Terms of Service

GeoStash is operated by GeoStash LLC, a New Hampshire limited liability company.

GeoStash (“GeoStash,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is the clue layer for Free Money Friday. Physical cash is hidden in a public place, and GeoStash gives you staged clues and a proximity radar to help you find it. The money is real, physical currency at a real location. It is not held, transferred, or paid out through the app.

Playing is always free.You never pay GeoStash, or anyone else, to receive clues, use the radar, or claim a hunt. GeoStash is a game and a promotional platform — it is not a bank, a lottery, a raffle, a sweepstakes you pay to enter, a game of chance, an investment product, or a financial service.

The prize goes to whoever physically finds the cash first. Finding it is a matter of effort, interpretation of the clues, and being there — not a draw.

• You must be at least 18 years old to create an account and take part, and you must have the legal capacity to enter into these Terms.
• You must provide accurate account information.
• One account per person. Creating multiple accounts to gain an advantage is prohibited.
• You are responsible for keeping your login credentials secure and for all activity on your account.

• A hunt has a set of clues. The first clue is available to any signed-in user once the hunt goes live and points you toward a general area.
• The remaining clues unlock by distance. When you use the radar, we compare your device’s GPS position with the hiding place and open any clue you are now close enough for. Clues you have unlocked stay unlocked.
• The radar reports how close you are as an approximate band, not an exact distance or direction.
• Reaching the hiding place makes you a finisher, which is recorded whether or not the money is still there.
• There is no countdown or time limit within a hunt. Arriving later does not disadvantage you, beyond the money possibly already being gone.
• Finding the money does not end the hunt. Once it is claimed, everyone still looking is told, and may keep going and still be recorded as a finisher — they simply cannot win the cash.
• We may add, modify, delay, cancel, or remove a hunt at any time.

Because the prize is physical cash, the app cannot detect that it has been picked up. To claim a win you must have reached the hiding place with the radar, and you must upload a photo of yourself with the money.

• That photo is public.By submitting it you agree it may be displayed in the app — including on the hunt page and the live feed — where anyone can see it, including people without an account.
• You grant GeoStash a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to use, display, reproduce, and share that photo, your first and last name, your username, and the amount you won, to run and promote GeoStash and Free Money Friday, including on social media. You can ask us to take a photo down and we will do so, but we cannot recall copies already shared or reposted by others.
• Only upload a photo you took and are happy to make public. Do not include other people who have not agreed to appear, and do not include anything you would not want shown publicly.
• A claim is checked automatically against your recorded position and recognized straight away. We may review a claim afterwards and reverse it if we find it was faked, staged, or made without actually finding the money; if we do, the photo is deleted and the hunt reopens for everyone else.
• Faking or staging a claim is a serious violation of these Terms and may result in the loss of the recorded win and termination of your account.

You use GeoStash at your own risk. Taking part is entirely voluntary. Hunting happens in the physical world, in places we do not own, control, inspect, or supervise, and you are solely responsible for your own safety, your own decisions, and your own conduct.

You confirm that you are physically able to take part in the way you choose to, and that you will judge for yourself whether any location, route, time of day, or weather is safe for you. You acknowledge and accept the risks of participating, which include but are not limited to:

• Traveling to and from locations by foot, vehicle, bicycle, or other means, and any accidents, injuries, or property damage that may result;
• Roadsides, parking lots, and moving traffic, including while searching near a road;
• Terrain, weather, darkness, water, wildlife, insects, and other environmental hazards;
• Encounters or disputes with other people, including other GeoStash users racing to the same hiding place;
• The criminal or careless acts of third parties, which we cannot foresee or prevent;
• Being approached or questioned by property owners, security, or law enforcement while searching in a public place;
• Entering unfamiliar, remote, or potentially unsafe areas, including after dark.

You are responsible for your own insurance and your own medical costs. We carry no coverage for you, and nothing in these Terms obliges us to pay for injury, loss, or damage you suffer while taking part.

Anyone under 18 is your responsibility. You must be 18 or older to hold an account. If you choose to bring a child or any other person with you while hunting, you do so at your own risk and you are solely responsible for their safety and conduct. They may not play through your account.

You agree to exercise good judgment, obey all laws, respect other people, and stop or turn back if a location or situation seems unsafe. If you believe you are in danger, contact your local emergency services first. No hunt is worth your safety.

You agree that you will not, in connection with GeoStash:

• Use the app while driving or otherwise operating a vehicle. Do not look at your phone while driving.
• Trespass on private property or enter any area you are not legally permitted to access. We do not authorize you to enter private property to find a hunt.
• Violate any traffic, trespass, parking, park, or other local, state, or federal law.
• Ignore posted signs, fences, barriers, closing times, or the instructions of property owners or authorities.
• Endanger, harass, threaten, or interfere with other people, including other users.
• Dig up, damage, tamper with, or move property that is not yours while searching.

We intend to hide money in publicly accessible spots, but you are responsible for confirming you can reach any location legally and safely. If a clue seems to lead somewhere you cannot access safely or lawfully, do not attempt it.

• The Friday prize is physical cash at a physical location. No money moves through GeoStash for it, and the app holds no balance on your behalf.
• The monthly draw is the one prize we send you. Everyone who reaches a hiding place during a calendar month gets one entry per Friday finished; one entry is drawn automatically after the month ends. Finding the cash at a given Friday’s hunt does not earn a draw entry for that Friday, but every other Friday you finished that month still counts. Entries are frozen when the draw runs and published so the result can be checked.
• The draw prize is sent by Venmo, PayPal or Cash App to a handle the winner gives us in the app, normally within a few days of the draw. We do not ask for bank details, and we do not hold the money for you. If we cannot reach a winner, or no valid handle is given within 60 days, the prize may lapse.
• Prize amounts can change, and a draw may be paused or ended for future months. Any month already under way will be honoured.
• If nobody finds the money, it is not awarded, and no cash equivalent is owed to anyone.
• If the money is taken by someone who did not use the app, or goes missing, we may close the hunt without a recorded winner. We are not able to guarantee that a hidden prize is still present.
• We may withhold recognition of a win, and remove it from your record, if we reasonably suspect cheating, fraud, or a violation of these Terms.
• Records shown in the app, such as the leaderboard or your totals, are a record of participation. They are not an account balance and have no cash value.

You may voluntarily contribute money toward a future prize (“the pot”) through our payment processor. To be clear about what that is and is not:

• Contributing buys you nothing in the hunt. It gives you no clue, no advantage, no earlier access, and no increased chance of winning. Contributors and non-contributors play exactly the same game.
• Contributions are gifts toward prize money. They are not tax-deductible donations, and GeoStash is not a charity.
• A card processing fee is added on top of the amount you choose, and is shown to you before you pay. That fee is charged by our payment processor, not retained by GeoStash; it is added so the full amount you picked reaches the prize rather than being reduced by the fee.
• Contributions are non-refundable once processed, except where required by law or at our discretion.
• We may apply contributions to the current or a future hunt, and we cover any shortfall or keep any surplus toward later prizes.

A hunt may be sponsored by a business, and the sponsor may be named in the app. Where a hunt is sponsored:

• The money is hidden at a location chosen independently and unrelated to the sponsor’s premises. Naming a sponsor is not a clue, and you should never assume a hunt ends at a sponsor’s business.
• You are never required to visit, buy from, or interact with a sponsor to play, unlock a clue, or claim a win.
• We are not responsible for the goods, services, or conduct of any sponsor.

You are solely responsible for any taxes owed on prizes you receive. Depending on the amount, we may be required to collect tax information from you or issue tax forms (such as an IRS Form 1099), and providing accurate information when requested may be a condition of being recognized as a winner.

GeoStash lets you comment on a hunt before it starts, and on a winner’s post in the live feed once a hunt has been claimed. Comments are closed while a hunt is running. Comments are public and are shown under your real name, alongside your username and profile photo.

You agree not to post content that:

• Harasses, threatens, bullies, or intimidates anyone;
• Is hateful or abusive toward a person or group;
• Reveals another person’s private information, including their address, phone number, workplace, or whereabouts;
• Reveals a hiding place, or is intended to undermine a hunt in progress;
• Is sexual, violent, or otherwise unsuitable for a general audience;
• Is spam, advertising, or a scam;
• Infringes anyone’s rights, or is otherwise unlawful.

We may remove any comment, at any time, for any reason, without notice, and may suspend or terminate accounts that break these rules. We are not obliged to monitor comments, and we do not endorse anything posted by users.

You can block another userfrom your profile or from any comment. Blocking is mutual: once it is in place, neither of you sees the other’s comments. If someone is behaving in a way that worries you, block them and tell us through the Help Center. If you believe you are in danger, contact your local emergency services first.

You keep ownership of what you post, and grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to display it within GeoStash. Deleting your account removes your comments.

You agree not to:

• Spoof, fake, or manipulate your GPS location, or use bots, scripts, emulators, or automation to gain an advantage;
• Attempt to extract hiding places from the app, its network traffic, or its systems by any means other than playing;
• Interfere with the app’s operation, security, or other users’ use of it;
• Share, sell, or publish clue text or hiding places in a way intended to undermine the hunt;
• Impersonate others, create fake accounts, or misrepresent your identity;
• Use GeoStash for any unlawful, fraudulent, or abusive purpose.

We may suspend or terminate any account, and remove any recorded wins, for violations of these Terms.

In this section, “Released Parties” means GeoStash LLC, its owners, members, managers, officers, employees, contractors, agents, and affiliates, the individuals who place and recover the physical money, and any sponsor of a hunt.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, you release, waive, and discharge the Released Parties from any and all claims, demands, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, or expenses — including personal injury, death, or property damage — arising out of or related to your participation in GeoStash, your travel to or from any location, your presence at any location, your interactions with other people, or your use of the app, including where such claims arise from the ordinary negligence of the Released Parties.

You understand that you are giving up legal rights, including the right to sue the Released Parties for ordinary negligence, and you agree to this freely and voluntarily in exchange for being allowed to take part.

This release does not apply to gross negligence, recklessness, or willful or intentional misconduct, or to any liability that cannot be released or limited under applicable law. If any part of this section is held unenforceable, the rest of it stays in force, and it survives the closure of your account.

GeoStash is provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of any kind, express or implied. We do not warrant that the app will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure, that GPS, radar readings, or clue timing will be accurate, or that any hidden prize will still be present, findable, or in a safe or lawful location. Map and location features rely on third parties and may be inaccurate.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, GeoStash will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, data, or goodwill, arising out of or related to your use of GeoStash. Our total liability for any claim relating to GeoStash will not exceed US $100.

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless the Released Parties (as defined in Section 13) from any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of your use of GeoStash, your conduct at any location, your violation of these Terms, or your violation of any law or the rights of any third party.

GeoStash relies on third-party services including Supabase (accounts, database, and storage), Mapbox (maps), Stripe (processing pot contributions), Resend (email), and Vercel (hosting). Your use of those services may be subject to their own terms, and we are not responsible for their acts, omissions, outages, or errors.

Please read this section carefully — it affects your legal rights. Any dispute arising out of or relating to GeoStash or these Terms will be resolved by binding individual arbitration, rather than in court, except that either party may bring an individual claim in small-claims court. You and GeoStash waive the right to a jury trial and the right to participate in a class action. Disputes will be resolved on an individual basis only. These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of New Hampshire, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules.

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we do, we will update the “Last updated” date above, and continued use of GeoStash means you accept the changes. We may suspend, limit, or terminate your access to GeoStash at any time, with or without notice, for any reason, including violation of these Terms.

Questions about these Terms? Send us a message through the Help Center — it reaches us directly and we’ll reply to the email address you give us.