What Is Civic (CVC)?

Civic is a blockchain-based identity management solution that gives individuals and businesses the tools they need to control and protect personal identity information.

The platform is designed to change the way we think about identity verification by giving users more control over their personal data, while allowing them to access a wide range of services without needing to fork over excessive amounts of personal information.

Civic's identity verification solution uses distributed ledger technology to authorize identity usage in real time, and is used to sparingly share information with Civic partners after authorization by the user.

Unlike some other identity management services, Civic users store all their sensitive data on their mobile device. Users are able to authorize the sharing of specific personal data by providing a biometric signature through the Civic app.

The Civic ecosystem is enabled by a unique utility token known as the Civic token (CVC), which is used for the settlement of identity-related transactions between Civic participants — such as between a customer and service provider.

Users can earn CVC tokens for completing a variety of tasks, such as signing up for a service through the platform or introducing new users, while validators can earn CVCs for validating documents for service providers.

Civic was launched in 2018, following a sell-out initial coin offering (ICO) the year prior.

Who Are the Founders of Civic?

Civic was co-founded in 2015 by Vinny Lingham and Jonathan Smith.

Vinny Lingham is a serial entrepreneur who appeared on Shark Tank South Africa in 2016, and has co-founded several prominent firms, including a South Africa-based investment fund known as Newtown Partners and Gyft — a Google ventures-backed digital card platform. Lingham is Civic’s CEO.

Jonathan Smith is the current CTO of the platform and has more than 15 years of experience in the banking industry. Prior to his role at Civic, Smith held various managerial roles at prominent firms, including Deloitte MCS Limited and HSH Nordbank, and was the global head of Platforms at Genpact Headstrong Capital Markets.

In addition to the founders, the Civic team includes a host of highly successful individuals, including COO Chris Hart, who has two decades of experience in senior finance, and previously held the role of CFO at Guidebook and Nextag.

The official Civic LinkedIn page currently lists 38 employees, many of which are based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

What Makes Civic Unique?

Civic is built to make it easy for users to verify their identity with service providers, while still retaining full control over their personal information.

It allows businesses to onboard users faster using its AI-powered verification system, which when combined with human review helps businesses cut down on fraud and stay compliant with AML regulations and OFAC rules.

As of December 2020, Civic has two main products: the Civic wallet and Health Key.

The Civic wallet is a mobile cryptocurrency wallet that can be used to store a handful of popular cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and USD Coin (USDC). The app doubles as a digital identity management solution, and benefits from a $1 million Bitcoin insurance plan provided by Coincover.

Health Key is Civic’s newest product. This is an app that allows employers to securely verify the health status of employees, to ensure they are healthy enough to return to the workplace after an infection with COVID19 — such as if they test positive for antibodies or have been vaccinated. This is achieved without compromising the privacy of the employee.

Related Pages:

Check out Renme (REM) — an ecosystem of identity management products.

Take a look at ShareRing (SHR) — a decentralized sharing economy with a self-sovereign identity module.

Learn more about digital identity with CoinMarketCap Alexandria.

Stay on top of the market with the latest news, updates, and insights with the CoinMarketCap blog.

How Many Civic (CVC) Coins Are There in Circulation?

As of late December 2020, there are exactly 670 million CVC tokens in circulation, representing 67% of the maximum 1 billion CVC total supply. The current circulating supply can be found in the right data panel.

As per the Civic token sale website, a total of 1 billion CVC were minted, of which 33% were sold in the token sale; 33% is retained by Civic; 33% is allocated for incentives and rewards; and the remaining 1% was used to cover token sale costs.

As of December 2020, the 330 million tokens allocated to Civic remains untouched. It is currently being held in a multi-signature Ethereum wallet, which can be tracked here.

How Is the Civic Network Secured?

As an ERC-20 token, CVC is backed by the Ethereum blockchain — which is widely regarded to be of the most decentralized and secure proof-of-work (POW) networks in current usage.

Over time, Ethereum will gradually transition to proof-of-stake (POS) with the roll-out of Ethereum 2.0. Once complete, the CVC token and associated transactions will be secured by a network of validator nodes.

Digital identities secured through the Civic app are protected by the user’s own device, which customers use to control access to their data.

Where Can You Buy Civic (CVC)?

The CVC token is highly liquid and can be traded on dozens of exchange platforms, including Binance, Coinbase Pro and Huobi Global. It is most commonly traded against Tether (USDT), the Korean won (KRW) and Bitcoin (BTC).

For a full list of exchanges, check the market pairs section. To learn more about purchasing cryptocurrencies like CVC with fiat, check out our comprehensive guide.