Civic (CVC) is a blockchain identity verification platform founded by Vinny Lingham (South African startup veteran and former Shark Tank South Africa judge) and Jonathan Smith, launched via a June 2017 ICO that raised $33M, providing a “self-sovereign identity” framework where users submit identity documents (passport, driver’s license, SSN in the US) to Civic-approved validators, receive a verified credential stored on their mobile device (not on a central Civic server), and can subsequently prove their verified identity to any requesting service provider by sharing a cryptographic attestation — eliminating repeated document re-submission across multiple services — with CVC as the ERC-20 token that validators earn and service providers spend when using the identity attestation marketplace, and with Civic Pass as the 2021 onchain extension providing composable, non-transferable NFT credentials on Solana for DeFi and NFT platforms to require verified identities.
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Ticker | CVC |
| Price | $0.03 |
| Market Cap | $24.85M |
| 24h Change | +4.2% |
| Circulating Supply | 802.00M CVC |
| Max Supply | 1.00B CVC |
| All-Time High | $1.35 |
| Contract (Ethereum) | 0x41e5...4e45 |
| Contract (Energi) | 0x0d91...ba0f |
| Contract (Polygon Pos) | 0x66dc...02be |
How It Works
- Identity document submission — A user submits identity documents (government ID, biometric selfie) to Civic’s verification flow through the Civic mobile app. Civic-approved identity validators (initially Civic itself; later third-party validators in the network model) verify the documents and biometrics.
- Verified credential storage — Verification results are stored as an encrypted attestation on the user’s device (not a Civic server). The user holds their own identity credential data and controls what is shared.
- Third-party verification requests — When a service (an exchange, a DeFi protocol, an NFT mint) requests identity verification, the user scans a QR code or approves a request in the Civic app. The app transmits only the necessary verified claims (e.g., “age ≥ 18” or “US resident excluded”) without exposing raw document data.
- CVC token flow — In the identity marketplace model, service providers deposit CVC to request verifications; validators earn CVC for processing requests. This model established the initial CVC utility design.
- Civic Pass (Solana era) — Civic Pass is an on-chain, non-transferable Pass (SPL token on Solana, also available on Ethereum/Polygon) that represents a specific verified credential: CAPTCHA-like liveness proof, uniqueness (one-wallet-per-human), ID verification (KYC), or geographic exclusion (US citizen excluded). Smart contracts gate access based on whether a wallet holds a valid Civic Pass of the required type.
- Composability — Civic Pass is integrated into NFT launchpads (Candy Machine for Solana), DAO voting tools, and DeFi protocols to prevent bot activity, multi-walling, and sanctioned jurisdiction access.
Tokenomics
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Ticker | CVC |
| Chain | Ethereum ERC-20 |
| Contract | 0x41e5560054824eA6B0732E656E3Ad64E20e94E45 |
| Max Supply | 1,000,000,000 CVC |
| ICO | June 2017; raised $33M. CVC distributed to ICO participants and team/reserved allocation |
| CVC role | Marketplace token (verifier pays, validator earns); Civic Pass fees |
Use Cases
- KYC verification for exchanges — Crypto exchanges and DeFi protocols that need to exclude sanctioned or underage users can use Civic Pass as a composable identity layer.
- Bot prevention in NFT mints — NFT launchpads integrate Civic Pass liveness/uniqueness checks to prevent bots from minting multiple NFTs.
- DAO sybil resistance — DAOs use Civic Pass to ensure one-person-one-vote governance by requiring each voting wallet to hold a uniqueness pass.
- DeFi protocol access control — Protocols operating under regulatory constraints (sanctions compliance, jurisdictional restrictions) gate access using Civic Pass.
- Age verification — Applications serving age-restricted content use the Civic ID verification pass to confirm users are of legal age.
History
- 2015–2016 — Civic founded in San Francisco by Vinny Lingham (previously CEO of Gyft, a Visa-acquired gift card platform) and Jonathan Smith. The initial vision: a blockchain-secured mobile identity app reducing the friction of repeated KYC across financial services.
- 2017-06-21 — Civic ICO raises $33 million from strategic investors and the public (CVC token sale). The ICO occurs on the same day as the Numerai airdrop and near the peak of 2017 ICO excitement. CVC is distributed and begins trading on exchanges.
- 2017–2018 — Civic launches its mobile identity app and begins signing up identity verification partnerships. The initial blockchain model (CVC marketplace) requires adoption from both identity validators and service providers, creating a classic two-sided marketplace bootstrapping challenge.
- 2019 — Civic partners with Bittrex, BlockFi, and other crypto businesses for streamlined KYC. The company signs an MOU with Sovrin Foundation for identity standards.
- 2020 — Civic receives investment from Mastercard and focuses partly on non-crypto enterprise identity solutions alongside the blockchain product.
- 2021 — Civic launches Civic Pass on Solana. This is a significant product pivot — instead of the complex marketplace token model, Civic Pass provides a simple, composable identity credential that smart contracts can check. Civic Pass integrates with Metaplex Candy Machine, becoming widely used for Solana NFT launches to prevent bot activity.
- 2022 — Civic Pass expands to Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum, and other EVM chains. The uniqueness and liveness pass types become widely used in the Solana NFT ecosystem. CVC token price follows broader crypto market cycle movements.
- 2023 — Civic Wallet relaunches as a self-custody Solana wallet incorporating Civic Pass identity verification natively. Civic continues positioning Civic Pass as the standard for on-chain identity and KYC across DeFi and Web3.
- 2024 — Civic Pass is integrated into numerous Web3 applications. The CVC token’s utility and relationship to Civic Pass fees continues to evolve as the product shifts from the original CVC marketplace model.
Common Misconceptions
“CVC is required to use Civic Pass.”
Civic Pass fees and economics evolved from the original CVC marketplace model. In practice, Civic Pass integration fees paid by integrating applications are not always in CVC — the fee/token mechanics have evolved significantly since the 2017 ICO token design.
“Civic stores your identity data on a blockchain.”
Civic does not put personal identity documents (passport images, SSN data) on a blockchain. Verification results (attestations) may be anchored on-chain as hashes, but the actual sensitive data remains on the user’s device or with Civic-approved validators. The blockchain provides immutability of the verification record, not document storage.
Social Media Sentiment
Civic is viewed with respect by the crypto privacy and identity community for its early vision and for Civic Pass’s genuine market adoption in Solana NFT launches. Vinny Lingham remains an active voice in the crypto community. The CVC token is, like many 2017 ICO tokens, far below its price peak — a source of frustration for early investors given that the underlying product has real traction. The pivot to Civic Pass (from the complex CVC marketplace) is generally seen as a positive, pragmatic product decision. The identity space has become more competitive (with the Worldcoin/World ID product entering in 2023), increasing pressure on Civic to differentiate.
Last updated: 2026-04