Terms

EIQ Tournament: Terms for Entrants

Last updated 2026-10-02.

1. About these terms

1.1 Who we are. The EIQ tournament (the Tournament) is run by Everesteer, Inc., a Delaware corporation (file number 10653047), of 2810 N Church Street, Suite 88375, Wilmington, Delaware 19802, USA (Everesteer, we, us). You can contact us at [email protected].

1.2 Acceptance. These terms form a contract between you and Everesteer. You accept them when you create an account, download Tournament data or make a submission. If you do not agree, do not take part.

1.3 What the Tournament is. The Tournament is a free-to-enter data-science competition. Entrants build models and submit predictions on data we provide. Their submissions are scored, and prizes are awarded from a budget that Everesteer funds. We use entrants' models, combined into a Ensemble Model, to produce trading signals that we sell to hedge funds (section 5).

1.4 What it is not.

(a) You never pay to enter.

(b) You cannot deposit money or crypto-assets. The only money of your own you can put at risk is Matured Winnings that you choose to stake again under clause 4.3, and never more than your Net Winnings.

(d) Nothing in it is financial, investment or tax advice.

(e) Taking part gives you no interest in any fund or account managed by Everesteer or its affiliates.

1.5 Other documents. These terms also incorporate:

(a) our Privacy Notice;

(b) the published Tournament rules, which set the scoring formula, round timetable, grant amounts, caps and budget (the Rules);

If they conflict, event rules prevail for that event, then these terms, then the Rules.

1.6 Changes. We may change these terms or the Rules by giving at least 7 days' notice by email and on the site. Changes apply only to rounds that open after the notice period ends. They never reduce winnings already credited to you.

2. Eligibility and jurisdiction

2.1 Who may enter. To enter you must:

(a) be an individual aged 18 or over, or older if the law where you live sets a higher age of majority;

(b) have legal capacity to make this contract;

(d) not be a person named on, or owned or controlled by a person named on, any sanctions list maintained by the United States (OFAC), the United Kingdom (OFSI), the European Union or the United Nations.

2.2 Who may not win. The following may take part only as display-only entrants, for example to test the platform. They receive no Granted Stake and no winnings or prizes:

(a) employees, officers and contractors of Everesteer and its affiliates;

(b) anyone with access to scoring systems or unreleased Tournament data;

2.3 Restricted Territories. You may not take part from, or if you live in:

(a) Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, or the Crimea, Donetsk or Luhansk regions of Ukraine;

(b) Russia or Belarus;

(d) any other territory we list on the site because taking part there would breach local law. We will give notice of additions under clause 1.6, except where the law requires immediate effect.

2.4 Your responsibility. You must make sure that taking part is lawful where you live and where you are. Using a VPN, proxy or other means to hide your location is a breach of these terms.

2.5 One person, one account. Each individual may hold one account, and each account must belong to an identified individual. You may run more than one model from your account, up to the limit in the Rules.

2.6 Changes in eligibility. If you become ineligible, you must tell us and stop taking part. Winnings already credited may still be paid if the law allows it and you meet the payout requirements in section 4.

3. The Tournament

3.1 Rounds. The Tournament runs in rounds published in the Rules. Submissions are accepted only while a round is open. A submission is locked when the round closes and cannot be changed afterwards.

3.2 Granted stake. Everesteer may allocate a notional amount (the Granted Stake) to you. You may direct the Granted Stake, in whole or in part, to one or more of your eligible models, as set out in the Rules. Your allocations may not add up to more than the Granted Stake. You may set or change your allocations for a round while that round's submission window is open. They are fixed when the round closes, and cannot then be changed or withdrawn. Each model may receive one allocation per round. Allocations are subject to the per-round minimum and maximum and to the round's pool limit shown on the platform. An allocation beyond the room left in the pool is refused, not scaled down. Any part you do not allocate earns no prize and is not reduced by scores. The Granted Stake:

(a) remains Everesteer's property at all times;

(b) is a scoring weight that sets the size of any prize for each model to which it is allocated; it is not money held for you;

(d) may be reduced by poor scores, as set out in the Rules;

(e) ends, and reverts to Everesteer, when the event or season ends, when you close your account, or when your participation ends under section 6.

3.3 Scoring. Each submission is scored out of sample against realised outcomes, using the formula in the Rules. FIT is the covariance of a model's predictions with the target, UNQ is its contribution beyond the designated benchmark, and INOV is its contribution beyond the core features. In the daily tournament the round score is currently b × arctan((FIT + UNQ + INOV) ÷ b), with the three terms equally weighted and b a fixed scale. In an event the round score is currently b × arctan(3 × S ÷ b), where S = FIT + three times UNQ + INOV − (the event benchmark's own FIT + the event benchmark's own INOV) for the same round, so UNQ counts three times and a model is scored on what it adds beyond the benchmark. A round's result for a model is the stake allocated to it, whether Granted Stake or a Winnings Stake (clause 4.3), multiplied by its round score, with no further multiplier. The score is bounded symmetrically, and a single round can reduce the allocated stake to zero. The live formula, scale and bound are published by the platform (the scoring endpoint and explain_scoring), and are fixed for a round when it opens.

3.4 Maturity. A round matures when its resolved score is published. That is currently 23 trading sessions after the round's data date: the 20-session target horizon, a 2-session lag and the close day. Holidays move this date, and the platform publishes each round's resolve date. Until then, partial scores are provisional and may change. Settlement of a matured round may follow shortly after resolution.

3.5 Budget and caps. Prizes are funded only from a budget Everesteer sets for each season and publishes in advance. The Rules may set a per-person cap. If total prizes earned in a season would exceed the budget, all prizes for that season are reduced in the same proportion. Prizes are never funded by other entrants.

3.6 No deposits. The Tournament does not accept deposits. The only stakes it accepts, other than a Granted Stake, are Matured Winnings staked again from your registered wallet under clause 4.3. Any other money or crypto-assets you send to a Tournament address or contract are sent at your own risk. We will try to return them, less network costs, if they can be identified. They will never be staked or added to your winnings.

3.7 Compute credits. Hosted compute is an optional paid service, billed separately. You never need it to enter or to be eligible for prizes, and buying it does not affect your scores or prizes.

3.8 Final settlement. Once a round has matured and its results are published, they are final. We may correct them only for a clear calculation or data error that we announce within 7 days of publication. A round may be voided only if it cannot be scored; a voided round simply goes unscored.

4. Winnings and requirements for payout

4.1 Winnings. A positive round result is credited to your account as Pending Winnings. When the round matures, the final amount becomes Matured Winnings.

4.2 Losses. A negative round result for a model reduces only the stake allocated to that model in that round: the part of the Granted Stake, or the Winnings Stake, placed on it. It never reduces winnings from any other round, whether pending or matured, and you can never owe us money. A loss on a Winnings Stake also lowers your Net Winnings (clause 4.3). A round's own Pending Winnings change only as that round's provisional scores become final (clause 3.4).

4.3 Staking your winnings again. Matured Winnings are paid to your registered wallet (clause 4.5). You may stake them again in later rounds, from that wallet, as a Winnings Stake, under the same allocation rules as clause 3.2. Your open Winnings Stakes may never add up to more than your Net Winnings: your Matured Winnings so far, less your losses on Winnings Stakes. Net Winnings are never below zero and never above the per-person cap in the Rules. Winnings are never added to a Granted Stake or used to enter.

4.4 Requirements for payout. We pay Matured Winnings only when all of the following are met:

(a) Identity. You have passed identity verification through our provider. That means your full legal name, date of birth, residential address, a valid government photo ID and a liveness check.

(b) Age and eligibility. You meet section 2 on the date of verification and on the date of payment.

(c) Sanctions. You, and the payout wallet, pass sanctions and risk screening. That includes screening the wallet for links to sanctioned addresses, mixers or illicit activity.

(d) Tax form. You have given a valid IRS Form W-9 (US persons) or W-8BEN (non-US persons) and any other tax information we reasonably ask for, as set out in clause 4.9.

(e) Wallet. You have registered one payout wallet that you control, on the network named in the Rules. A change of wallet takes effect 24 hours after it is made and is notified to you by email.

(f) Good standing. Your account is not suspended, and no investigation under section 6 is open.

4.5 Payment. Once the requirements are met, we will pay Matured Winnings in USDC to your registered wallet within 30 days. We pay the network fees. We are not responsible for losses caused by a wrong wallet address you give us. Winnings earn no interest.

4.6 If you do not complete the requirements. We hold Matured Winnings for you while you complete the requirements. If they remain unclaimed after the period set by applicable unclaimed-property law, we will deal with them as that law requires.

4.7 Withholding a payment. We may delay or refuse a payment, and reverse related results, if we reasonably believe that any of these applies:

(a) the requirements in clause 4.4 were not met;

(b) the winnings came from a breach of section 6 or from a clear error;

Where the law allows, we will tell you why.

4.8 Tax.

(a) Prizes may be taxable. You are responsible for your own taxes.

(b) We may report payments to tax authorities. For US persons we issue Form 1099-MISC where payments reach the reporting threshold (currently $2,000 a year).

(c) We may withhold tax where the law requires. That includes US backup withholding (currently 24%) if a W-9 is missing or incorrect, and US withholding on non-US persons (currently 30% unless a tax treaty reduces it).

(d) Amounts withheld are paid to the tax authority and count as paid to you.

4.9 IRS forms. Before we pay any Matured Winnings, you must give us a valid IRS tax form through our payout process:

(a) US persons. US citizens, US residents (including green-card holders and anyone who meets the IRS substantial-presence test) and US resident aliens must give us Form W-9, with a correct taxpayer identification number (usually your Social Security Number), certified under penalty of perjury.

(b) Non-US persons. Everyone else must give us Form W-8BEN, certifying that you are not a US person. If you want a reduced rate of US withholding under a tax treaty, you must complete the treaty claim in Part II of the form.

(c) Keeping it current. A W-8BEN generally stays valid until the end of the third calendar year after the year you sign it, unless your circumstances change. If any information on your form becomes incorrect, you must give us a new form within 30 days. We may ask for a new or additional form at any time.

(d) No valid form. If you have not given us a valid form, we will hold your Matured Winnings until you do (clause 4.6). If the law requires us to pay, we will deduct withholding at the rates in clause 4.8.

(e) Forms we issue.

To US persons paid $2,000 or more in a calendar year (the current threshold), we issue Form 1099-MISC by 31 January of the following year.
To non-US persons from whose payments we withheld US tax, or whose payments are otherwise reportable, we issue Form 1042-S by 15 March of the following year.
We also file these forms with the IRS.

(f) Electronic delivery. You agree to receive tax forms electronically through your account. You may withdraw this consent by contacting us, in which case we will send paper forms.

(g) Accuracy. You are responsible for the accuracy of the information you give. False statements on IRS forms can carry penalties under US law.

5. Intellectual property and how we use your work

5.1 Our purpose. Everesteer runs the Tournament to build trading signals, and by entering you agree to that use of your work.

(a) We combine entrants' Predictions and Models, with other inputs, into one or more ensemble models (the Ensemble Model).

(b) We use the Ensemble Model and its outputs to produce trading signals.

(c) We, or our affiliates, license or sell those signals to hedge funds and other investment managers, including funds managed by our affiliates, in return for fees that may include performance fees.

(d) You are not entitled to any share of those fees or of any fund's returns. Your only reward is the prizes described in these terms.

5.2 Definitions. In this section:

(a) Predictions means predictions, prediction files and signals that you submit to the Tournament.

(b) Model means a model you upload or register with the Tournament, including its model files, parameters, weights, feature manifests and any code submitted with it.

(c) Outputs means any predictions, scores or signals generated by running a Model or derived from Predictions, whether by you or by us.

(d) Background IP means code, methods, models and know-how that you owned before taking part, or that you develop independently of the Tournament and its data.

5.3 Assignment of Predictions and Outputs. In return for the chance to take part and win prizes, you assign to Everesteer, with full title guarantee, all your rights, title and interest in every Prediction and all Outputs. That includes all copyright, database rights and other intellectual property rights, everywhere in the world, for their full term. The assignment takes effect automatically as each Prediction is submitted and each Output is generated. To the extent a right cannot be assigned now, you agree to assign it as soon as it can be.

5.4 Licence of your Models. You grant Everesteer a licence to use each Model you upload or register, and any Background IP needed to use it. The licence is worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, transferable and sublicensable to our affiliates and service providers. Under it we may:

(a) host, run, copy, test and monitor the Model;

(b) retrain, modify, combine and distil the Model, alone or with other models, including into the Ensemble Model;

(c) produce signals from the Model and the Ensemble Model, and license or sell those signals to third parties for any fees, including performance fees.

The licence is exclusive for any use of the Model with Tournament data or to produce signals from it, and non-exclusive for everything else. We never pass your Model itself to signal customers: they receive signals only.

5.5 The Ensemble Model is ours. Everesteer owns the Ensemble Model, the signals produced from it and all improvements we make. Your Model's contribution to them does not give you any interest in them. This continues even if your participation ends.

5.6 What stays yours. You keep ownership of your Models and your Background IP, subject to the licence in clause 5.4. We grant you a non-exclusive, perpetual, royalty-free licence to use, modify and commercialise your own Predictions and Models, provided that you do not:

(a) use or disclose Tournament data, features derived from it, or information about the Ensemble Model;

(b) supply signals derived from Tournament data to anyone else;

5.7 Confidentiality of your Models. We keep your model files confidential. We share them only with our affiliates and service providers who are bound by confidentiality, and never publish them without your consent. We do not disclose your identity to signal customers without your consent.

5.8 No advice or partnership. Providing Predictions or Models does not make you an adviser to, or a partner of, Everesteer, its affiliates or any signal customer. You provide no investment advice to any fund, and you acquire no interest in any fund, fee or account.

5.9 Moral rights. To the extent the law allows, you waive, and agree not to assert, any moral rights in Predictions, Models, Outputs and the Ensemble Model.

5.10 Your promises. You promise that each Prediction and Model:

(a) is your own work, or you have the rights needed to grant this section 5;

(b) has not been assigned or exclusively licensed to anyone else;

(c) does not infringe anyone's rights or breach any licence, including open-source licences that would require us to disclose or license our own code or the Ensemble Model;

(d) was not made using confidential information, or material non-public information, that you had a duty not to use or disclose;

(e) contains no malicious code and does not attempt to access systems or data beyond what the Tournament provides.

5.11 Signature and further steps. You agree that accepting these terms online is your signature to the assignment in clause 5.3 and the licence in clause 5.4. At our request and cost, you will sign any further document reasonably needed to confirm or record them.

5.12 Feedback. If you send us ideas or suggestions about the Tournament, we may use them for any purpose without paying you.

5.13 Our platform. Everesteer and its licensors own the platform, the Tournament data, the scoring methods, the Ensemble Model and all related intellectual property. Nothing in these terms transfers any of it to you.

6. Data, conduct and accounts

6.1 Tournament data. We grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to use Tournament data only to build Models and make Predictions for the Tournament. You must keep the data confidential. You may share it only with a cloud-computing or software provider engaged solely to help you train your Models, and only if that provider is bound by confidentiality at least as protective as this clause and does not use the data for itself. You must not:

(a) share, publish, sell or sublicense the data, except as allowed above;

(b) use it for any other purpose, including trading or producing signals for anyone else;

(c) try to identify the underlying instruments, reverse the obfuscation, or combine the data with other data for that purpose.

You must delete the data when your participation ends.

6.2 Agents and automation. You may use software agents, including AI agents, to take part through our published interfaces. You are responsible for everything done through your account and your API keys. Each agent must act for one identified individual who holds the account.

6.3 Prohibited conduct. You must not:

(a) hold or control more than one account, or act in concert with others to share prizes or coordinate Submissions;

(b) misrepresent your identity, age, location or residence;

(d) exploit a bug or scoring error rather than reporting it;

(e) make Submissions using inside information, or information obtained in breach of a duty to anyone;

(f) use the Tournament to launder money, evade sanctions or commit any other crime.

6.4 Investigations and suspension. If we reasonably suspect a breach of these terms or the law, we may take the following steps. We will act proportionately.

(a) Suspend your account while we investigate.

(b) Withhold Pending and Matured Winnings connected to the breach.

(d) Close your account.

(e) Report the matter to the authorities where the law requires.

6.5 Closing your account. You may close your account at any time. On closure, your Granted Stake reverts to us. An open Winnings Stake settles when its round matures. Matured Winnings remain payable once the requirements in section 4 are met. Pending Winnings are paid when their rounds mature, unless clause 6.4 applies. The assignment and licence in section 5 survive closure.

7. Privacy, liability, disputes and general terms

7.1 Privacy. We process your personal data as described in our Privacy Notice, including:

(a) identity, age and location checks through our verification provider;

(b) sanctions and wallet screening;

(d) keeping verification and payment records for 5 years after your account closes.

Wallet addresses and on-chain transactions are public by nature.

7.2 The platform. We provide the platform and data "as is". We do not promise that the platform will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that any model will score well. Nothing in these terms limits rights you have under consumer law that cannot be excluded.

7.3 Limits on our liability.

(a) We are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, lost profits or lost opportunity.

(b) Our total liability to you under these terms is limited to the greater of the Matured Winnings owed to you and US$100.

(c) Nothing in these terms limits liability for fraud, or for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or any other liability that cannot be limited by law.

7.4 Governing law. These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, USA. If you live in the UK or the EU, you keep the protection of the mandatory consumer laws of your country of residence.

7.5 Disputes. Please contact us first; we will try to resolve any complaint within 30 days.

(a) US residents. Disputes not resolved that way will be settled by individual binding arbitration under the rules of the American Arbitration Association. Either side may instead use small-claims court. Class actions and class arbitration are waived to the extent the law allows.

(b) Everyone else. You may bring proceedings in the courts of Delaware, or in the courts of your country of residence if consumer law gives you that right.

7.6 General.

(a) We may transfer these terms to an affiliate or to a successor to the Tournament business, on notice to you. You may not transfer them.

(b) Our affiliates may enforce section 5 directly.

(d) Not enforcing a right does not waive it.

(e) These terms, the Rules and any event rules are the whole agreement about the Tournament.

(f) We may send notices to the email address on your account.

(g) These terms are written in English, and the English version prevails over any translation.