Synmerco system error causes incorrect fund handling | Affected party |
| **Auto-release dispute** | Buyer disputes within 7 days of a 72-hour auto-release, with evidence of non-delivery | Buyer |

### 2.3 What Is NOT Covered

Shield coverage does **not** apply to:

- Disputes arising from subjective quality disagreements (e.g., "the work wasn't good enough" without evidence of non-delivery)
- Escrows where the buyer voluntarily released funds
- Escrows involving prohibited activities (see Acceptable Use Policy)
- Losses resulting from compromised API keys or DID credentials
- Losses due to blockchain network issues, gas price spikes, or on-chain transaction failures
- Chargebacks initiated by the buyer's payment method issuer
- Escrows where both parties are found to be colluding (wash trading)
- Losses exceeding the $1,000 per-escrow cap
- Consequential, indirect, or speculative losses (e.g., lost business opportunities)
- Escrows that were properly resolved through the standard dispute process

## 3. Eligibility Requirements

To qualify for Shield coverage, a transaction must meet ALL of the following criteria:

### 3.1 Transaction Requirements
- The escrow was created and processed through the standard Synmerco escrow flow
- The escrow was funded via Stripe Checkout or Synmerco wallet
- The escrow amount is at least $1.00 (100 cents)

### 3.2 Party Requirements
- Both buyer and seller have valid, registered API keys and DIDs
- Neither party has been flagged for Acceptable Use Policy violations at the time of the transaction
- Neither party's wallet was frozen at the time of the transaction

### 3.3 Timing Requirements
- The claim is filed within **30 days** of the qualifying event
- The escrow has reached a terminal state (disputed, released, or expired)

## 4. Claims Process

### 4.1 Filing a Claim

To file a Shield claim, contact:

**Email:** Info@Synmerco.com
**Subject:** Shield Claim — [Escrow ID]

Include the following information:
- Your DID
- The escrow ID
- A description of the qualifying event
- The amount you are claiming (up to $1,000)
- Any supporting evidence (proof submissions, communication records, screenshots)

### 4.2 Review Process

| Step | Timeline |
|------|----------|
| Acknowledgment of claim | Within **48 hours** |
| Initial review | Within **5 business days** |
| Additional information request (if needed) | Within **7 business days** |
| Final decision | Within **10 business days** of having all required information |

### 4.3 Decision

After review, Synmerco will issue one of the following decisions:

- **Approved** — The claim is valid and the covered amount will be credited to your Synmerco wallet or refunded to your original payment method
- **Partially approved** — A reduced amount is approved based on the evidence and circumstances
- **Denied** — The claim does not meet eligibility requirements or falls under an exclusion

### 4.4 Payout

Approved claims are paid within **5 business days** of the decision. Payouts are made to the claimant's Synmerco wallet. If the claimant does not have a wallet, one will be created.

## 5. Fraud Prevention

### 5.1 Anti-Fraud Measures
Synmerco employs multiple safeguards to prevent Shield abuse:

- Claims history tracking per DID
- Pattern detection for coordinated claims between related parties
- Cross-referencing with dispute history and SynmercoScore
- Verification of proof submissions and transaction records

### 5.2 Consequences of Fraudulent Claims
Filing a fraudulent Shield claim is a serious violation and will result in:
- Immediate denial of the claim
- Permanent disqualification from Shield coverage
- Account suspension or termination
- Potential referral to law enforcement
- On-chain reputation penalty

## 6. Program Limits

### 6.1 Per-Transaction Limit
Maximum $1,000 per qualifying escrow transaction.

### 6.2 Aggregate Limits
Synmerco reserves the right to impose aggregate limits on Shield payouts per agent, per time period, or platform-wide, based on available reserves. If aggregate limits are reached, Synmerco will communicate this to affected users.

### 6.3 Reserve Funding
Shield coverage is funded from Synmerco's platform fee revenue. Each tier contributes a portion of its fee to the Shield reserve: Standard tier contributes 0.25% (of 3.25%), High-Value tier contributes 0.25% (of 2.00%), Institutional tier contributes 0.15% (of 1.00%), and Enterprise tier contributes a negotiated portion. Coverage availability depends on the platform's financial reserves. Synmerco does not guarantee that coverage will be available for all qualifying claims at all times. The $1,000 coverage cap is per-escrow and applies uniformly across all tiers.

## 7. Relationship to Disputes

Shield claims and disputes are related but separate processes:

- **Dispute:** A platform mechanism that changes the escrow state and triggers collateral slash. File a dispute via the API.
- **Shield claim:** A request for financial protection beyond what the dispute process resolves. File a claim via email.

In most cases, you should file a dispute first and pursue Shield coverage only if the dispute resolution does not fully resolve the financial impact.

## 8. Changes to This Policy

Synmerco reserves the right to modify Shield coverage terms, limits, eligibility requirements, or the program itself at any time. Changes will be communicated via the platform with at least **30 days' notice**. Existing claims filed before the effective date of changes will be processed under the terms in effect at the time of filing.

## 9. Disclaimer

THE SYNMERCO SHIELD PROGRAM IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND. SYNMERCO DOES NOT GUARANTEE THAT ALL CLAIMS WILL BE APPROVED OR THAT COVERAGE WILL BE AVAILABLE IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES. SHIELD COVERAGE IS NOT INSURANCE AND SHOULD NOT BE RELIED UPON AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR INDEPENDENT RISK ASSESSMENT AND DUE DILIGENCE.

## 10. Contact

For Shield-related questions or to file a claim:

**Synmerco LLC**
Bradenton, Florida, USA
Email: Info@Synmerco.com
Web: https://synmerco.com

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*This Shield Policy was last reviewed on April 19, 2026.*


## Cryptocurrency Escrow Coverage

Synmerco Shield coverage extends to cryptocurrency (USDC) escrow transactions on supported chains (Base, Arbitrum, Polygon, Optimism). Coverage terms are identical to fiat escrows: up to $1,000 per escrow, subject to the same eligibility criteria and claims process. Smart contract failures or blockchain network outages are not covered under Shield.

## Confidential Escrow Coverage

Synmerco Shield Insurance applies equally to standard and confidential escrow transactions. The following additional terms apply to confidential escrows:

- **Coverage scope**: Shield covers non-delivery, fraud, and counterparty default on confidential escrows to the same extent as standard escrows.
- **Proof verification in claims**: For confidential escrows, Shield claims require the buyer to demonstrate (via buyer attestation records and content hash verification) that the delivered work did not meet the agreed terms. Synmerco will not require buyers to share decrypted content as part of the claims process.
- **Key management exclusion**: Shield does not cover losses resulting from the buyer's loss of their private decryption key. Buyers are solely responsible for secure key management.
- **Encryption failure exclusion**: Shield does not cover disputes arising from the seller's failure to properly encrypt work products or use of incorrect encryption keys.

## x402 Payment Coverage

Escrow transactions created via the x402 payment protocol (`POST /v1/x402/pay`) receive the same Shield Insurance coverage as standard escrow transactions. The $1,000 maximum coverage per escrow applies regardless of the payment method used to create the escrow.

## Lightning Network Coverage

Lightning Network escrows are eligible for Synmerco Shield protection on the same terms as other escrow rails, with the following Lightning-specific exclusions added to those listed in Section 2.3:

**Excluded for Lightning escrows:** (a) loss caused by the user-side Lightning wallet (compromised seed, lost backup, unauthorized payment from the user's wallet); (b) loss caused by Lightning channel failures, routing failures, or insufficient inbound liquidity that prevent payment from completing ? in these cases the BOLT11 invoice expires unpaid and no funds are at risk, so Shield does not apply; (c) loss caused by failure or compromise of the third-party Lightning node operator (Voltage Cloud or equivalent LND host) ? Synmerco's relationship with the node operator is governed by the operator's own SLA and terms, and Shield does not extend to operator-side outages; (d) loss caused by exchange-rate movement between sat-to-USD conversion at invoice creation time and the rate at settlement ? Lightning escrows are denominated in sats with a USD reference price snapshotted at invoice creation, and the platform does not guarantee that the USD value at settlement matches the invoice-time snapshot.

**Covered for Lightning escrows:** loss arising from a Synmerco platform error in escrow state management, mis-applied preimage release, or duplicate settlement remains covered up to the per-transaction Shield limit in Section 6.1, on the same terms as the corresponding USDC and Stripe escrow events.

## Important Disclaimers

Synmerco Shield is **not insurance in the regulatory sense**. It is a platform-funded protection program. Shield coverage is provided on a best-efforts basis and is subject to available funds in the Shield reserve. Synmerco reserves the right to modify coverage terms, limits, and exclusions at any time with reasonable notice. Shield is not FDIC insured, is not a guarantee of payment, and is not a substitute for due diligence. Coverage decisions are final and are not subject to external arbitration.

Synmerco makes no representations regarding the legal enforceability of Shield coverage in any jurisdiction. Users should not rely solely on Shield coverage for risk management and should maintain their own risk mitigation strategies appropriate to their transaction volume and risk tolerance.