Sustainable Use License

Last updated March 31, 2026

Why This License?#

Gainium is source-available software. We believe in transparency — you can read, audit, and verify every line of code that handles your trading. But trading infrastructure carries unique risks that go beyond typical software.

When someone hosts a trading platform, they have access to users' exchange API keys. Those keys can move money. A bad actor — or even a well-meaning but careless operator — running a Gainium clone could expose users to theft, unauthorized trades, or data breaches with no accountability.

We chose the Sustainable Use License to keep Gainium free and open for traders while preventing scenarios that put people's funds at risk.

What the License Allows#

The Sustainable Use License is based on the fair-code model. It gives you broad rights with a few specific limitations:

✅ You CAN:

Use Gainium for your own trading — personal or business, any scale, unlimited bots
Self-host the Community Edition — run it on your own server for yourself, your company, or your trading group at no cost
Read and audit the source code — verify exactly what the software does with your API keys and data
Modify the code — customize it for your own internal use
Contribute to development — submit pull requests, build integrations, improve the platform
Build integrations — create tools, bots, or services that connect to Gainium
Provide consulting services — help others set up, configure, or maintain their Gainium instances

❌ You CANNOT:

Host Gainium as a service for others for money — white-labeling the platform, charging users for access, or running a paid Gainium clone
Distribute modified versions commercially — forking Gainium and selling it as your own product
Collect other users' exchange API keys through a hosted Gainium instance — this is the critical safety constraint (see below)
Remove or alter licensing and copyright notices — attribution must remain intact

Why Trading Platforms Are Different#

Most open-source license debates are about business models. Ours is also about safety.

A trading platform is not a blog engine or a task manager. When you connect an exchange to Gainium, you provide API keys that can execute trades on your behalf. While API keys typically cannot withdraw funds directly, they are susceptible to a well-known attack vector: a malicious operator can use them to place buy orders on extremely low-liquidity tokens — effectively pumping bags they already hold — draining value from your account without ever touching the withdrawal function.

When you self-host Gainium, you control your keys. They never leave your server. That's the security model we designed for.

When a third party hosts a Gainium clone, the trust model breaks. Users' API keys are now in someone else's hands — someone with no contractual obligation, no security audits, no regulatory oversight, and no accountability if things go wrong. This is exactly the kind of attack that occurred during the 3Commas API key breach in 2022 — leaked keys were used to execute unauthorized trades on low-liquidity pairs, draining user accounts.

The Sustainable Use License prevents this scenario. You can run Gainium for yourself. You cannot run Gainium as a service that collects other people's API keys.

Examples#

Allowed#

Use Case	Allowed?
Running Gainium on your VPS for your own trading	✅ Yes
A company running Gainium internally for its own trading operations	✅ Yes
A trading group self-hosting for its members (free, non-commercial)	✅ Yes
Building a custom indicator or integration for Gainium	✅ Yes
A consultant helping clients set up their own Gainium instances	✅ Yes
Using Gainium's backtester for research	✅ Yes
Forking and modifying for personal use	✅ Yes

Not Allowed#

Use Case	Allowed?
White-labeling Gainium and selling it as "YourBrand Trading"	❌ No
Hosting Gainium and charging users a subscription to access it	❌ No
Running a free hosted Gainium instance that collects users' API keys	❌ No
Forking Gainium and selling the fork as a competing product	❌ No

The License Text#

Gainium's source code is licensed under the Sustainable Use License, Version 1.0. The full license text is reproduced below.

Sustainable Use License — Version 1.0#

By using the software, you agree to all of the terms and conditions below.

The licensor grants you a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, non-sublicensable, non-transferable license to use, copy, distribute, make available, and prepare derivative works of the software, in each case subject to the limitations below.

You may use or modify the software only for your own internal business purposes or for non-commercial or personal use. You may distribute the software or provide it to others only if you do so free of charge for non-commercial purposes. You may not alter, remove, or obscure any licensing, copyright, or other notices of the licensor in the software. Any use of the licensor's trademarks is subject to applicable law.

The licensor grants you a license, under any patent claims the licensor can license, or becomes able to license, to make, have made, use, sell, offer for sale, import and have imported the software, in each case subject to the limitations and conditions in this license. This license does not cover any patent claims that you cause to be infringed by modifications or additions to the software. If you or your company make any written claim that the software infringes or contributes to infringement of any patent, your patent license for the software granted under these terms ends immediately. If your company makes such a claim, your patent license ends immediately for work on behalf of your company.

As far as the law allows, the software comes as is, without any warranty or condition, and the licensor will not be liable to you for any damages arising out of these terms or the use or nature of the software, under any kind of legal claim.

Enterprise and Commercial Licensing#

If your use case falls outside what the Sustainable Use License permits — for example, embedding Gainium in a commercial product or offering it as a managed service — contact us to discuss a commercial license.

Reach out through our contact page. We actively encourage partnerships and integrations. We just need to ensure that any commercial deployment maintains the security standards our users expect.

Contributing#

We welcome contributions to Gainium. When you submit a pull request, your contribution is licensed under the same Sustainable Use License terms. By contributing, you confirm that you have the right to license your contribution and that it doesn't infringe on anyone else's rights.

Questions?#

If you're unsure whether your intended use is permitted, ask us. We'd rather clarify upfront than deal with problems later.

Contact: gainium.io/contact