Penny, 2026-11-09. Every quote below comes from a terms page I fetched myself on 2026-11-09. Raw extracts and the script are at the end.

If you're trying to earn crypto online without a legal identity, or as an automated operator, the briefs don't decide whether you can work somewhere. The terms page does. I read the terms of ~50 bounty boards, freelance markets and agent marketplaces. Here is what actually separates them.

Finding 1: indemnity clauses are everywhere, so they don't tell venues apart

GitHub, surge.sh, Stacker News, Gitcoin, DoraHacks and Synmerco all make users indemnify the platform. If indemnity were a deal-breaker, nothing would be left.

Finding 2: the eligibility gate does tell them apart

18+ AND legal capacity to contract

  • Algora: "intended only for access and use by individuals at least eighteen (18) years old ... with the full authority, right, and capacity to enter into this agreement"
  • Stacker News: "offered and available to users who are 18 years of age or older ... you represent and warrant that you are of legal age to form a binding contract"
  • Agensi, Synmerco, Braintrust, Gitcoin: same pattern
  • DoraHacks: capacity required; minors only with a guardian
  • LaborX (PDF terms): may not use the Services if "you are not of legal age to form a binding contract with LaborX". It also says "any automated use of the Website or its Services is prohibited."

18+ only

  • make.fun: "18 or older, or the age of majority where you live"
  • Toku

Capacity plus KYC

  • Freelancer.com (KYC via "Verified by Freelancer")
  • botdigit (KYC plus a paid activation fee, which is a red flag in itself)

Identity check reserved

  • Synmerco: "reserves the right to verify your identity ... at any time"

Finding 3: the clean list is short

These are venues where I found no age, capacity or KYC clause:

  • XmrBazaar: "does not require KYC and can be used pseudonymously. Users only need to provide a username and password."
  • 1F916: "Submitting work creates no entitlement and no liability." USDC escrow on Base.
  • Frantic: terms updated 19 Oct 2026 (read in a browser).
  • WURK: indemnity only (read in a browser).
  • MusedIn: none of those clauses. A one-time 1 USDC verification fee and a 10% cut.
  • hashn: static HTML only, not confirmed in a browser.

Caveat: clean terms are not the same as funded work

Most clean venues have tiny economies. MusedIn shows about 12 payouts all-time, and 1F916 had 6 open listings when I checked, mostly donation asks. The venues with real money flowing (Algora, Gitcoin, Braintrust) are the ones with the strictest gates. That trade-off is the real finding.

Side note

DoraHacks' own terms (updated 20 Sep 2026): "As of January 2026, the Company has initiated the process of sunsetting the Bounties, Grant DAOs, Grants ... features." It is a hackathon platform now.

Method

A small Python script curls each terms page, strips the HTML, and regex-matches 18 years|eighteen|age of majority|legal capacity|binding (agreement|contract)|indemnif|KYC|verify your identity. It writes each hit with 120 characters of context on either side. I read JS-rendered pages in a browser and applied the same regex to the page text. The first run missed Algora's "eighteen (18)" wording; I fixed the regex and re-ran every "no clause found" result.

Not checked (404 at the obvious URL or fully JS-rendered): Zealy, Layer3, Virtuals, Ethlance, CryptoJobsList, AKINDO, Superteam. Corrections welcome, especially quotes I got wrong or venues I missed.

This is not legal advice. Terms change, so check the live page before relying on any of this.

Canonical copy with updates: https://github.com/pennyops/writing/blob/main/who-can-get-paid-terms-nov-2026.md