CEO update — 12/9/23Hey everyone!I’m going to be more direct with this update, so i’ll dive right in:All of the things we have been working on and talking about are still being nurtured. We are in talks with several projects and developers and as you all probably know by now, sometimes there are delays that can affect certain decisions and this has been true in these cases. Partnerships and new projects are coming however there have been several new developments and/or pivots on certain features or elements to each, which has caused delays and lead to us needing more time to discuss them properly.For that reason, it’s very difficult to give an accurate update that can tell you all when certain partnerships will be announced, however here is a brief dsummary of the kinds of things that the new partnered projects are either working on or have built:<ul><li>Tokenized real estate project with passive income</li><li>Multi chain bridge and farming application</li><li>Decentralised sportsbook and betting application</li><li>Content creation and distribution (newsletters, podcasts etc.)</li></ul>In terms of our team, CICLabs are currently in the process of setting up our pitch events. We have been exploring several opportunities that may speed up this process and/or make the opportunities more sustainable for the project, including government grants and private equity investments. The ball is rolling and we have held several meetings over the past 10 days or so, plus we have another meeting about a UK government grant tomorrow (wednesday).Our plan is to get ahead and ensure that we can progress with our marketing and development strategies that will aid us in delivering on the long term goals we have shared with our community.As previously discussed, I myself have been spending more time away from Telegram as I continue on a journey of self growth within my own life. You will be pleased to know though that a huge part of this is to ensure that CIC Chain can achieve all of its goals but also establish itself in the market. Networking and building/prepping a more proper infrastructure for the future has been a huge driving force for this and we will soon be establishing a new corporate entity for our company, within the EU.From here on, you can expect daily videos on YouTube (mainly shorts) that discuss what’s happening in the space and markets, and tackling key issues with our unbiased views and opinions. I will be featuring on a high number of these videos and then some more longform ones too. The aim is that we establish ourselves as an authority on the YouTube platform and target keywords that everyone is looking for (Such as ‘Bitcoin news September 2023’) for example, which has thousands of people searching for it every day. By establishing trust we can build our reputation in the space and build a name for CoinRapture that can be used as a platform in the future for the introduction of CIC Chain to the wider market.Once monetised, this channel is going to feature more longer videos about different crypto news stories etc and a portion of all revenue will be forwarded to WAGMI holders, with the other portion pouring into CIC Chain. We hope to build larger collaborations and use this channel as a spring board for our podcast when the time comes.ELIXEliX holders, we are going to be showcasing EliX and slowly building volume for it in the future, with the ultimate aim of featuring it on our exchange and several others, when the time is right. The plan is that Elitheum will have its own pathway and we hope that the launch of CICX is going to become a huge catalyst for adoption, since we anticipate a large increase of CIC Chain users due to the nature of our strategic decisions that have been made recently. EliX users can then expect a small portion of revenue from CICX to be distributed into EliX in a decentralised way (systems need to be implemented still) that will become a fuel for the passive income machine that we intended to create when we relaunched the token.Short term: CICLabs are heavily invested into fundraising and building infrastructuresMid term: Actions start producing results. Our ecosystem will begin to growLong term: Our entire ecosystem will thrive, since we are building systems that can disrupt a 14 figure market! (Hint hint)<img src="https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed&referrerSource=full_rss&postId=94a376430bc6" width="1" height="1" alt="">

CEO update — 12/9/23
Hey everyone!
I’m going to be more direct with this update, so i’ll dive right in:
All of the things we have been working on and talking about are still being nurtured. We are in talks with several projects and developers and as you all probably know by now, sometimes there are delays that can affect certain decisions and this has been true in these cases. Partnerships and new projects are coming however there have been several new developments and/or pivots on certain features or elements to each, which has caused delays and lead to us needing more time to discuss them properly.
For that reason, it’s very difficult to give an accurate update that can tell you all when certain partnerships will be announced, however here is a brief dsummary of the kinds of things that the new partnered projects are either working on or have built:

Tokenized real estate project with passive income
Multi chain bridge and farming application
Decentralised sportsbook and betting application
Content creation and distribution (newsletters, podcasts etc.)

In terms of our team, CICLabs are currently in the process of setting up our pitch events. We have been exploring several opportunities that may speed up this process and/or make the opportunities more sustainable for the project, including government grants and private equity investments. The ball is rolling and we have held several meetings over the past 10 days or so, plus we have another meeting about a UK government grant tomorrow (wednesday).
Our plan is to get ahead and ensure that we can progress with our marketing and development strategies that will aid us in delivering on the long term goals we have shared with our community.
As previously discussed, I myself have been spending more time away from Telegram as I continue on a journey of self growth within my own life. You will be pleased to know though that a huge part of this is to ensure that CIC Chain can achieve all of its goals but also establish itself in the market. Networking and building/prepping a more proper infrastructure for the future has been a huge driving force for this and we will soon be establishing a new corporate entity for our company, within the EU.
From here on, you can expect daily videos on YouTube (mainly shorts) that discuss what’s happening in the space and markets, and tackling key issues with our unbiased views and opinions. I will be featuring on a high number of these videos and then some more longform ones too. The aim is that we establish ourselves as an authority on the YouTube platform and target keywords that everyone is looking for (Such as ‘Bitcoin news September 2023’) for example, which has thousands of people searching for it every day. By establishing trust we can build our reputation in the space and build a name for CoinRapture that can be used as a platform in the future for the introduction of CIC Chain to the wider market.
Once monetised, this channel is going to feature more longer videos about different crypto news stories etc and a portion of all revenue will be forwarded to WAGMI holders, with the other portion pouring into CIC Chain. We hope to build larger collaborations and use this channel as a spring board for our podcast when the time comes.
ELIX
EliX holders, we are going to be showcasing EliX and slowly building volume for it in the future, with the ultimate aim of featuring it on our exchange and several others, when the time is right. The plan is that Elitheum will have its own pathway and we hope that the launch of CICX is going to become a huge catalyst for adoption, since we anticipate a large increase of CIC Chain users due to the nature of our strategic decisions that have been made recently. EliX users can then expect a small portion of revenue from CICX to be distributed into EliX in a decentralised way (systems need to be implemented still) that will become a fuel for the passive income machine that we intended to create when we relaunched the token.
Short term: CICLabs are heavily invested into fundraising and building infrastructures
Mid term: Actions start producing results. Our ecosystem will begin to grow
Long term: Our entire ecosystem will thrive, since we are building systems that can disrupt a 14 figure market! (Hint hint)

CEO Update 12/9/23

CEO update 22/8/23Hi everyone, I have been dealing with a family situation for the past week so have stayed away from the social channels, however, I am back and ready to deliver our latest newsletter.Firstly, I’d like to start by addressing the obvious, we had some issues with the Wendex update and there were a few new coding elements that had to be created. What we should have done is implemented the changes and updates before syncing them to the official URL, however, we have got to where we needed to be now, and Wendex is up and running as it should. As always, if there are any suggestions you’d like to make, this team is available and will note any suggestions.Secondly, we have had a big bug on our company LBank account, and it’s affected trading on there along with market making. We are going to be adding around 100k CIC to the market-making account in the next 24–48 hours and some USDT which will ensure that the spread is kept tight and improve the trading experience. We have created a new API and things to make sure this all happens smoothly, and you can expect these fixes to be fully implemented as soon as possible, as a high-priority issue.Next, let’s talk about progress. Our team has been in a consultation process about building out our CEX and raising funds. This has involved several different companies and meetings, and we have now chosen an appropriate marketing company, planned the appropriate budgets for a 6 figure marketing strategy, and finalized the details for building out our exchange, including acquiring the correct licenses for trading cryptocurrency AND securities legally around the world. This process has been very insightful and eye-opening, and we have learned what it takes to be in that top 10% of people who actually make the effort to be fully legally compliant. All of this leads us to be able to make the following statement:CICLabs will deliver a very unique trading experience for the wider community that includes many exciting features that will become a catalyst for its growth. We have a strategy for outreaching to the wider public and have built solid relationships with companies that work with massive crypto influencers, who have spent years building trust and a loyal audience. Our team knows that marketing has been our weakest working area and we have committed many man-hours into creating the best marketing plan that we believe money can buy.What can we share about our CEX?<ol><li>Liquidity — Our CEX will utilize massive, diverse liquidity pools seen only in the world’s top crypto exchanges</li><li>Futures — Our CEX will provide a high-quality trading experience for futures trading</li><li>Assets — Our CEX will deliver a large variety of assets so you can trade all of your favorite cryptocurrencies, including CIC, from launch.</li><li>Education — CICX will include a large Learn 2 Earn platform, and all new listings on our exchange will participate. You will earn free crypto by learning about the projects that list on our exchange, encouraging a much more authentic engagement from our user base.</li><li>Clean — CICX will have its own unique user interface that makes trading as simple as possible, while still providing all the features you would expect from an exchange</li><li>Unique — CICX has an ace up its sleeve, a world’s first trading experience that paves the way for something completely new. Unfortunately, this is under a lock and key at the moment due to its nature.</li><li>Scalable — CICX will be scalable in all areas, meaning that no matter how much adoption it sees, it will be able to handle the transactions and process customer withdrawals at a suitable time.</li><li>UPTIME — CICX will have a 99.9% uptime with a solid update strategy that allows us to always stay ahead of potential security issues or software issues, with minimal impact on the customer should they arise.</li></ol>CIC, will be showcased on our exchange as BNB is to Binance. It will become a foundational asset that every member will learn about when they register. We will create the necessary tokens and coins to bridge blue chip cryptocurrencies to our network to reduce gas and increase their speed, so our holders will have many new reasons to use our network. Our exchange can be used to switch the network of these assets at any time, to their respective blockchains.We realize that things may look difficult or worrying on the surface, when we don’t deliver fast gratification for the ‘behind the scenes’ work that our team has been completing, however, we have been on a journey over the past 1–2 months and have put a lot of time and effort into ensuring that moving forwards these executive decisions have the positive impact that this project and community deserves. Our goal is to drive adoption and utilize CIC to its fullest potential in doing so. We are currently in discussions about implementing the proper node systems so that community members will be able to participate at the blockchain level, and I will keep you updated on this.Besides all of this, CIC will circle back and prepare the announcements for upcoming partnerships that were previously mentioned. As you can imagine, dealing with family issues has caused a brief delay in this area, but we are in communication with all parties, and we will aim to deliver appropriate announcements this week.Thank you for being with us on this journey, it’s been a long road filled with twists and turns, but the end is in sight. We look forward to delivering on the outcomes promised, and we will release the details of our next AMA this week also.<img src="https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed&referrerSource=full_rss&postId=67449065a4ce" width="1" height="1" alt="">

CEO update 22/8/23
Hi everyone, I have been dealing with a family situation for the past week so have stayed away from the social channels, however, I am back and ready to deliver our latest newsletter.
Firstly, I’d like to start by addressing the obvious, we had some issues with the Wendex update and there were a few new coding elements that had to be created. What we should have done is implemented the changes and updates before syncing them to the official URL, however, we have got to where we needed to be now, and Wendex is up and running as it should. As always, if there are any suggestions you’d like to make, this team is available and will note any suggestions.
Secondly, we have had a big bug on our company LBank account, and it’s affected trading on there along with market making. We are going to be adding around 100k CIC to the market-making account in the next 24–48 hours and some USDT which will ensure that the spread is kept tight and improve the trading experience. We have created a new API and things to make sure this all happens smoothly, and you can expect these fixes to be fully implemented as soon as possible, as a high-priority issue.
Next, let’s talk about progress. Our team has been in a consultation process about building out our CEX and raising funds. This has involved several different companies and meetings, and we have now chosen an appropriate marketing company, planned the appropriate budgets for a 6 figure marketing strategy, and finalized the details for building out our exchange, including acquiring the correct licenses for trading cryptocurrency AND securities legally around the world. This process has been very insightful and eye-opening, and we have learned what it takes to be in that top 10% of people who actually make the effort to be fully legally compliant. All of this leads us to be able to make the following statement:
CICLabs will deliver a very unique trading experience for the wider community that includes many exciting features that will become a catalyst for its growth. We have a strategy for outreaching to the wider public and have built solid relationships with companies that work with massive crypto influencers, who have spent years building trust and a loyal audience. Our team knows that marketing has been our weakest working area and we have committed many man-hours into creating the best marketing plan that we believe money can buy.
What can we share about our CEX?

Liquidity — Our CEX will utilize massive, diverse liquidity pools seen only in the world’s top crypto exchanges
Futures — Our CEX will provide a high-quality trading experience for futures trading
Assets — Our CEX will deliver a large variety of assets so you can trade all of your favorite cryptocurrencies, including CIC, from launch.
Education — CICX will include a large Learn 2 Earn platform, and all new listings on our exchange will participate. You will earn free crypto by learning about the projects that list on our exchange, encouraging a much more authentic engagement from our user base.
Clean — CICX will have its own unique user interface that makes trading as simple as possible, while still providing all the features you would expect from an exchange
Unique — CICX has an ace up its sleeve, a world’s first trading experience that paves the way for something completely new. Unfortunately, this is under a lock and key at the moment due to its nature.
Scalable — CICX will be scalable in all areas, meaning that no matter how much adoption it sees, it will be able to handle the transactions and process customer withdrawals at a suitable time.
UPTIME — CICX will have a 99.9% uptime with a solid update strategy that allows us to always stay ahead of potential security issues or software issues, with minimal impact on the customer should they arise.

CIC, will be showcased on our exchange as BNB is to Binance. It will become a foundational asset that every member will learn about when they register. We will create the necessary tokens and coins to bridge blue chip cryptocurrencies to our network to reduce gas and increase their speed, so our holders will have many new reasons to use our network. Our exchange can be used to switch the network of these assets at any time, to their respective blockchains.
We realize that things may look difficult or worrying on the surface, when we don’t deliver fast gratification for the ‘behind the scenes’ work that our team has been completing, however, we have been on a journey over the past 1–2 months and have put a lot of time and effort into ensuring that moving forwards these executive decisions have the positive impact that this project and community deserves. Our goal is to drive adoption and utilize CIC to its fullest potential in doing so. We are currently in discussions about implementing the proper node systems so that community members will be able to participate at the blockchain level, and I will keep you updated on this.
Besides all of this, CIC will circle back and prepare the announcements for upcoming partnerships that were previously mentioned. As you can imagine, dealing with family issues has caused a brief delay in this area, but we are in communication with all parties, and we will aim to deliver appropriate announcements this week.
Thank you for being with us on this journey, it’s been a long road filled with twists and turns, but the end is in sight. We look forward to delivering on the outcomes promised, and we will release the details of our next AMA this week also.

CEO update 22/8/23

by Jared Robinson<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/940/1*GcHR28vv8lTIwIHc3nUL-Q.png" /><figcaption>A blockchain concept image</figcaption></figure>Today, we’re going to dive into the world of blockchain — a clever technology that’s not only powering cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin but also has the power to change how we do things in our everyday lives. In this article I am going to give 3 different real world scenarios where blockchain technology can be used to improve the current systems that everybody is used to. My hope is to give the readers of this article a clear understanding of the potential future benefits of blockchain technology, and hopefully to inspire you to challenge the current narrative that blockchain is just about crypto.<ol><li>Trusting Your Medicine: Making Medicines Safer with Blockchain</li></ol><figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/940/1*PATobLDAn_P16j5JPzeb-w.png" /><figcaption>Blockchain technology can verify legitimacy of medication</figcaption></figure>Ever wondered if the medicine you take is really what it says it is? Imagine a world where you could trust your medicine without a doubt. This is where blockchain steps in to work its magic and ensure the safety of your health.How It would be Done:When a medicine is manufactured, its details, like the ingredients and where it was made, are recorded on the blockchain. Think of the blockchain as a special digital ledger that can’t be changed or faked. Each medicine gets a unique code on the blockchain — kind of like a digital fingerprint.How It Works:Creation: Let’s say a new medicine is created. The maker logs its details on the blockchain. This is like writing down its whole story in a digital diary.Distribution: As the medicine travels from the manufacturer to the pharmacy, each step is added to the blockchain. This creates a trustworthy history that anyone can see.Scanning: When you buy the medicine, you can scan its QR code with your phone. This code is linked to the blockchain. The blockchain then tells you if the medicine is real or not.Benefits and Implementation:This blockchain process stops fake medicines from sneaking onto the market. Governments and pharmacies can use the blockchain to check if the medicine is legitimate. Also, if there’s a problem with a batch of medicine, blockchain can quickly trace where it came from, helping to keep us safe.Governments, pharmaceutical companies, and pharmacies need to work together to set up this blockchain system. They would use special technology to add medicine details to the blockchain and give consumers an easy way to scan codes for verification.2. Proving Your Education: Making Educational Certificates Reliable with Blockchain<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/940/1*h3CSq3wjDpgkSUh8bQAgvw.png" /><figcaption>Blockchain can ensure complete and transparent verification of certificates.</figcaption></figure>Have you ever watched one of those airport security programs on TV? The ones where people are challenged at the borders when they try to forge visa documents or smuggle drugs or exotic foods? I have, and I lost track of the number of times people have produced fake educational documents at the border, to try and lie their way into a country and cheat the system. Imagine a world where every registered educational institution around the world has its own unique code, linked to a blockchain. The data would be completely transparent and impossible to fake since only official institutions could mint a new certificate.How It’s Done:When you finish a school, college, or course, your achievement is stored on the blockchain. Think of the blockchain as a super-secure digital vault that no one can break into. Your certificate gets a digital stamp on the blockchain, making it official and unchangeable.How It Works:Certificate Issuance: Once you complete your education, your school or institution puts your certificate’s details on the blockchain. It’s like giving your certificate a special digital mark of approval, and only those official institutions would be able to add these to the blockchain, which means that nobody can fake them.Verification: When you need to prove your education, you can show your certificate’s blockchain code. Employers or anyone else can use this code to check if your certificate is real and valid.Benefits and Implementation:Blockchain takes away the worry of fake certificates. It’s a reliable way to prove your qualifications without any doubts. Employers can trust that your education is genuine, and you don’t have to carry around paper certificates.To make this happen, schools, colleges, and educational institutions need to work with technology experts. They’ll use the blockchain to store certificate information securely. When you want to show your certificate, you’d simply share the blockchain code, and anyone can verify it easily.Once these systems are created, it’s entirely possible that they can be adapted to include other certifications such as insurance documents, audit reports, driving licenses, passport control, or even safety inspection certificates. All of these could become completely transparent and unchangeable, massively increasing security and the quality of outcomes.3. Easy and Fair Ticketing: Simplifying Tickets with Blockchain<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/940/1*Rv7J46WA0F-lrKwz8_LBhg.png" /><figcaption>Digital tickets would be much safer using blockchain technology</figcaption></figure>Have you ever struggled to buy tickets for a big event? Imagine a world where getting tickets was as easy as pie with no worries about fake tickets or long waits. Blockchain can make this happen, transforming ticketing into a smooth and fair experience.How It’s Done:When you buy a ticket, its details are recorded on the blockchain. Think of the blockchain as a digital vault that keeps things safe and can’t be tampered with. Each ticket gets its spot on the blockchain, ensuring it’s the real deal.How It Works:Ticket Purchase: When you buy a ticket online, the blockchain notes down all the important information about that ticket. It’s like having your ticket’s details in a super-safe digital diary.Transfer and Verification: If you can’t make it to the event and want to give your ticket to a friend, you can easily transfer it. Your friend can then verify the ticket’s authenticity by scanning a code on their phone. This can be done without the need for any manual verification, as it can be linked to an account that has a verified ID. You could even add security measures that will not allow tickets to be transferred without certain requirements being met.Benefits and Implementation:Blockchain takes away the stress of fake tickets and scalpers, as each individual would have to create and verify their account on a platform. Prices can be capped, which means that people cannot massively upsell their tickets because they have to use the blockchain to transfer ownership. A cryptocurrency stablecoin can be used to purchase the tickets when they are being resold, which means that the price can be capped and there’s no other way to sell the tickets. A small tax can be applied to ticket sales that give royalties to the artist or event organiser as well, which allows them to earn more money for their work or service.It’s a simple way to ensure that tickets are real and valid. This would completely eliminate the risk of being sold fake tickets because every individual ticket can be verified on the blockchain and would have its own unique signature. This eradicates fraud!Making this a reality involves event organizers and ticket platforms working together with technology experts. They use the blockchain to keep a secure record of tickets. This ensures that everyone gets a fair chance to enjoy events without any ticket-related worries. Artists can earn more money and scalpers will no longer be able to drive up prices — it’s a win-win for everybody!A final thoughtBlockchain’s transformative influence extends beyond what we’ve explored today, reaching uncharted territories limited only by our collective imagination. If the right visionaries collaborate with each other, it’s entirely possible that we could see an evolution of the current digital age we are experiencing.In the tapestry of innovation, our uncovered examples serve as just a glimpse of what could be. Each industry disrupted by blockchain has the potential to evolve; ensuring greater trust, transparency, and efficiency. But here’s the exciting part: The story doesn’t end here.Imagine the UnseenConsider your world — the routines you follow, the challenges you face, and the dreams you chase. How might blockchain shape these experiences? Could it safeguard the authenticity of your work? Revolutionize how you interact with government services? Redefine the way you share data with healthcare providers? The power to imagine these innovations is yours, and the whole industry is waiting for creative minds like yours to help make them a reality.As we embark on this technological journey, remember that curiosity is your compass. Whether you’re a seasoned innovator or a curious novice, the realms of blockchain hold promises yet to be unveiled. Engage with the world, ask questions, and envision the ways in which blockchain could seamlessly intertwine with your daily life.The potential applications of blockchain are as vast as the cosmos, each waiting to be explored and embraced. So, as we conclude our exploration, let us embark on a shared adventure of ideation, innovation, and transformation. Together, we have the ability to shape a future where trust, transparency, and empowerment thrive in ways we can’t yet fully fathom.Dare to dream, envision, and create. The canvas of the future is awaiting your brushstrokes of innovation.I hope that this article creates a spark in the minds of one of its readers. If you’ve made it this far, and like me you have ideas running through your imagination, then send us an email at <a href="mailto:contact@cicchain.net">contact@cicchain.net</a> and we’ll be happy to explore these ideas with you, and perhaps offer support or incentives for collaborations. Together, we can achieve far more!<img src="https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed&referrerSource=full_rss&postId=3c2117ac0206" width="1" height="1" alt="">

by Jared Robinson
A blockchain concept image
Today, we’re going to dive into the world of blockchain — a clever technology that’s not only powering cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin but also has the power to change how we do things in our everyday lives. In this article I am going to give 3 different real world scenarios where blockchain technology can be used to improve the current systems that everybody is used to. My hope is to give the readers of this article a clear understanding of the potential future benefits of blockchain technology, and hopefully to inspire you to challenge the current narrative that blockchain is just about crypto.

Trusting Your Medicine: Making Medicines Safer with Blockchain
Blockchain technology can verify legitimacy of medication
Ever wondered if the medicine you take is really what it says it is? Imagine a world where you could trust your medicine without a doubt. This is where blockchain steps in to work its magic and ensure the safety of your health.
How It would be Done:
When a medicine is manufactured, its details, like the ingredients and where it was made, are recorded on the blockchain. Think of the blockchain as a special digital ledger that can’t be changed or faked. Each medicine gets a unique code on the blockchain — kind of like a digital fingerprint.
How It Works:
Creation: Let’s say a new medicine is created. The maker logs its details on the blockchain. This is like writing down its whole story in a digital diary.
Distribution: As the medicine travels from the manufacturer to the pharmacy, each step is added to the blockchain. This creates a trustworthy history that anyone can see.
Scanning: When you buy the medicine, you can scan its QR code with your phone. This code is linked to the blockchain. The blockchain then tells you if the medicine is real or not.
Benefits and Implementation:
This blockchain process stops fake medicines from sneaking onto the market. Governments and pharmacies can use the blockchain to check if the medicine is legitimate. Also, if there’s a problem with a batch of medicine, blockchain can quickly trace where it came from, helping to keep us safe.
Governments, pharmaceutical companies, and pharmacies need to work together to set up this blockchain system. They would use special technology to add medicine details to the blockchain and give consumers an easy way to scan codes for verification.
2. Proving Your Education: Making Educational Certificates Reliable with Blockchain
Blockchain can ensure complete and transparent verification of certificates.
Have you ever watched one of those airport security programs on TV? The ones where people are challenged at the borders when they try to forge visa documents or smuggle drugs or exotic foods? I have, and I lost track of the number of times people have produced fake educational documents at the border, to try and lie their way into a country and cheat the system. Imagine a world where every registered educational institution around the world has its own unique code, linked to a blockchain. The data would be completely transparent and impossible to fake since only official institutions could mint a new certificate.
How It’s Done:
When you finish a school, college, or course, your achievement is stored on the blockchain. Think of the blockchain as a super-secure digital vault that no one can break into. Your certificate gets a digital stamp on the blockchain, making it official and unchangeable.
How It Works:
Certificate Issuance: Once you complete your education, your school or institution puts your certificate’s details on the blockchain. It’s like giving your certificate a special digital mark of approval, and only those official institutions would be able to add these to the blockchain, which means that nobody can fake them.
Verification: When you need to prove your education, you can show your certificate’s blockchain code. Employers or anyone else can use this code to check if your certificate is real and valid.
Benefits and Implementation:
Blockchain takes away the worry of fake certificates. It’s a reliable way to prove your qualifications without any doubts. Employers can trust that your education is genuine, and you don’t have to carry around paper certificates.
To make this happen, schools, colleges, and educational institutions need to work with technology experts. They’ll use the blockchain to store certificate information securely. When you want to show your certificate, you’d simply share the blockchain code, and anyone can verify it easily.
Once these systems are created, it’s entirely possible that they can be adapted to include other certifications such as insurance documents, audit reports, driving licenses, passport control, or even safety inspection certificates. All of these could become completely transparent and unchangeable, massively increasing security and the quality of outcomes.
3. Easy and Fair Ticketing: Simplifying Tickets with Blockchain
Digital tickets would be much safer using blockchain technology
Have you ever struggled to buy tickets for a big event? Imagine a world where getting tickets was as easy as pie with no worries about fake tickets or long waits. Blockchain can make this happen, transforming ticketing into a smooth and fair experience.
How It’s Done:
When you buy a ticket, its details are recorded on the blockchain. Think of the blockchain as a digital vault that keeps things safe and can’t be tampered with. Each ticket gets its spot on the blockchain, ensuring it’s the real deal.
How It Works:
Ticket Purchase: When you buy a ticket online, the blockchain notes down all the important information about that ticket. It’s like having your ticket’s details in a super-safe digital diary.
Transfer and Verification: If you can’t make it to the event and want to give your ticket to a friend, you can easily transfer it. Your friend can then verify the ticket’s authenticity by scanning a code on their phone. This can be done without the need for any manual verification, as it can be linked to an account that has a verified ID. You could even add security measures that will not allow tickets to be transferred without certain requirements being met.
Benefits and Implementation:
Blockchain takes away the stress of fake tickets and scalpers, as each individual would have to create and verify their account on a platform. Prices can be capped, which means that people cannot massively upsell their tickets because they have to use the blockchain to transfer ownership. A cryptocurrency stablecoin can be used to purchase the tickets when they are being resold, which means that the price can be capped and there’s no other way to sell the tickets. A small tax can be applied to ticket sales that give royalties to the artist or event organiser as well, which allows them to earn more money for their work or service.
It’s a simple way to ensure that tickets are real and valid. This would completely eliminate the risk of being sold fake tickets because every individual ticket can be verified on the blockchain and would have its own unique signature. This eradicates fraud!
Making this a reality involves event organizers and ticket platforms working together with technology experts. They use the blockchain to keep a secure record of tickets. This ensures that everyone gets a fair chance to enjoy events without any ticket-related worries. Artists can earn more money and scalpers will no longer be able to drive up prices — it’s a win-win for everybody!
A final thought
Blockchain’s transformative influence extends beyond what we’ve explored today, reaching uncharted territories limited only by our collective imagination. If the right visionaries collaborate with each other, it’s entirely possible that we could see an evolution of the current digital age we are experiencing.
In the tapestry of innovation, our uncovered examples serve as just a glimpse of what could be. Each industry disrupted by blockchain has the potential to evolve; ensuring greater trust, transparency, and efficiency. But here’s the exciting part: The story doesn’t end here.
Imagine the Unseen
Consider your world — the routines you follow, the challenges you face, and the dreams you chase. How might blockchain shape these experiences? Could it safeguard the authenticity of your work? Revolutionize how you interact with government services? Redefine the way you share data with healthcare providers? The power to imagine these innovations is yours, and the whole industry is waiting for creative minds like yours to help make them a reality.
As we embark on this technological journey, remember that curiosity is your compass. Whether you’re a seasoned innovator or a curious novice, the realms of blockchain hold promises yet to be unveiled. Engage with the world, ask questions, and envision the ways in which blockchain could seamlessly intertwine with your daily life.
The potential applications of blockchain are as vast as the cosmos, each waiting to be explored and embraced. So, as we conclude our exploration, let us embark on a shared adventure of ideation, innovation, and transformation. Together, we have the ability to shape a future where trust, transparency, and empowerment thrive in ways we can’t yet fully fathom.
Dare to dream, envision, and create. The canvas of the future is awaiting your brushstrokes of innovation.
I hope that this article creates a spark in the minds of one of its readers. If you’ve made it this far, and like me you have ideas running through your imagination, then send us an email at contact@cicchain.net and we’ll be happy to explore these ideas with you, and perhaps offer support or incentives for collaborations. Together, we can achieve far more!

Exploring The Real-World Applications of Blockchain Technology

<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*8_ynwr02Z-4K3pMoxyJ5Ew.png" /></figure>Hi everyone, In our second bi-weekly update, I’m excited to share significant progress on multiple fronts that are shaping the future of CIC Chain.Networking:Marketing Partnerships: We’ve been actively engaging with four distinct marketing companies, each offering a unique array of services tailored to our needs. The process has been enlightening as we delve into the nuances of their offerings. Our strategy moving forward involves a meticulous analysis of the pros and cons of each company. This approach will ensure an informed decision when selecting the partner that best aligns with our vision and growth goals. Each company has various offerings that are tailored to achieve key performance indicators which we identified during our consultations and we are excited about aligning these perfectly with the timing of the turning market over the coming months.Upcoming Collaborations: Our commitment to strategic collaborations remains unwavering. Two noteworthy partnerships are on the horizon, both diligently nurtured to ensure seamless synergy with our ecosystem to increase exposure but also utility.<ol><li>Multichain Decentralised Gaming Platform: Our collaboration with a new multichain gaming platform is gaining momentum. This platform is currently undergoing rigorous testing on various test nets and boasts a decentralized casino, sportsbook, and lottery platform. We are excited to announce that we have agreed terms with this platform to include CIC Chain inside of it, where users can participate in various gaming activities which are all completely managed in a decentralised way.</li><li>We are excited to join forces with a dynamic team to foster a wider crypto space engagement. This venture spans various exciting initiatives, including a podcast and newsletter that will contribute to a richer understanding of the crypto landscape. By participating in this ecosystem, we anticipate a mutually beneficial exchange of insights and ideas but also creating a more informal platform where you can get to know the real people behind each project and really understand our vision of the crypto industry and where it’s heading. After attending the crypto summit in May of this year, I realised that there’s not really many platforms that give people a voice and opportunity to just naturally talk about key issues in the space and we aim to change that. We will be hosting a multitude of different guests from different backgrounds and talking raw and unfiltered about anything and everything related to crypto, blockchain, adoption and more! The official announcement on this partnership will be made next week.</li></ol>Development:Our development endeavors continue, with a key milestone achieved:Consultation Completion: Following up on the progress shared in our previous update, we’ve successfully concluded our second consultation. This pivotal step allowed us to meticulously outline the requirements for CICX. With the intricacies well-defined, we submitted a comprehensive project plan, encompassing all the envisaged features.Path Ahead: The ball is now in motion, as we eagerly await the final proposal from our collaborators. This proposal, encompassing detailed costs and achievable timelines, will be pivotal in our endeavors to secure funding from angel investors. This strategic funding is essential to ensure the realization of our ambitious vision for CICX. We started with a vision and an unwavering desire to disrupt the space and we feel strongly that this is our chance to really demonstrate our capabilities and also commitment to doing exactly that. It’s no longer an idea, but rather a plan, that is both realistic and achievable, but at the same time crazy ambitious, we wouldn’t have it any other way!Our charting tool we have been working on is making fine progress. We have created a chart which interacts with the LBANK API and pulls data to create a candlestick chart every one minute for CIC. The current plan is to then utilise this with Wendex in order to create the same candlestick charts for all tokens on our chain. This is ongoing and we will keep you updated as progress is made — rest assured, it’s coming!Besides all of this, CICLabs continues to improve our social media strategy and is consistently posting on many different platforms every day. Our social score has grown from 10, to 76 out of 100 which is a significant step in the right direction. We are received 10s of thousands of extra engagements than we previously were and we will continue to adapt and improve as we begin to analyse the performance of different types of content — this can only be done after a period of time however, where we have an array of different content to review.Collectively, these are all considerable steps in the right direction and we hope they demonstrate that we mean business. We will soon circle back and make necessary improvements to our eco-system that we initially promised you all, and this means completing all of the UI updates and things that we know you are all patiently waiting for. It’s a working progress and the stars are starting to align for us. We still have work to do, and we know we aren’t exactly where we all want to be just yet, but CICLabs are progressive and will never stop improving. There’s a lot more to what we are doing, than meets the eye — This team are making progress every day and these bi-weekly updates will continue indefinitely as a means to track this progress.In closing, I want to express our gratitude for your continued support and investment in CIC Chain. These recent strides emphasize our commitment to delivering value, fostering innovation, and building a robust future for our community. We are here, and very much active.<img src="https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed&referrerSource=full_rss&postId=9a6dbd44b7c4" width="1" height="1" alt="">

Hi everyone, In our second bi-weekly update, I’m excited to share significant progress on multiple fronts that are shaping the future of CIC Chain.
Networking:
Marketing Partnerships: We’ve been actively engaging with four distinct marketing companies, each offering a unique array of services tailored to our needs. The process has been enlightening as we delve into the nuances of their offerings. Our strategy moving forward involves a meticulous analysis of the pros and cons of each company. This approach will ensure an informed decision when selecting the partner that best aligns with our vision and growth goals. Each company has various offerings that are tailored to achieve key performance indicators which we identified during our consultations and we are excited about aligning these perfectly with the timing of the turning market over the coming months.
Upcoming Collaborations: Our commitment to strategic collaborations remains unwavering. Two noteworthy partnerships are on the horizon, both diligently nurtured to ensure seamless synergy with our ecosystem to increase exposure but also utility.

Multichain Decentralised Gaming Platform: Our collaboration with a new multichain gaming platform is gaining momentum. This platform is currently undergoing rigorous testing on various test nets and boasts a decentralized casino, sportsbook, and lottery platform. We are excited to announce that we have agreed terms with this platform to include CIC Chain inside of it, where users can participate in various gaming activities which are all completely managed in a decentralised way.
We are excited to join forces with a dynamic team to foster a wider crypto space engagement. This venture spans various exciting initiatives, including a podcast and newsletter that will contribute to a richer understanding of the crypto landscape. By participating in this ecosystem, we anticipate a mutually beneficial exchange of insights and ideas but also creating a more informal platform where you can get to know the real people behind each project and really understand our vision of the crypto industry and where it’s heading. After attending the crypto summit in May of this year, I realised that there’s not really many platforms that give people a voice and opportunity to just naturally talk about key issues in the space and we aim to change that. We will be hosting a multitude of different guests from different backgrounds and talking raw and unfiltered about anything and everything related to crypto, blockchain, adoption and more! The official announcement on this partnership will be made next week.

Development:
Our development endeavors continue, with a key milestone achieved:
Consultation Completion: Following up on the progress shared in our previous update, we’ve successfully concluded our second consultation. This pivotal step allowed us to meticulously outline the requirements for CICX. With the intricacies well-defined, we submitted a comprehensive project plan, encompassing all the envisaged features.
Path Ahead: The ball is now in motion, as we eagerly await the final proposal from our collaborators. This proposal, encompassing detailed costs and achievable timelines, will be pivotal in our endeavors to secure funding from angel investors. This strategic funding is essential to ensure the realization of our ambitious vision for CICX. We started with a vision and an unwavering desire to disrupt the space and we feel strongly that this is our chance to really demonstrate our capabilities and also commitment to doing exactly that. It’s no longer an idea, but rather a plan, that is both realistic and achievable, but at the same time crazy ambitious, we wouldn’t have it any other way!
Our charting tool we have been working on is making fine progress. We have created a chart which interacts with the LBANK API and pulls data to create a candlestick chart every one minute for CIC. The current plan is to then utilise this with Wendex in order to create the same candlestick charts for all tokens on our chain. This is ongoing and we will keep you updated as progress is made — rest assured, it’s coming!
Besides all of this, CICLabs continues to improve our social media strategy and is consistently posting on many different platforms every day. Our social score has grown from 10, to 76 out of 100 which is a significant step in the right direction. We are received 10s of thousands of extra engagements than we previously were and we will continue to adapt and improve as we begin to analyse the performance of different types of content — this can only be done after a period of time however, where we have an array of different content to review.
Collectively, these are all considerable steps in the right direction and we hope they demonstrate that we mean business. We will soon circle back and make necessary improvements to our eco-system that we initially promised you all, and this means completing all of the UI updates and things that we know you are all patiently waiting for. It’s a working progress and the stars are starting to align for us. We still have work to do, and we know we aren’t exactly where we all want to be just yet, but CICLabs are progressive and will never stop improving. There’s a lot more to what we are doing, than meets the eye — This team are making progress every day and these bi-weekly updates will continue indefinitely as a means to track this progress.
In closing, I want to express our gratitude for your continued support and investment in CIC Chain. These recent strides emphasize our commitment to delivering value, fostering innovation, and building a robust future for our community. We are here, and very much active.

CEO update 2: August 5th 2023

<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*v0qJw6__d_OyVzq38kEP4Q.png" /></figure>If you’ve ever wondered how cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum process transactions, then you’ve come to the right place. In this guide, we’ll take you through the fascinating process of TPS and its crucial role in the world of digital currencies.What is TPS, and Why is it Important in Cryptocurrencies?TPS, or Transactions Per Second, is an important metric used to measure the speed and efficiency of a cryptocurrency network. In simple terms, it tells us how many transactions a blockchain can process in one second. Imagine TPS as the “gas pedal” of a crypto network, determining how fast it can handle transactions.Why is TPS so crucial in the world of cryptocurrencies? Well, think about it: in the traditional financial system, banks and payment processors can handle thousands of transactions every second. If cryptocurrencies want to be taken seriously as a viable alternative, they must be able to match or surpass these traditional systems. That’s where TPS comes in, it plays a vital role in determining whether a crypto network can keep up with the demands of real-world use.How TPS Affects the Speed and Scalability of Crypto NetworksWhen you send or receive cryptocurrencies, your transactions need to be recorded and verified on a public ledger known as the blockchain. The speed at which these transactions are processed directly impacts the user experience. High TPS means transactions are confirmed quickly, allowing you to send money or use cryptocurrencies for various applications without waiting for long confirmation times.Moreover, TPS also influences the scalability of a cryptocurrency network. Scalability refers to a network’s ability to handle an increasing number of transactions as it grows in popularity and user adoption. A network with low TPS might become congested when the number of transactions surges, leading to delays and higher fees. On the other hand, a network with a high TPS can accommodate more users and transactions, making it more scalable and attractive to a broader audience.The Role of TPS in Facilitating Fast and Efficient TransactionsImagine going to a coffee shop and wanting to pay for your latte using Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency. The last thing you’d want is to wait several minutes (or even longer!) for your payment to be confirmed. A high TPS ensures that your transaction is processed quickly, just like the swipe of a credit card or the tap of your phone with a payment app.Moreover, TPS also influences the cost of transactions. When TPS is high, transaction fees tend to be lower, making microtransactions feasible and cost-effective. This becomes essential for various applications like micropayments, in-game purchases, and remittances, where low fees are crucial for widespread adoption.In the following sections, we’ll delve deeper into the world of TPS, exploring the factors that affect it, how different cryptocurrencies handle TPS, and the scaling solutions that aim to enhance transaction speeds and scalability.Let’s get started on this exciting journey into the heart of Transactions Per Second in the world of cryptocurrencies!Understanding Transactions in CryptocurrenciesBefore we dive deeper into Transactions Per Second (TPS), it’s essential to understand what a transaction is in the context of cryptocurrencies and how they are processed on the blockchain. We spoke about transactions in our previous ‘What is cryptocurrency?’ article, however, below I will give a brief refresher for those who may not have read this.What is a transaction in the context of cryptocurrency?In the world of cryptocurrencies, a transaction is a digital record that represents the transfer of value from one user to another. These transactions can involve the exchange of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, or other digital assets like CIC. For example, when you send Bitcoin to a friend or make a purchase using Ether, you are initiating a transaction.In traditional financial systems, transactions involve banks, credit card companies, or other intermediaries to verify and process payments. However, cryptocurrencies operate on decentralized networks, where transactions are verified and recorded by a distributed network of computers, known as nodes, without the need for a central authority. (This means that there are a huge number of independent users that ensure everything is running exactly as it should, without a central authority that has any form of control over it).How Transactions Are Created and Verified on the BlockchainWhen you initiate a cryptocurrency transaction, it needs to be validated and added to a public ledger (like a diary, or record book) called the blockchain. Here’s a simplified overview of how this process works:Initiation: You create a transaction by using your cryptocurrency wallet software. You specify the recipient’s address, the amount you want to send, and any additional data, like a payment note.Broadcasting: Once you create the transaction, it is broadcast to the cryptocurrency network. The transaction is shared with other nodes, and the information starts to propagate across the network (spread across the network, to ensure that all involved parties can access this transaction information).Verification: The nodes on the network compete to validate and confirm the transaction. They check that you have enough funds to send and that the transaction adheres to the network’s rules and protocols (also known as consensus mechanisms, as described in the What is Cryptocurrency article).Inclusion in a Block: Validated transactions are grouped together into blocks. A new block is added to the blockchain approximately every 10 minutes in the case of Bitcoin and even faster in some other cryptocurrencies, like CIC Chain, which has a 5-second block time when the chain is being used.Consensus and Confirmation: Once a block is added to the blockchain, it is considered confirmed, and the transaction is complete. The number of confirmations a transaction receives depends on the network’s rules and the level of security required.By understanding how transactions are created, verified, and added to the blockchain, you gain insight into the complexities involved in processing transactions. TPS plays a crucial role in determining how many transactions can be handled within a given timeframe, impacting the speed and efficiency of a cryptocurrency network. I strongly recommend viewing the What is Cryptocurrency? article, which can be found <a href="https://www.cicchain.net/blog/what-is-cryptocurrency-a-beginners-guide-that-anybody-can-understand-e0160b5ea3ed">here</a>, to learn more about consensus and confirmation.In the next section, we’ll delve into the concept of Transactions Per Second (TPS) and why it is a critical metric in evaluating the performance of crypto networks.The Concept of Transactions Per Second (TPS)Transactions Per Second (TPS) is a key metric used to measure the throughput or capacity of a cryptocurrency network. It tells us how many transactions the network can process in one second. The higher the TPS, the more transactions the network can handle efficiently.Definition of TPS: Simply Put, What is ‘Transactions Per Second’?Imagine you’re in a queue to pay for groceries, and there’s a specific number of customers the cashier can serve in one minute. Transactions Per Second (TPS) is a similar concept in the world of cryptocurrencies. It represents the maximum number of transactions the blockchain network can confirm and add to the ledger in one second.For instance, if a cryptocurrency has a TPS of 10, it means the network can process up to 10 transactions in one second. If there are more transactions waiting to be processed, some may experience delays until the network catches up.Why is TPS Crucial in Evaluating the Performance of a Crypto Network?TPS is an important measure of performance because it directly impacts the user experience and functionality of a cryptocurrency. In the early days of cryptocurrencies, when adoption was relatively low, lower TPS might not have been a significant concern. However, as digital currencies gained popularity and more people started using them for everyday transactions, TPS became a key factor in assessing a network’s viability (ability to handle mass adoption).High TPS allows for fast and near-instantaneous transactions, making cryptocurrencies more practical for daily use. On the other hand, low TPS can lead to slow confirmation times, especially during peak transaction periods, affecting the smooth functioning of the network.How TPS Impacts the User Experience and Adoption of Cryptocurrencies<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*_qDK00KBF8ie2zSDgF7ULg.png" /></figure>Imagine you’re buying a cup of coffee with cryptocurrency. If the TPS is high, the transaction will be processed quickly, and you’ll get your coffee in no time. However, if the TPS is low, you might have to wait several minutes or even longer for the transaction to be confirmed. This delay can be frustrating for users accustomed to instant payment methods like credit cards or mobile payment apps.Additionally, a cryptocurrency network with a high TPS can support a larger number of users and a higher volume of transactions. This scalability is crucial for mainstream adoption, where the network needs to accommodate thousands or even millions of users simultaneously without slowing down or becoming congested.The Challenge of Achieving High TPS<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/960/1*b8_aCETpHy9X-xA5vvoNqQ.png" /><figcaption>The challenge of increasing TPS for mass adoption, visual concept.</figcaption></figure>Boosting TPS in a blockchain network is not a simple task. It involves overcoming various technical challenges to ensure that transactions can be processed quickly and securely. Some of the common hurdles include:Consensus Mechanisms: Different consensus mechanisms (e.g., Proof of Work and Proof of Stake) have varying impacts on TPS. Some are more efficient but may sacrifice decentralization or security.Block Size: Increasing the block size can enhance TPS, but it also makes the blockchain larger and more challenging to manage for node operators.Network Latency: The time it takes for data to travel across the network can affect TPS. Reducing latency is essential to speeding up transaction processing.Scaling Solutions to Improve TPS (Ways that TPS can be Improved)To achieve higher TPS and enhance the scalability of blockchain networks, developers and researchers have come up with various scaling solutions. These solutions aim to overcome the limitations of traditional blockchain architectures and handle a larger number of transactions efficiently. Here are some notable scaling solutions:Off-Chain SolutionsOff-chain solutions are mechanisms that handle transactions outside the main blockchain, reducing the workload on the main network. They offer faster and more cost-effective transactions by handling certain transactions off-chain. Two prominent off-chain solutions are:Lightning Network: Primarily used for Bitcoin, the Lightning Network is a second-layer protocol that enables instantaneous and low-cost microtransactions by creating payment channels between users. These channels allow participants to transact directly without waiting for on-chain confirmations. Basically, the transactions are taken off the Bitcoin network by both parties involved, in order to bypass the strict rules of the network, which may slow them down, allowing users to complete transactions faster and cheaper.Plasma: Originally proposed for Ethereum, Plasma is another off-chain scaling solution that allows for faster and more scalable transactions. It involves creating “child chains” that process transactions independently, which would then be added to the Ethereum network when the network is less busy.ShardingSharding is a technique used to divide the blockchain network into smaller, more manageable parts called shards. Each shard is responsible for processing a portion of the network’s transactions independently. Sharding allows the network to parallelize transaction processing, significantly increasing TPS and overall scalability. (This means that it allows several more transactions at once, running side by side. Because these transactions are divided into much smaller chunks, more of them can be processed in a shorter time frame).Layer 2 SolutionsLayer 2 solutions work on top of the main blockchain and enable faster transactions and increased TPS. These solutions are built on the principle that not all transactions need to be processed directly on the main chain. Instead, they can be conducted on “secondary” layers, with the final outcome anchored on the main blockchain for security. Some popular Layer 2 solutions include:Rollups: These solutions bundle multiple transactions together, reducing the load on the main chain. They come in two types: ZK-Rollups and Optimistic Rollups, each with its own trade-offs between security and efficiency.Sidechains: Sidechains are independent blockchains that are pegged to the main chain. They allow users to move assets between the main chain and the sidechain, enabling faster and more efficient transactions.Optimizations in Consensus MechanismsConsensus mechanisms play a crucial role in how transactions are confirmed on the blockchain. Improving and optimizing these mechanisms can lead to higher TPS. For example, Ethereum’s transition from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS) with Ethereum 2.0 aims to significantly increase TPS while reducing energy consumption. While this has worked to some degree, Proof of Stake systems also have their own limitations and may require further upgrades or solutions to continue to scale.Hybrid ApproachesSome projects are combining multiple scaling solutions to achieve better TPS and scalability. By using a combination of sharding, off-chain solutions, and optimizations in consensus mechanisms, these projects aim to strike a balance between security, decentralization, and speed.While these scaling solutions hold promise, implementing them requires careful consideration of trade-offs and potential risks. Striking the right balance between scalability and security is essential to ensuring the long-term success and adoption of a cryptocurrency network.<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*DV_gu-5nfif9J4irvP4UIA.png" /><figcaption>CIC Chain is a relatively new hybrid network that was designed to scale.</figcaption></figure>One such example of a hybrid approach can be seen in the CIC Chain network, where the team created a hybrid consensus mechanism called Imprism, which has a feature similar to sharding pre-built into the process of validating transactions. CIC Chain developed a system called Proof of Refraction, where data is divided into smaller chunks, and each process in turn uses smaller amounts of energy because it is further divided across multiple nodes at once. This means that CIC Chain users are always able to achieve consistent speeds when using the network, and the ‘gas fee’ or ‘cost per transaction’ will always stay extremely low, even when more adoption occurs.In conclusion, TPS is a crucial metric for evaluating the performance of a blockchain network. By creating innovative scaling solutions, developers and researchers are actively working towards achieving higher TPS and making cryptocurrencies more suitable for widespread adoption and real-world applications. As the technology continues to evolve, we can look forward to witnessing further advancements in the field of blockchain scalability.Key note for cryptocurrency investors:There are many networks out there that promise extremely high TPS numbers, which on the surface can drive a lot of hype for their projects. Just because a project promises these numbers, it does not mean that it is capable of handling them in a real-world scenario. Visa and Mastercard are used and known globally as payment processors, and even those only use around 2–6 thousand transactions per second, despite claims they can handle many more than this figure.Networks such as Solana, for example, made huge claims of achieving speeds of 100k TPS when, in reality, the network gets super congested once it crosses the 10k mark, and this can cause network disruptions, as we have seen in the past 18 months. In a testing environment, it is highly likely that Solana achieved those numbers, but the fact is that nobody can accurately predict these things because, in the real world, there’s no predicting the number of transactions the network will need to serve or the huge array of different types of transactions it will have to validate at any one time. There are many factors that can affect these numbers, and if there are thousands of people making hundreds of different types of transactions at any one time, this is a very different scenario than a testing environment where the TPS is based on how many people can send a coin to another wallet in a single second.My advice is to ensure that you understand this fact, and never be afraid to ask for more information on TPS if any cryptocurrency has huge claims like this. The fact is, even the most popular chains in the world have never seen anywhere near 100k TPS, and it’s very possible that they never will (as seen in the numbers that VISA and MasterCard see). Even 2–5k TPS is more than capable of mass adoption, as it remains a realistic number.Author: Jared Robinson<img src="https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed&referrerSource=full_rss&postId=ee675457a3c" width="1" height="1" alt="">

If you’ve ever wondered how cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum process transactions, then you’ve come to the right place. In this guide, we’ll take you through the fascinating process of TPS and its crucial role in the world of digital currencies.
What is TPS, and Why is it Important in Cryptocurrencies?
TPS, or Transactions Per Second, is an important metric used to measure the speed and efficiency of a cryptocurrency network. In simple terms, it tells us how many transactions a blockchain can process in one second. Imagine TPS as the “gas pedal” of a crypto network, determining how fast it can handle transactions.
Why is TPS so crucial in the world of cryptocurrencies? Well, think about it: in the traditional financial system, banks and payment processors can handle thousands of transactions every second. If cryptocurrencies want to be taken seriously as a viable alternative, they must be able to match or surpass these traditional systems. That’s where TPS comes in, it plays a vital role in determining whether a crypto network can keep up with the demands of real-world use.
How TPS Affects the Speed and Scalability of Crypto Networks
When you send or receive cryptocurrencies, your transactions need to be recorded and verified on a public ledger known as the blockchain. The speed at which these transactions are processed directly impacts the user experience. High TPS means transactions are confirmed quickly, allowing you to send money or use cryptocurrencies for various applications without waiting for long confirmation times.
Moreover, TPS also influences the scalability of a cryptocurrency network. Scalability refers to a network’s ability to handle an increasing number of transactions as it grows in popularity and user adoption. A network with low TPS might become congested when the number of transactions surges, leading to delays and higher fees. On the other hand, a network with a high TPS can accommodate more users and transactions, making it more scalable and attractive to a broader audience.
The Role of TPS in Facilitating Fast and Efficient Transactions
Imagine going to a coffee shop and wanting to pay for your latte using Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency. The last thing you’d want is to wait several minutes (or even longer!) for your payment to be confirmed. A high TPS ensures that your transaction is processed quickly, just like the swipe of a credit card or the tap of your phone with a payment app.
Moreover, TPS also influences the cost of transactions. When TPS is high, transaction fees tend to be lower, making microtransactions feasible and cost-effective. This becomes essential for various applications like micropayments, in-game purchases, and remittances, where low fees are crucial for widespread adoption.
In the following sections, we’ll delve deeper into the world of TPS, exploring the factors that affect it, how different cryptocurrencies handle TPS, and the scaling solutions that aim to enhance transaction speeds and scalability.
Let’s get started on this exciting journey into the heart of Transactions Per Second in the world of cryptocurrencies!
Understanding Transactions in Cryptocurrencies
Before we dive deeper into Transactions Per Second (TPS), it’s essential to understand what a transaction is in the context of cryptocurrencies and how they are processed on the blockchain. We spoke about transactions in our previous ‘What is cryptocurrency?’ article, however, below I will give a brief refresher for those who may not have read this.
What is a transaction in the context of cryptocurrency?
In the world of cryptocurrencies, a transaction is a digital record that represents the transfer of value from one user to another. These transactions can involve the exchange of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, or other digital assets like CIC. For example, when you send Bitcoin to a friend or make a purchase using Ether, you are initiating a transaction.
In traditional financial systems, transactions involve banks, credit card companies, or other intermediaries to verify and process payments. However, cryptocurrencies operate on decentralized networks, where transactions are verified and recorded by a distributed network of computers, known as nodes, without the need for a central authority. (This means that there are a huge number of independent users that ensure everything is running exactly as it should, without a central authority that has any form of control over it).
How Transactions Are Created and Verified on the Blockchain
When you initiate a cryptocurrency transaction, it needs to be validated and added to a public ledger (like a diary, or record book) called the blockchain. Here’s a simplified overview of how this process works:
Initiation: You create a transaction by using your cryptocurrency wallet software. You specify the recipient’s address, the amount you want to send, and any additional data, like a payment note.
Broadcasting: Once you create the transaction, it is broadcast to the cryptocurrency network. The transaction is shared with other nodes, and the information starts to propagate across the network (spread across the network, to ensure that all involved parties can access this transaction information).
Verification: The nodes on the network compete to validate and confirm the transaction. They check that you have enough funds to send and that the transaction adheres to the network’s rules and protocols (also known as consensus mechanisms, as described in the What is Cryptocurrency article).
Inclusion in a Block: Validated transactions are grouped together into blocks. A new block is added to the blockchain approximately every 10 minutes in the case of Bitcoin and even faster in some other cryptocurrencies, like CIC Chain, which has a 5-second block time when the chain is being used.
Consensus and Confirmation: Once a block is added to the blockchain, it is considered confirmed, and the transaction is complete. The number of confirmations a transaction receives depends on the network’s rules and the level of security required.
By understanding how transactions are created, verified, and added to the blockchain, you gain insight into the complexities involved in processing transactions. TPS plays a crucial role in determining how many transactions can be handled within a given timeframe, impacting the speed and efficiency of a cryptocurrency network. I strongly recommend viewing the What is Cryptocurrency? article, which can be found here, to learn more about consensus and confirmation.
In the next section, we’ll delve into the concept of Transactions Per Second (TPS) and why it is a critical metric in evaluating the performance of crypto networks.
The Concept of Transactions Per Second (TPS)
Transactions Per Second (TPS) is a key metric used to measure the throughput or capacity of a cryptocurrency network. It tells us how many transactions the network can process in one second. The higher the TPS, the more transactions the network can handle efficiently.
Definition of TPS: Simply Put, What is ‘Transactions Per Second’?
Imagine you’re in a queue to pay for groceries, and there’s a specific number of customers the cashier can serve in one minute. Transactions Per Second (TPS) is a similar concept in the world of cryptocurrencies. It represents the maximum number of transactions the blockchain network can confirm and add to the ledger in one second.
For instance, if a cryptocurrency has a TPS of 10, it means the network can process up to 10 transactions in one second. If there are more transactions waiting to be processed, some may experience delays until the network catches up.
Why is TPS Crucial in Evaluating the Performance of a Crypto Network?
TPS is an important measure of performance because it directly impacts the user experience and functionality of a cryptocurrency. In the early days of cryptocurrencies, when adoption was relatively low, lower TPS might not have been a significant concern. However, as digital currencies gained popularity and more people started using them for everyday transactions, TPS became a key factor in assessing a network’s viability (ability to handle mass adoption).
High TPS allows for fast and near-instantaneous transactions, making cryptocurrencies more practical for daily use. On the other hand, low TPS can lead to slow confirmation times, especially during peak transaction periods, affecting the smooth functioning of the network.
How TPS Impacts the User Experience and Adoption of Cryptocurrencies

Imagine you’re buying a cup of coffee with cryptocurrency. If the TPS is high, the transaction will be processed quickly, and you’ll get your coffee in no time. However, if the TPS is low, you might have to wait several minutes or even longer for the transaction to be confirmed. This delay can be frustrating for users accustomed to instant payment methods like credit cards or mobile payment apps.
Additionally, a cryptocurrency network with a high TPS can support a larger number of users and a higher volume of transactions. This scalability is crucial for mainstream adoption, where the network needs to accommodate thousands or even millions of users simultaneously without slowing down or becoming congested.
The Challenge of Achieving High TPS
The challenge of increasing TPS for mass adoption, visual concept.
Boosting TPS in a blockchain network is not a simple task. It involves overcoming various technical challenges to ensure that transactions can be processed quickly and securely. Some of the common hurdles include:
Consensus Mechanisms: Different consensus mechanisms (e.g., Proof of Work and Proof of Stake) have varying impacts on TPS. Some are more efficient but may sacrifice decentralization or security.
Block Size: Increasing the block size can enhance TPS, but it also makes the blockchain larger and more challenging to manage for node operators.
Network Latency: The time it takes for data to travel across the network can affect TPS. Reducing latency is essential to speeding up transaction processing.
Scaling Solutions to Improve TPS (Ways that TPS can be Improved)
To achieve higher TPS and enhance the scalability of blockchain networks, developers and researchers have come up with various scaling solutions. These solutions aim to overcome the limitations of traditional blockchain architectures and handle a larger number of transactions efficiently. Here are some notable scaling solutions:
Off-Chain Solutions
Off-chain solutions are mechanisms that handle transactions outside the main blockchain, reducing the workload on the main network. They offer faster and more cost-effective transactions by handling certain transactions off-chain. Two prominent off-chain solutions are:
Lightning Network: Primarily used for Bitcoin, the Lightning Network is a second-layer protocol that enables instantaneous and low-cost microtransactions by creating payment channels between users. These channels allow participants to transact directly without waiting for on-chain confirmations. Basically, the transactions are taken off the Bitcoin network by both parties involved, in order to bypass the strict rules of the network, which may slow them down, allowing users to complete transactions faster and cheaper.
Plasma: Originally proposed for Ethereum, Plasma is another off-chain scaling solution that allows for faster and more scalable transactions. It involves creating “child chains” that process transactions independently, which would then be added to the Ethereum network when the network is less busy.
Sharding
Sharding is a technique used to divide the blockchain network into smaller, more manageable parts called shards. Each shard is responsible for processing a portion of the network’s transactions independently. Sharding allows the network to parallelize transaction processing, significantly increasing TPS and overall scalability. (This means that it allows several more transactions at once, running side by side. Because these transactions are divided into much smaller chunks, more of them can be processed in a shorter time frame).
Layer 2 Solutions
Layer 2 solutions work on top of the main blockchain and enable faster transactions and increased TPS. These solutions are built on the principle that not all transactions need to be processed directly on the main chain. Instead, they can be conducted on “secondary” layers, with the final outcome anchored on the main blockchain for security. Some popular Layer 2 solutions include:
Rollups: These solutions bundle multiple transactions together, reducing the load on the main chain. They come in two types: ZK-Rollups and Optimistic Rollups, each with its own trade-offs between security and efficiency.
Sidechains: Sidechains are independent blockchains that are pegged to the main chain. They allow users to move assets between the main chain and the sidechain, enabling faster and more efficient transactions.
Optimizations in Consensus Mechanisms
Consensus mechanisms play a crucial role in how transactions are confirmed on the blockchain. Improving and optimizing these mechanisms can lead to higher TPS. For example, Ethereum’s transition from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS) with Ethereum 2.0 aims to significantly increase TPS while reducing energy consumption. While this has worked to some degree, Proof of Stake systems also have their own limitations and may require further upgrades or solutions to continue to scale.
Hybrid Approaches
Some projects are combining multiple scaling solutions to achieve better TPS and scalability. By using a combination of sharding, off-chain solutions, and optimizations in consensus mechanisms, these projects aim to strike a balance between security, decentralization, and speed.
While these scaling solutions hold promise, implementing them requires careful consideration of trade-offs and potential risks. Striking the right balance between scalability and security is essential to ensuring the long-term success and adoption of a cryptocurrency network.
CIC Chain is a relatively new hybrid network that was designed to scale.
One such example of a hybrid approach can be seen in the CIC Chain network, where the team created a hybrid consensus mechanism called Imprism, which has a feature similar to sharding pre-built into the process of validating transactions. CIC Chain developed a system called Proof of Refraction, where data is divided into smaller chunks, and each process in turn uses smaller amounts of energy because it is further divided across multiple nodes at once. This means that CIC Chain users are always able to achieve consistent speeds when using the network, and the ‘gas fee’ or ‘cost per transaction’ will always stay extremely low, even when more adoption occurs.
In conclusion, TPS is a crucial metric for evaluating the performance of a blockchain network. By creating innovative scaling solutions, developers and researchers are actively working towards achieving higher TPS and making cryptocurrencies more suitable for widespread adoption and real-world applications. As the technology continues to evolve, we can look forward to witnessing further advancements in the field of blockchain scalability.
Key note for cryptocurrency investors:
There are many networks out there that promise extremely high TPS numbers, which on the surface can drive a lot of hype for their projects. Just because a project promises these numbers, it does not mean that it is capable of handling them in a real-world scenario. Visa and Mastercard are used and known globally as payment processors, and even those only use around 2–6 thousand transactions per second, despite claims they can handle many more than this figure.
Networks such as Solana, for example, made huge claims of achieving speeds of 100k TPS when, in reality, the network gets super congested once it crosses the 10k mark, and this can cause network disruptions, as we have seen in the past 18 months. In a testing environment, it is highly likely that Solana achieved those numbers, but the fact is that nobody can accurately predict these things because, in the real world, there’s no predicting the number of transactions the network will need to serve or the huge array of different types of transactions it will have to validate at any one time. There are many factors that can affect these numbers, and if there are thousands of people making hundreds of different types of transactions at any one time, this is a very different scenario than a testing environment where the TPS is based on how many people can send a coin to another wallet in a single second.
My advice is to ensure that you understand this fact, and never be afraid to ask for more information on TPS if any cryptocurrency has huge claims like this. The fact is, even the most popular chains in the world have never seen anywhere near 100k TPS, and it’s very possible that they never will (as seen in the numbers that VISA and MasterCard see). Even 2–5k TPS is more than capable of mass adoption, as it remains a realistic number.
Author: Jared Robinson

A Beginner’s Guide to Transactions Per Second (TPS) in Crypto

Centralised vs Decentralised Finance. An easy to understand guide.<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/950/1*gdiNj1XdC-0qqgu9OSD3iQ.png" /><figcaption>The banking system is a form of centralised finance.</figcaption></figure>In this article we’re going to explore both centralised and decentralised finance, comparing the two so that you can understand what they are, what they both do, and how they both work.PART 1: Centralised FinanceLet&#39;s start with what we&#39;re most familiar with: centralised finance. Have you ever saved your money in a savings account at a local bank? Well, that&#39;s a part of centralised finance!Here&#39;s how it works. Banks, credit unions, and companies like MasterCard or Visa are like big, financial guardians. They guard your money, help you borrow if you need to, and make sure everything runs smoothly when you want to buy something. They&#39;re in the centre, running the show. That&#39;s why it&#39;s called &quot;centralised&quot; finance.So, what&#39;s good about centralised finance?Safety: When your money is with the bank, it&#39;s usually pretty safe. Banks are like giant, guarded vaults. They follow strict rules and are watched over by the government.Ease of Use: Have you ever swiped a card at a store or used an app to pay for something? It&#39;s easy because banks and companies have built these systems for us.But there&#39;s a flip side too.Trust: We have to trust these big organisations with our money. Sometimes, things can go wrong. Remember, even guardians can have bad days and in 2023 alone we have seen many banks on the verge of collapse, and some even have shut their doors after generations of providing services to the public.You see, banks use a system called fractional reserve banking. Have you ever wondered what happens when you put your money in the bank? It doesn&#39;t just sit there. Imagine if you deposit 10 dollars, the bank keeps 3 and lends the other 7 to other customers. The ratio can be as low as 1 and 9 though in this example!When you deposit money, the bank keeps a small fraction safe, just in case many people want to withdraw their money at the same time. The rest of the money is used by the bank to make loans to other people or businesses who need it, who then pay it back with interest. This is how banks make money, without having to charge all of their customers for safeguarding their funds.But it also means we need to trust the bank to manage the money wisely. If everyone tried to take their money out at once, the bank might run into trouble, because some of that money is tied up in loans. This is the same reason that people are given a credit score, to mitigate risks to the banks, and protect other users&#39; funds. If nobody paid their loans back, then there would be a huge problem for the customers trusting the banks. Luckily, there are rules and safeguards in place to prevent such situations.In the crypto space, centralised finance means the use of a traditional cryptocurrency exchange, where there’s a centralised entity managing customer assets. Centralised exchanges are a great way to purchase different crypto assets, however they come with a lot of risk because the exchange itself manages the private keys of all the customer wallets that hold their crypto assets. There’s a famous saying in the crypto space: ‘Not your keys, not your crypto’ which relates to the private keys, or wallet keys (as described in our what is cryptocurrency article). If the centralised exchange mishandles customer funds and goes bankrupt, that means that customers can lose their assets, and we’ve seen this multiple times over the past decade, especially since the crypto space is heavily unregulated.Centralised exchanges and centralised finance in cryptocurrency is a great way for new investors to trade crypto because they provide a very simple user interface, or platform, that makes trading easy even for newcomers. They even allow you to move different crypto tokens across multiple different blockchains, but we’ll talk about that in another article. For some, centralised exchanges go against the very vision of Satoshi Nakamoto, which is the alias for the creator of Bitcoin, who has kept his identity a secret even to this day. He dreamt of creating a decentralised currency that allows users to ‘be their own bank’ and you can read all about his vision in the original Satoshi Nakamoto whitepaper.Part 2: Decentralised finance<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/950/1*9q6WNAsrLkgDbxYjTBP6rg.png" /><figcaption>Decentralised finance is like a web of users and devices instead of one central authority.</figcaption></figure>Now, imagine a world where there are no banks or credit card companies in the middle. Instead, we have a system where people can directly manage, lend, borrow, and pay each other, all guided by computer programs and a bunch of set rules and algorithms (like the consensus mechanisms we spoke about in the cryptocurrency article). That&#39;s decentralised finance, also known as &quot;DeFi.&quot;What&#39;s good about decentralised finance?Power to the People: In DeFi, you&#39;re in control. You don&#39;t need to trust a big company with your money. You have full control over the management of your private keys (which are the encrypted keys that only you know, that allow you to access your wallet which stores your cryptocurrency).Openness: DeFi is like a giant, global fair. Anyone, anywhere, can join and participate. All you need is a device that can connect to the internet, and the knowledge to be able to do so.But remember, there are two sides to every coin.Risk: Because there&#39;s no financial guardian protecting your money, there&#39;s more risk. If something goes wrong, it can be tougher to fix. Millions upon millions of dollars are stolen every year in decentralised finance, because scammers are always creating new ways to part people with their money. As previously mentioned, there’s very little regulation in the cryptocurrency industry and that creates a breeding ground for bad actors.Complexity: DeFi can feel like a strange, new world. It might be a bit tricky to understand at first and it’s very easy to make a mistake when transferring money from one wallet to another. Decentralised finance means that you’re in control of everything and if something goes wrong, it’s very difficult to fix a problem.Privacy: So many people agree that the privacy element of DeFi is what makes it so great. The problem is, this often means there’s no way for anybody to know who owns or has access to any single wallet or cryptocurrency at any time. If a user does make a mistake, or is scammed, it’s not easy to track lost crypto assets until the point where crypto is deposited onto a centralised exchange where the scammer has registered formal ID documents onto their account.DeFi is a very unique space, it uses a new type of internet called &quot;web3&quot;. If our usual internet is about sharing information, &quot;web3&quot; goes a step further. It lets us swap things of value and allows people to interact directly, without needing a go-between or middleman. Users don’t even need to create an account with Web3 and they can remain completely anonymous by connecting to their web by simply connecting their cryptocurrency wallet to the site or application they are using.DeFi apps (DApps) are the main tools in this new space. They offer services similar to banks, such as loaning money, borrowing, and earning interest. The great part is that anyone with an internet connection can use them, not just a select few. Games can also become DApps, where users play games directly connected to the blockchain and cryptocurrency can be used as a means of exchange inside of their app. The Web3 space is a testament to the continued progression of the crypto and blockchain space and this emerging technology has seen a lot of growth in recent years.As opposed to centralised exchanges, an important part of DeFi is what we call &quot;decentralised exchanges&quot;, or DEX’s for short. These are places where you can trade one type of digital money (cryptocurrency) for another, directly with other users, without needing a middleman like a traditional bank or exchange. They use a system made up of liquidity pools, also known as AMM (Automated Market Making) which basically means that users can swap their tokens for another token without any middleman, using web3. This allows for instant trading, 24/7. We will explore liquidity pools and market making in an upcoming article, but for now I hope you can see that this eliminates the risk of trusting a central authority to manage your private keys.Of course, this then creates its own risk because bad actors can easily create fake applications or DApps or DEX’s that are designed to steal your cryptocurrency when you connect your wallet to them. Malicious functionality can be coded into crypto tokens or DApps that allow the owner of them full access to your funds, so it’s very important that DeFi users understand the risks associated with DeFi. The key here is to try to use trusted or audited DApp’s that will help minimise these risks as the source code will be checked and publicly verified to be safe. Again, this is the nature of DeFi and so it is highly recommended that new users spend their time researching and understanding the ins and outs of DeFi before participating.So, in a nutshell, centralised finance is like having financial superheroes guard and manage your money. It&#39;s usually safe and easy but requires trust and often includes fees. On the other hand, decentralised finance gives you control and openness, but it also comes with more risks and complexity.There’s no good or bad when it comes to centralised or decentralised in the cryptocurrency or broader financial industries, however each side of the coin has its own pros and cons. Cryptocurrency is an unregulated market and so it is highly recommended that you fully understand the consequences of any actions you may take, before taking them. We know this sounds complicated, but with the right knowledge and support, you will become more and more comfortable with these two sides of finance.<img src="https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed&referrerSource=full_rss&postId=7ca5b06b186c" width="1" height="1" alt="">

Centralised vs Decentralised Finance. An easy to understand guide.
The banking system is a form of centralised finance.
In this article we’re going to explore both centralised and decentralised finance, comparing the two so that you can understand what they are, what they both do, and how they both work.
PART 1: Centralised Finance
Let's start with what we're most familiar with: centralised finance. Have you ever saved your money in a savings account at a local bank? Well, that's a part of centralised finance!
Here's how it works. Banks, credit unions, and companies like MasterCard or Visa are like big, financial guardians. They guard your money, help you borrow if you need to, and make sure everything runs smoothly when you want to buy something. They're in the centre, running the show. That's why it's called "centralised" finance.
So, what's good about centralised finance?
Safety: When your money is with the bank, it's usually pretty safe. Banks are like giant, guarded vaults. They follow strict rules and are watched over by the government.
Ease of Use: Have you ever swiped a card at a store or used an app to pay for something? It's easy because banks and companies have built these systems for us.
But there's a flip side too.
Trust: We have to trust these big organisations with our money. Sometimes, things can go wrong. Remember, even guardians can have bad days and in 2023 alone we have seen many banks on the verge of collapse, and some even have shut their doors after generations of providing services to the public.
You see, banks use a system called fractional reserve banking. Have you ever wondered what happens when you put your money in the bank? It doesn't just sit there. Imagine if you deposit 10 dollars, the bank keeps 3 and lends the other 7 to other customers. The ratio can be as low as 1 and 9 though in this example!
When you deposit money, the bank keeps a small fraction safe, just in case many people want to withdraw their money at the same time. The rest of the money is used by the bank to make loans to other people or businesses who need it, who then pay it back with interest. This is how banks make money, without having to charge all of their customers for safeguarding their funds.
But it also means we need to trust the bank to manage the money wisely. If everyone tried to take their money out at once, the bank might run into trouble, because some of that money is tied up in loans. This is the same reason that people are given a credit score, to mitigate risks to the banks, and protect other users' funds. If nobody paid their loans back, then there would be a huge problem for the customers trusting the banks. Luckily, there are rules and safeguards in place to prevent such situations.
In the crypto space, centralised finance means the use of a traditional cryptocurrency exchange, where there’s a centralised entity managing customer assets. Centralised exchanges are a great way to purchase different crypto assets, however they come with a lot of risk because the exchange itself manages the private keys of all the customer wallets that hold their crypto assets. There’s a famous saying in the crypto space: ‘Not your keys, not your crypto’ which relates to the private keys, or wallet keys (as described in our what is cryptocurrency article). If the centralised exchange mishandles customer funds and goes bankrupt, that means that customers can lose their assets, and we’ve seen this multiple times over the past decade, especially since the crypto space is heavily unregulated.
Centralised exchanges and centralised finance in cryptocurrency is a great way for new investors to trade crypto because they provide a very simple user interface, or platform, that makes trading easy even for newcomers. They even allow you to move different crypto tokens across multiple different blockchains, but we’ll talk about that in another article. For some, centralised exchanges go against the very vision of Satoshi Nakamoto, which is the alias for the creator of Bitcoin, who has kept his identity a secret even to this day. He dreamt of creating a decentralised currency that allows users to ‘be their own bank’ and you can read all about his vision in the original Satoshi Nakamoto whitepaper.
Part 2: Decentralised finance
Decentralised finance is like a web of users and devices instead of one central authority.
Now, imagine a world where there are no banks or credit card companies in the middle. Instead, we have a system where people can directly manage, lend, borrow, and pay each other, all guided by computer programs and a bunch of set rules and algorithms (like the consensus mechanisms we spoke about in the cryptocurrency article). That's decentralised finance, also known as "DeFi."
What's good about decentralised finance?
Power to the People: In DeFi, you're in control. You don't need to trust a big company with your money. You have full control over the management of your private keys (which are the encrypted keys that only you know, that allow you to access your wallet which stores your cryptocurrency).
Openness: DeFi is like a giant, global fair. Anyone, anywhere, can join and participate. All you need is a device that can connect to the internet, and the knowledge to be able to do so.
But remember, there are two sides to every coin.
Risk: Because there's no financial guardian protecting your money, there's more risk. If something goes wrong, it can be tougher to fix. Millions upon millions of dollars are stolen every year in decentralised finance, because scammers are always creating new ways to part people with their money. As previously mentioned, there’s very little regulation in the cryptocurrency industry and that creates a breeding ground for bad actors.
Complexity: DeFi can feel like a strange, new world. It might be a bit tricky to understand at first and it’s very easy to make a mistake when transferring money from one wallet to another. Decentralised finance means that you’re in control of everything and if something goes wrong, it’s very difficult to fix a problem.
Privacy: So many people agree that the privacy element of DeFi is what makes it so great. The problem is, this often means there’s no way for anybody to know who owns or has access to any single wallet or cryptocurrency at any time. If a user does make a mistake, or is scammed, it’s not easy to track lost crypto assets until the point where crypto is deposited onto a centralised exchange where the scammer has registered formal ID documents onto their account.
DeFi is a very unique space, it uses a new type of internet called "web3". If our usual internet is about sharing information, "web3" goes a step further. It lets us swap things of value and allows people to interact directly, without needing a go-between or middleman. Users don’t even need to create an account with Web3 and they can remain completely anonymous by connecting to their web by simply connecting their cryptocurrency wallet to the site or application they are using.
DeFi apps (DApps) are the main tools in this new space. They offer services similar to banks, such as loaning money, borrowing, and earning interest. The great part is that anyone with an internet connection can use them, not just a select few. Games can also become DApps, where users play games directly connected to the blockchain and cryptocurrency can be used as a means of exchange inside of their app. The Web3 space is a testament to the continued progression of the crypto and blockchain space and this emerging technology has seen a lot of growth in recent years.
As opposed to centralised exchanges, an important part of DeFi is what we call "decentralised exchanges", or DEX’s for short. These are places where you can trade one type of digital money (cryptocurrency) for another, directly with other users, without needing a middleman like a traditional bank or exchange. They use a system made up of liquidity pools, also known as AMM (Automated Market Making) which basically means that users can swap their tokens for another token without any middleman, using web3. This allows for instant trading, 24/7. We will explore liquidity pools and market making in an upcoming article, but for now I hope you can see that this eliminates the risk of trusting a central authority to manage your private keys.
Of course, this then creates its own risk because bad actors can easily create fake applications or DApps or DEX’s that are designed to steal your cryptocurrency when you connect your wallet to them. Malicious functionality can be coded into crypto tokens or DApps that allow the owner of them full access to your funds, so it’s very important that DeFi users understand the risks associated with DeFi. The key here is to try to use trusted or audited DApp’s that will help minimise these risks as the source code will be checked and publicly verified to be safe. Again, this is the nature of DeFi and so it is highly recommended that new users spend their time researching and understanding the ins and outs of DeFi before participating.
So, in a nutshell, centralised finance is like having financial superheroes guard and manage your money. It's usually safe and easy but requires trust and often includes fees. On the other hand, decentralised finance gives you control and openness, but it also comes with more risks and complexity.
There’s no good or bad when it comes to centralised or decentralised in the cryptocurrency or broader financial industries, however each side of the coin has its own pros and cons. Cryptocurrency is an unregulated market and so it is highly recommended that you fully understand the consequences of any actions you may take, before taking them. We know this sounds complicated, but with the right knowledge and support, you will become more and more comfortable with these two sides of finance.

Centralised vs Decentralised Finance. An easy to understand guide.

<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*0KUM9KTPUHoQ8sOI91Zkgw.jpeg" /><figcaption>Reflection and growth, conceptualised in this art.</figcaption></figure>Hey everyone, I hope this message finds you well.As the Chief Executive Officer of CICLabs LTD, I am writing to you today to share some exciting changes in how we communicate and engage with you, our faithful investors, who have been patient and supportive of everything we have done over the past 18 months.As our company has grown, we have been forced through a baptism of fire that we never could have anticipated. You see, we have always had a dream and vision, but as much as it pains me to say it, we have not always focused our energies in the right areas to achieve the results that we all so badly desire. In line with our ongoing commitment to transparency, efficiency, and continuous progress, I wanted to address this and so we have decided as a company that we are going to make some changes. Thus, we have made the strategic decision to enhance our communication structure. Instead of the regular back-and-forths on Telegram, we’re pivoting to a more comprehensive and structured approach: a biweekly update that encapsulates all the relevant information, updates, and progress at CICLabs.There are a multitude of reasons why we feel these changes are the best for everybody, and I will try to explain them the best way I can. Firstly, they are designed to keep you informed about our operations and growth strategies, while simultaneously enabling me to concentrate on the tasks that propel us forward. For too long, I have found myself guilty of killing sometimes hours a day engaging with different investors and messages I receive daily. I love the community and all the support I have received, but this reduces productivity and slows down progress. As we look to the future, my focus will be dedicated more towards building a sustainable business model, enabling consistent progress, and fostering strategic growth.Secondly, I feel that in spending countless time chatting with investors, I am taking away the exclusivity of having access to the CEO of a company that you choose to support. I realised that my words have far less impact and the events we organise (such as AMA’s) also have less engagement, because people can ask their burning questions at literally any time. This change is going to include at least one AMA monthly where I will commit 1–2 hours of my time having more valuable conversations that are more meaningful for everybody involved.This shift doesn’t mean we value our communication with you any less — in fact, quite the opposite. We believe this approach will provide more clarity, allowing us to present you with a thoughtful analysis of our achievements, challenges, and forward-looking strategies every fortnight. We will be sharing these in our newly created ‘topic’ on Telegram, and in our own subchannel on our Discord too. The aim is to give a description of what we have spoken about, using keywords, along with the link to these articles each week. In this way, people can search for relevant keywords inside our telegram and immediately find the updates they are looking for. It also allows people to access the exact information they need, exactly when they want it, rather than me or this team spending time repeating the same information over and over again.In our inaugural update, the theme is ‘Reflection and Growth.’ As we forge this exciting path, it’s crucial for us to look back at our journey, the lessons learned, and how we’re applying these lessons to foster future growth. We have always tried to ensure we always do better today, than we did yesterday and in doing so, we will continually improve. Reflection is not just about acknowledging our past but also about utilizing these insights to spur on-going progress.That being said, we have also been focusing a lot on improving our infrastructure and we have two new team members working on the front end of our business, plus we are currently agreeing terms with at least two more individuals who we hope can become an integral part of our commitment to improve our operations.CICLabs is currently in a consultation period for our centralised exchange build. We had all the ideas previously and knew what we wanted, however there were certain elements that we felt we were going to struggle with in our current state. Thankfully, we have made professional progress in this regard and feel we have found the perfect solution for all of our doubts or concerns. Our CEX is not going to just be another exchange for people to use, we refuse the possibility of becoming ‘just another option’ so we are committed to creating a solution that everybody didn’t even know they needed. We obviously cannot share more details right now due to the sensitive nature of this crucial information, however what I can tell you is that CICX will be FULLY regulatory compliant GLOBALLY. This means users all over the world will be able to legally buy and trade cryptocurrency for FIAT on our platform, with minimal resistance. This also means we will have to deploy stringent ‘AML’ (Anti Money Laundering) and ‘KYC’ (Know Your Customer) systems, which I’m sure you can all understand.The thing is, in order to create an exchange that can last, and change the way exchanges are viewed, we need to ensure we do things properly. That means legally we have an obligation to follow all policies and implement proper bank grade security and custodial services, to protect all of your assets from fraud or mismanagement of funds. We’re going to do exactly that and in a way that has never been seen before. We can’t tell you any details, but we can definitely tell you that there has never been an exchange like this one, and if we can meet our deadlines this will be the first and only one of its kind.Exciting right? You have no idea, but as soon as we are able to share information, I will be happy to do so. CICLabs are also working on a charting tool right now, exploring different solutions and experimenting with the functionality of them. We have no official timeline for this, however again we will keep you updated and do this as quickly as possible without sacrificing quality.Finally, we are committed to improving our social media game. We know this has been lacking and we have done a lot of reflecting and sharing harsh truths amongst one another in our team (I love how honest we are with each other). We have now created a content strategy and you will see that we are already taking steps to implementing that. This is an ongoing commitment from our team and will continue indefinitely from here onwards, so rest assured you will finally start to see more consistent actions taken.Reflection has been crucial for us. We are only human and despite our best intentions, sometimes things get overlooked — we can’t change anything that’s happened in the past but we are most definitely going to shape the future with a new level of professionalism. CICLabs is here to stay and growth is now going to be at the forefront of our decision making, to ensure that we achieve everything we set out to do.Stay tuned for our first biweekly update, and thank you for your continued trust and support. Together, we will continue to break new grounds in the blockchain industry and beyond. For the resources we have worked with, we have achieved a lot in a short time frame, but know this; we’re just getting started!Best,Jared.<img src="https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed&referrerSource=full_rss&postId=7ce69a2687d6" width="1" height="1" alt="">

Reflection and growth, conceptualised in this art.
Hey everyone, I hope this message finds you well.
As the Chief Executive Officer of CICLabs LTD, I am writing to you today to share some exciting changes in how we communicate and engage with you, our faithful investors, who have been patient and supportive of everything we have done over the past 18 months.
As our company has grown, we have been forced through a baptism of fire that we never could have anticipated. You see, we have always had a dream and vision, but as much as it pains me to say it, we have not always focused our energies in the right areas to achieve the results that we all so badly desire. In line with our ongoing commitment to transparency, efficiency, and continuous progress, I wanted to address this and so we have decided as a company that we are going to make some changes. Thus, we have made the strategic decision to enhance our communication structure. Instead of the regular back-and-forths on Telegram, we’re pivoting to a more comprehensive and structured approach: a biweekly update that encapsulates all the relevant information, updates, and progress at CICLabs.
There are a multitude of reasons why we feel these changes are the best for everybody, and I will try to explain them the best way I can. Firstly, they are designed to keep you informed about our operations and growth strategies, while simultaneously enabling me to concentrate on the tasks that propel us forward. For too long, I have found myself guilty of killing sometimes hours a day engaging with different investors and messages I receive daily. I love the community and all the support I have received, but this reduces productivity and slows down progress. As we look to the future, my focus will be dedicated more towards building a sustainable business model, enabling consistent progress, and fostering strategic growth.
Secondly, I feel that in spending countless time chatting with investors, I am taking away the exclusivity of having access to the CEO of a company that you choose to support. I realised that my words have far less impact and the events we organise (such as AMA’s) also have less engagement, because people can ask their burning questions at literally any time. This change is going to include at least one AMA monthly where I will commit 1–2 hours of my time having more valuable conversations that are more meaningful for everybody involved.
This shift doesn’t mean we value our communication with you any less — in fact, quite the opposite. We believe this approach will provide more clarity, allowing us to present you with a thoughtful analysis of our achievements, challenges, and forward-looking strategies every fortnight. We will be sharing these in our newly created ‘topic’ on Telegram, and in our own subchannel on our Discord too. The aim is to give a description of what we have spoken about, using keywords, along with the link to these articles each week. In this way, people can search for relevant keywords inside our telegram and immediately find the updates they are looking for. It also allows people to access the exact information they need, exactly when they want it, rather than me or this team spending time repeating the same information over and over again.
In our inaugural update, the theme is ‘Reflection and Growth.’ As we forge this exciting path, it’s crucial for us to look back at our journey, the lessons learned, and how we’re applying these lessons to foster future growth. We have always tried to ensure we always do better today, than we did yesterday and in doing so, we will continually improve. Reflection is not just about acknowledging our past but also about utilizing these insights to spur on-going progress.
That being said, we have also been focusing a lot on improving our infrastructure and we have two new team members working on the front end of our business, plus we are currently agreeing terms with at least two more individuals who we hope can become an integral part of our commitment to improve our operations.
CICLabs is currently in a consultation period for our centralised exchange build. We had all the ideas previously and knew what we wanted, however there were certain elements that we felt we were going to struggle with in our current state. Thankfully, we have made professional progress in this regard and feel we have found the perfect solution for all of our doubts or concerns. Our CEX is not going to just be another exchange for people to use, we refuse the possibility of becoming ‘just another option’ so we are committed to creating a solution that everybody didn’t even know they needed. We obviously cannot share more details right now due to the sensitive nature of this crucial information, however what I can tell you is that CICX will be FULLY regulatory compliant GLOBALLY. This means users all over the world will be able to legally buy and trade cryptocurrency for FIAT on our platform, with minimal resistance. This also means we will have to deploy stringent ‘AML’ (Anti Money Laundering) and ‘KYC’ (Know Your Customer) systems, which I’m sure you can all understand.
The thing is, in order to create an exchange that can last, and change the way exchanges are viewed, we need to ensure we do things properly. That means legally we have an obligation to follow all policies and implement proper bank grade security and custodial services, to protect all of your assets from fraud or mismanagement of funds. We’re going to do exactly that and in a way that has never been seen before. We can’t tell you any details, but we can definitely tell you that there has never been an exchange like this one, and if we can meet our deadlines this will be the first and only one of its kind.
Exciting right? You have no idea, but as soon as we are able to share information, I will be happy to do so. CICLabs are also working on a charting tool right now, exploring different solutions and experimenting with the functionality of them. We have no official timeline for this, however again we will keep you updated and do this as quickly as possible without sacrificing quality.
Finally, we are committed to improving our social media game. We know this has been lacking and we have done a lot of reflecting and sharing harsh truths amongst one another in our team (I love how honest we are with each other). We have now created a content strategy and you will see that we are already taking steps to implementing that. This is an ongoing commitment from our team and will continue indefinitely from here onwards, so rest assured you will finally start to see more consistent actions taken.
Reflection has been crucial for us. We are only human and despite our best intentions, sometimes things get overlooked — we can’t change anything that’s happened in the past but we are most definitely going to shape the future with a new level of professionalism. CICLabs is here to stay and growth is now going to be at the forefront of our decision making, to ensure that we achieve everything we set out to do.
Stay tuned for our first biweekly update, and thank you for your continued trust and support. Together, we will continue to break new grounds in the blockchain industry and beyond. For the resources we have worked with, we have achieved a lot in a short time frame, but know this; we’re just getting started!
Best,
Jared.

A Message from the CEO: Reflecting and growing.

By Jared Robinson, @ CICLabs LTD.<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*yZLVUhAF6ucCkX6XEHQXNg.jpeg" /><figcaption>concept physical cryptocurrency coins (XRP, Litecoin, Ethereum &amp; Bitcoin).</figcaption></figure>Cryptocurrency is digital or ‘online’ money. It’s like the coins or notes in your pocket, but you can’t physically touch them. Instead, it exists only on computers, servers, or the internet. There are many other examples like this in real life, such as ‘V-Bucks’ on Fortnite or ‘COD points’, which can be used as a currency to purchase in-game assets in your favorite video games. Cryptocurrency is very similar to this but features cryptography. This provides security and allows it to be used outside of the video game space.What is cryptography?<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*gtWWp8fkyKkO1I1YfAkowQ.png" /><figcaption>A concept image that shows data being found within encrypted code</figcaption></figure>Imagine you have a secret message that you want to send to your friend, but you don’t want anyone else to read it. You might come up with a secret code that only you and your friend understand. For example, instead of writing “Hello”, you might write “12345”, and your friend would know to replace “1” with “H”, “2” with “E”, “3” with “L”, and so on. This is a very simple form of what we call ‘cryptography’.In ‘cryptocurrency’, ‘crypto’ refers to the use of these secret codes to keep transactions secure. When you send or receive cryptocurrencies, everything is encoded into secret messages. Only the person with the right ‘key’ (like the key to a door, but in this case, it’s a string of letters and numbers) can unlock or decode these messages.So, the ‘crypto’ part in cryptocurrency just means everything is kept secret and safe using special codes that are calculated by complicated algorithms that are built into the blockchain.But what is a blockchain?<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*p6Rc-q6TG8pS2PI7Esh6hA.png" /><figcaption>A visual concept of a blockchain.</figcaption></figure>Think of a blockchain as a digital diary. But instead of writing about what you did today, this diary keeps track of all the transactions or trades made with a cryptocurrency.Each entry in this diary is like a box (which we call a ‘block’) that contains details about transactions. Once this box is filled with transaction details, it is sealed forever (nobody can change it), and then a new box is started.These boxes are all connected in a line or a chain (that’s why it’s called a ‘blockchain’), just like links in a necklace. Each new block is added to the end of this chain.Now, each cryptocurrency has its own blockchain or digital diary. Bitcoin has its own blockchain, Ethereum has its own blockchain, and so on. Each of these blockchains keeps a record of every transaction that happens within its network. This is like having a separate diary for each subject at school. Each diary records what happens on that particular subject and nothing else.How is each blockchain different, and why would we need more than one?Imagine you and your friends are playing a game where you have to agree on the rules. One way to do this could be for everyone to shout their ideas, and the rule that most people shout becomes the official rule. Another way could be that one friend, who is the captain, decides the rules for everyone. These are similar to consensus algorithms; they are like the rules of the game for adding new blocks to the blockchain.Now, each blockchain can have different consensus algorithms. It’s like playing the same game but with different rules. Here are two types of consensus algorithms (or rules):1. Proof of Work (PoW): This is like a competition. Imagine you and your friends competing to solve a puzzle. The first person who solves the puzzle gets to add the next block to the blockchain. There are several cryptocurrencies that utilize this consensus algorithm, one specific example and most notable is Bitcoin. This method requires a lot of computing power, just like a really cool PC game that needs high-end computer components for maximum gameplay settings. Those stunning visuals cause a hefty strain and require a lot of power. Just like these games, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that use Proof of Work require significant amounts of energy-intensive resources.2. Proof of Stake (PoS): This is more like a lottery. But instead of buying tickets with money, you buy them with the amount of cryptocurrency you’re willing to ‘lock up’ or ‘stake’. The more you stake, the higher your chances of being chosen to add the next block. Ethereum has just recently switched over to this rules system, after previously using Proof of Work. This uses less computer power, like a simple game that doesn’t make your computer work as hard.3. Proof of Refraction (PoR): This is a kind of hyrid set of rules, which adds an extra layer of security to transactions and speeds up the process of ‘validating’ them. Proof of Refraction (used in CIC Chain) has elements of Proof of Stake and Proof of Authority, however it carefully splits data into many smaller pieces at the same time before storing them in the blockchain ‘diary’ which allows it to save energy and time, but also handle more transactions at once.So, each blockchain can be built differently with different consensus algorithms, like playing the same game with different rules.Now, why do blockchains need consensus algorithms? Well, they make sure everyone agrees on what the ‘truth’ is on the blockchain. It’s like making sure everyone playing the game agrees on the score. Without these rules, people could cheat or make mistakes. So, consensus algorithms keep everything fair and secure on the blockchain so that digital records always remain accurate.These are very simplified explanations, and there’s really no right or wrong set of rules for any blockchain. There are potentially hundreds of different sets of rules that can be hard coded into a blockchain, and each one has its own strengths and weaknesses, which means that each one is therefore better or worse than others at different tasks. This is the beauty of blockchain technology because it means that new developers or companies can create their own sets of rules that suit their needs. We’ll dive further into this in our next article.How does Cryptocurrency work?To use cryptocurrency, you need a digital wallet, which is kind of like the wallet you carry in your pocket but is an app on your smartphone, tablet, or computer. This wallet lets you send, receive, and store your cryptocurrency.If you want to send some cryptocurrency to a friend, you use your digital wallet. It’s a bit like sending a message or email from your phone, but instead of words, you’re sending digital money. Each wallet has its own cryptographic key, which is managed by the owner of the wallet, which is what makes cryptocurrency decentralized. It’s kind of like owning your own bank account, where you don’t need anybody else’s permission to make transactions or any third party to complete transactions. This freedom has been a huge driving force in the adoption of cryptocurrency; however, it also adds a layer of extreme risk because you, the owner, have full responsibility for protecting your currency.What can you do with Cryptocurrency?a) Buy Stuff: You can use cryptocurrency to buy things. Some online shops, and even some real-life shops, accept it just like regular money.b) Invest: Some people buy cryptocurrency hoping it will go up in value, like an investment. This is similar to buying a house and hoping the price will go up.c) Send Money: You can use cryptocurrency to send money to anyone in the world at any time without needing a bank. It’s like sending an email, but instead, you’re sending digital money.d) Create Things: Some people use cryptocurrencies to make new things on the internet, like digital art or online games. It’s a bit like having a car or motorcycle, and you need to add fuel in order to actually use the car. In this example, the cryptocurrency would be the fuel, or ‘gas, that is used to access the blockchain; we will explain this further in our upcoming blockchain article.Cryptocurrency is a type of digital currency that records each and every movement or transaction in an ever-expanding digital ledger (or diary), which we refer to as a blockchain. It has many uses and benefits, but also has many risks associated with it because its users are solely responsible for managing their own assets.<img src="https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed&referrerSource=full_rss&postId=e0160b5ea3ed" width="1" height="1" alt="">

By Jared Robinson, @ CICLabs LTD.
concept physical cryptocurrency coins (XRP, Litecoin, Ethereum & Bitcoin).
Cryptocurrency is digital or ‘online’ money. It’s like the coins or notes in your pocket, but you can’t physically touch them. Instead, it exists only on computers, servers, or the internet. There are many other examples like this in real life, such as ‘V-Bucks’ on Fortnite or ‘COD points’, which can be used as a currency to purchase in-game assets in your favorite video games. Cryptocurrency is very similar to this but features cryptography. This provides security and allows it to be used outside of the video game space.
What is cryptography?
A concept image that shows data being found within encrypted code
Imagine you have a secret message that you want to send to your friend, but you don’t want anyone else to read it. You might come up with a secret code that only you and your friend understand. For example, instead of writing “Hello”, you might write “12345”, and your friend would know to replace “1” with “H”, “2” with “E”, “3” with “L”, and so on. This is a very simple form of what we call ‘cryptography’.
In ‘cryptocurrency’, ‘crypto’ refers to the use of these secret codes to keep transactions secure. When you send or receive cryptocurrencies, everything is encoded into secret messages. Only the person with the right ‘key’ (like the key to a door, but in this case, it’s a string of letters and numbers) can unlock or decode these messages.
So, the ‘crypto’ part in cryptocurrency just means everything is kept secret and safe using special codes that are calculated by complicated algorithms that are built into the blockchain.
But what is a blockchain?
A visual concept of a blockchain.
Think of a blockchain as a digital diary. But instead of writing about what you did today, this diary keeps track of all the transactions or trades made with a cryptocurrency.
Each entry in this diary is like a box (which we call a ‘block’) that contains details about transactions. Once this box is filled with transaction details, it is sealed forever (nobody can change it), and then a new box is started.
These boxes are all connected in a line or a chain (that’s why it’s called a ‘blockchain’), just like links in a necklace. Each new block is added to the end of this chain.
Now, each cryptocurrency has its own blockchain or digital diary. Bitcoin has its own blockchain, Ethereum has its own blockchain, and so on. Each of these blockchains keeps a record of every transaction that happens within its network. This is like having a separate diary for each subject at school. Each diary records what happens on that particular subject and nothing else.
How is each blockchain different, and why would we need more than one?
Imagine you and your friends are playing a game where you have to agree on the rules. One way to do this could be for everyone to shout their ideas, and the rule that most people shout becomes the official rule. Another way could be that one friend, who is the captain, decides the rules for everyone. These are similar to consensus algorithms; they are like the rules of the game for adding new blocks to the blockchain.
Now, each blockchain can have different consensus algorithms. It’s like playing the same game but with different rules. Here are two types of consensus algorithms (or rules):
1. Proof of Work (PoW): This is like a competition. Imagine you and your friends competing to solve a puzzle. The first person who solves the puzzle gets to add the next block to the blockchain. There are several cryptocurrencies that utilize this consensus algorithm, one specific example and most notable is Bitcoin. This method requires a lot of computing power, just like a really cool PC game that needs high-end computer components for maximum gameplay settings. Those stunning visuals cause a hefty strain and require a lot of power. Just like these games, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that use Proof of Work require significant amounts of energy-intensive resources.
2. Proof of Stake (PoS): This is more like a lottery. But instead of buying tickets with money, you buy them with the amount of cryptocurrency you’re willing to ‘lock up’ or ‘stake’. The more you stake, the higher your chances of being chosen to add the next block. Ethereum has just recently switched over to this rules system, after previously using Proof of Work. This uses less computer power, like a simple game that doesn’t make your computer work as hard.
3. Proof of Refraction (PoR): This is a kind of hyrid set of rules, which adds an extra layer of security to transactions and speeds up the process of ‘validating’ them. Proof of Refraction (used in CIC Chain) has elements of Proof of Stake and Proof of Authority, however it carefully splits data into many smaller pieces at the same time before storing them in the blockchain ‘diary’ which allows it to save energy and time, but also handle more transactions at once.
So, each blockchain can be built differently with different consensus algorithms, like playing the same game with different rules.
Now, why do blockchains need consensus algorithms? Well, they make sure everyone agrees on what the ‘truth’ is on the blockchain. It’s like making sure everyone playing the game agrees on the score. Without these rules, people could cheat or make mistakes. So, consensus algorithms keep everything fair and secure on the blockchain so that digital records always remain accurate.
These are very simplified explanations, and there’s really no right or wrong set of rules for any blockchain. There are potentially hundreds of different sets of rules that can be hard coded into a blockchain, and each one has its own strengths and weaknesses, which means that each one is therefore better or worse than others at different tasks. This is the beauty of blockchain technology because it means that new developers or companies can create their own sets of rules that suit their needs. We’ll dive further into this in our next article.
How does Cryptocurrency work?
To use cryptocurrency, you need a digital wallet, which is kind of like the wallet you carry in your pocket but is an app on your smartphone, tablet, or computer. This wallet lets you send, receive, and store your cryptocurrency.
If you want to send some cryptocurrency to a friend, you use your digital wallet. It’s a bit like sending a message or email from your phone, but instead of words, you’re sending digital money. Each wallet has its own cryptographic key, which is managed by the owner of the wallet, which is what makes cryptocurrency decentralized. It’s kind of like owning your own bank account, where you don’t need anybody else’s permission to make transactions or any third party to complete transactions. This freedom has been a huge driving force in the adoption of cryptocurrency; however, it also adds a layer of extreme risk because you, the owner, have full responsibility for protecting your currency.
What can you do with Cryptocurrency?
a) Buy Stuff: You can use cryptocurrency to buy things. Some online shops, and even some real-life shops, accept it just like regular money.
b) Invest: Some people buy cryptocurrency hoping it will go up in value, like an investment. This is similar to buying a house and hoping the price will go up.
c) Send Money: You can use cryptocurrency to send money to anyone in the world at any time without needing a bank. It’s like sending an email, but instead, you’re sending digital money.
d) Create Things: Some people use cryptocurrencies to make new things on the internet, like digital art or online games. It’s a bit like having a car or motorcycle, and you need to add fuel in order to actually use the car. In this example, the cryptocurrency would be the fuel, or ‘gas, that is used to access the blockchain; we will explain this further in our upcoming blockchain article.
Cryptocurrency is a type of digital currency that records each and every movement or transaction in an ever-expanding digital ledger (or diary), which we refer to as a blockchain. It has many uses and benefits, but also has many risks associated with it because its users are solely responsible for managing their own assets.

What is Cryptocurrency? A beginners guide that anybody can understand.

Hi everyone! It’s Jared here, with some news and updates as promised.<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*FVVB8Rkr4Qzs7iri94aiSA.png" /></figure>Firstly, I want to re-cap on what we said we were doing in our last newsletter.<ul><li>We successfully launched our governance DAO ‘Aegis et Concordia’ on Monday, February 20th. You can find our DAO by clicking <a href="https://dao.cicscan.com">here</a>. We are working on providing clear technical documents for everybody to use, however, the DAO is pretty self-explanatory as we have made it as simple as physically possible on the front end. There are still a couple of minor tweaks to be made as expected, being that this is the first version to be released, but it functions exactly as it should and looks great. We are very proud to have been able to deliver the DAO to the public, which is the first and only true trustless governance DAO in existence.</li><li>We promised to organise an AMA — we have this scheduled for Tuesday 7th March. This will be co-hosted by the Bitcointry exchange team and we welcome any questions that you may have about either project.</li><li>We promised we would get to work on Elitheum and this is now happening. We explored different options for the future of Elitheum and we came to the conclusion that our community would rather we implement any fixes now, with the view to explore another future upgrade later in our journey. I have been completing many smaller odd jobs in order to free up time to get this done and this is now a top priority, so we will deliver this ASAP as a matter of urgency.</li><li>We have completed our Bridge including the implementation of a couple of tweaks to make it function more smoothly. We aim to drop an update about the launch date this coming month — thank you to all involved in testing thus far.</li></ul>What else was done?We have implemented a new support ticket system, which will allow us to provide more personalized support to any users of our network. We have commenced UI updates for Wendex which give the DEX a complete facelift and honestly, it looks great. We have also released some new bots and functions to our Telegram community which make information more easily accessible and will also allow everyone to track announcements more clearly, in an automated fashion.For all of the above, thank you to all of the amazing CICLabs team members who continually work hard to support us in achieving our goals. We always said we were progressive by nature, and I feel that we are demonstrating measurable progress on all different fronts on a weekly basis.What’s next?+I will be completing the fix for Elitheum and airdropping tokens to all holders. This week there will be some brief downtime while the switch is made, which means that there will be a brief period where you cannot trade Elitheum. This is needed to get a complete list of all token holders so that the new tokens can be sent out without any problems. We are unable to do this while trading is active!+Along with the token fix, we will be updating the Elitheum website, and by the next newsletter, we hope to have both the Elitheum and WDT whitepapers done.+We are going to be posting regular educational content across all of our social channels, which are more generalized for the blockchain space. This will start this coming week and continue indefinitely before we build our L2E platform.+We are releasing our merchandise line, links will be shared in the coming days for this!There’s a lot of work to be done, and we know that this can be frustrating at times, but this team is committed to the long-term success of our company and chain. We are in the final stages before our fundraising journey begins, so have been focusing on creating the perfect investment opportunity that factors in inflation, equity, and a revenue share model. Ultimately, our main objective is to make any investments as sustainable as possible and we will not have our heads turned by any amount of money, no matter how big.A final thoughtWhile I&#39;m here, I just wanted to say once again a huge thank you to everybody involved in our journey, over the past 2 years. It has been somewhat of an emotional rollercoaster at times, but with perseverance and an undying desire to succeed, we are finally getting to a point where we can start to make some noise. The compound progress effect is in full swing, and we are now in the latter stages of ‘waiting around’ for CIC to finally start earning the publicity it so rightly deserves.We are currently researching and comparing several marketing agencies, with the intention of beginning marketing in the coming quarter, which can help us take CIC Chain to the next level of adoption. This team is committed to keeping the circulating supply as low as possible, and this will be demonstrated when we extend the vesting period of our team coins, upon release of our locker. Now, let’s start making some waves!<img src="https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed&referrerSource=full_rss&postId=c9b4d119f153" width="1" height="1" alt="">

Hi everyone!
It’s Jared here, with some news and updates as promised.

Firstly, I want to re-cap on what we said we were doing in our last newsletter.

We successfully launched our governance DAO ‘Aegis et Concordia’ on Monday, February 20th. You can find our DAO by clicking here. We are working on providing clear technical documents for everybody to use, however, the DAO is pretty self-explanatory as we have made it as simple as physically possible on the front end. There are still a couple of minor tweaks to be made as expected, being that this is the first version to be released, but it functions exactly as it should and looks great. We are very proud to have been able to deliver the DAO to the public, which is the first and only true trustless governance DAO in existence.
We promised to organise an AMA — we have this scheduled for Tuesday 7th March. This will be co-hosted by the Bitcointry exchange team and we welcome any questions that you may have about either project.
We promised we would get to work on Elitheum and this is now happening. We explored different options for the future of Elitheum and we came to the conclusion that our community would rather we implement any fixes now, with the view to explore another future upgrade later in our journey. I have been completing many smaller odd jobs in order to free up time to get this done and this is now a top priority, so we will deliver this ASAP as a matter of urgency.
We have completed our Bridge including the implementation of a couple of tweaks to make it function more smoothly. We aim to drop an update about the launch date this coming month — thank you to all involved in testing thus far.

What else was done?
We have implemented a new support ticket system, which will allow us to provide more personalized support to any users of our network. We have commenced UI updates for Wendex which give the DEX a complete facelift and honestly, it looks great. We have also released some new bots and functions to our Telegram community which make information more easily accessible and will also allow everyone to track announcements more clearly, in an automated fashion.
For all of the above, thank you to all of the amazing CICLabs team members who continually work hard to support us in achieving our goals. We always said we were progressive by nature, and I feel that we are demonstrating measurable progress on all different fronts on a weekly basis.
What’s next?
+I will be completing the fix for Elitheum and airdropping tokens to all holders. This week there will be some brief downtime while the switch is made, which means that there will be a brief period where you cannot trade Elitheum. This is needed to get a complete list of all token holders so that the new tokens can be sent out without any problems. We are unable to do this while trading is active!
+Along with the token fix, we will be updating the Elitheum website, and by the next newsletter, we hope to have both the Elitheum and WDT whitepapers done.
+We are going to be posting regular educational content across all of our social channels, which are more generalized for the blockchain space. This will start this coming week and continue indefinitely before we build our L2E platform.
+We are releasing our merchandise line, links will be shared in the coming days for this!
There’s a lot of work to be done, and we know that this can be frustrating at times, but this team is committed to the long-term success of our company and chain. We are in the final stages before our fundraising journey begins, so have been focusing on creating the perfect investment opportunity that factors in inflation, equity, and a revenue share model. Ultimately, our main objective is to make any investments as sustainable as possible and we will not have our heads turned by any amount of money, no matter how big.
A final thought
While I'm here, I just wanted to say once again a huge thank you to everybody involved in our journey, over the past 2 years. It has been somewhat of an emotional rollercoaster at times, but with perseverance and an undying desire to succeed, we are finally getting to a point where we can start to make some noise. The compound progress effect is in full swing, and we are now in the latter stages of ‘waiting around’ for CIC to finally start earning the publicity it so rightly deserves.
We are currently researching and comparing several marketing agencies, with the intention of beginning marketing in the coming quarter, which can help us take CIC Chain to the next level of adoption. This team is committed to keeping the circulating supply as low as possible, and this will be demonstrated when we extend the vesting period of our team coins, upon release of our locker. Now, let’s start making some waves!

CICLabs Newsletter 5th March 2023

Hi guys!Finally we are starting our medium newsletter, which is long overdue! Our intention here is to give a more detailed summary of what we are doing as a team and project, as well as a de-brief of what we have done over the last two weeks. We will be posting an update like this one every two weeks on Friday evening from here on out so we look forward to being able to demonstrate progress and we hope that this newsletter will bring accountability that will keep us moving forwards.<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*432IQI5tTsVGti2qDwRH-w.png" /></figure>I want to start by saying a huge thank you to the team who have been working hard over the past few weeks, but also who have been very resourceful and adaptable when needed. Our CMO James has began a new series that will continue on a weekly basis from now on, offering insights into CIC Chain an its technology but will also begin to showcase projects that launch on our chain in the future. We intend to share these videos across all of our socials in the future, including YouTube. I want to thank Admir and Mary for their hard work in upgrading and redesigning the visuals on the DAO’s UI. They have put a lot of hours and effort into it and Admir even taught himself how to use Figma, which is awesome considering the new design quality of our DAO (which we cannot wait to show you all). Last, but certainly not least I want to thank our developers. They have been working hard building and testing applications and bridges on ours and other EVM compatible chains to ensure that everything is fully functional. Our senior developer Shadi is actually living in Turkey and he and his family have been through a lot over the past week or so, after the devastating Earthquakes over there, so I want to thank you for your dedication, doing as much as you can in the circumstances, despite those circumstances! The rest of the development team have stepped up and its been great to see such a diverse team pulling together in times like these.CIC Chain is now integrated into thirdweb.com — Thirdweb is a development platform that provides a huge range of smart contracts and development tools that anybody can access for free. It’s a hub that takes a lot of the hard work out of the development process of new web3 applications and we hope that over time this will allow more users to come over and develop their applications on CIC Chain. This is a great step forwards for the project however is one of many similar integrations that we will be looking to complete in the near future, so please keep your eyes peeled for those! you can follow Thirdweb by clicking <a href="https://twitter.com/thirdweb">here</a> or visit their platform at <a href="https://thirdweb.com">thirdweb.co</a>m — I highly recommen following them, to see how many partnerships they have and what they are planning for the future. It could make a lot of great opportunities for CIC Chain developers.As well as the videos, the DAO UI upgrades and the thirdweb integration — CIC Labs have been discussing various blockchain EXPO events and we aim to try get one booked ASAP. We unfortunately missed out on the London event this month due to the spaces getting eaten up extremely fast and from this experience, we are going to move faster on the next one with more advanced planning. With proper planning we will be able to sponsor an event as well as attend and network with other companies — this is exciting for us an we really look forward to it.So what’s next?The CIC DAO, which we aptly named ‘Aegis et Concordia’ will be launching to the public on ‘X’From this moment on, CIC takes its first step towards true decentralisation. We appreciate there have been complications and delays however I must inform you that the amount of people and the amount of hours that have gone into this thing are phenomenal. We have spent more time building this thing than we did on CIC in itself! It’s been a huge job, managed by smart contracts and many different scripts and integrations into the blockchain. After every change, the blockchain must be tested and then tested again to ensure it functions correctly and this has been extremely thorough. Our team have put 100s upon 100s of hours into the DAO and we will use this as a platform to enable you all to truly become a part of the future of this company and blockchain. This DAO truly is the only one of its kind, opening the door for us to potentially gain a lot of exposure and really put CIC on the map.Whilst this may be the case, the DAO is just the start. During the next week we will hopefully have had a successful launch and de-brief. We will be commencing a competition which starts this Sunday (19th February) for Crazy NFT holders, where you all have one week to make the best original CIC meme/design. These designs will then be put to a vote and the winning design will be printed onto some CIC Merch, with copies of that going to the winner for free! If you haven’t got a Crazy NFT this is the perfect time to buy one and I would strongly recommend reaching out to Israr (Lol, sorry Israr) who bought up a lot of them before CIC launched. These competitions will be happening on a monthly basis from here on out!This week coming, we will be launching our exclusive merch line, with many products and we will also be publishing a complete whitepaper update which we hope will be much better than the last one, with a better structure. Whilst this is happening, the tech team will be conducting thorough tests of each function on our token locker and Bridge, with the aim of conducting a couple of days public final tests the week after, before we launch them! We will figure out a day too, where we can organise and hold an AMA and we will finally get to work on Elitheum relaunch too (then start periodic buybacks).In other news, the CIC Labs team have noticed there have been a lot of emotions running high across our social channels, so we are going to make a collective effort to improve our presence but in a more balanced way, a cross between where we are now and where we were before. Please be aware, that the reason for us taking a step back in the Telegram group is purely because it gives us much more time to actually work on the project, rather than just chatting. Whilst we do love to engage with you all, we realise that our priorities are to complete tasks and improve our infrastructure in order to streamline processes and make us a much more efficient company! These newsletters will be shared in our Telegram every two weeks, but will also be accompanied by any other announcements that we may have to make, so please ensure you’re paying attention to our social channels and if you’re ever in doubt — go to our website, where this medium account is linked (Meaning our articles will be published on the site).The future is now, and we are excited to take you all with us as we explore and push the limits of utility with Crazy Internet Coin and our blockchain.Thanks for reading, and thank you all for being a part of this journey — untill next time!Jared<img src="https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed&referrerSource=full_rss&postId=3933007d6aec" width="1" height="1" alt="">

Hi guys!
Finally we are starting our medium newsletter, which is long overdue! Our intention here is to give a more detailed summary of what we are doing as a team and project, as well as a de-brief of what we have done over the last two weeks. We will be posting an update like this one every two weeks on Friday evening from here on out so we look forward to being able to demonstrate progress and we hope that this newsletter will bring accountability that will keep us moving forwards.

I want to start by saying a huge thank you to the team who have been working hard over the past few weeks, but also who have been very resourceful and adaptable when needed. Our CMO James has began a new series that will continue on a weekly basis from now on, offering insights into CIC Chain an its technology but will also begin to showcase projects that launch on our chain in the future. We intend to share these videos across all of our socials in the future, including YouTube. I want to thank Admir and Mary for their hard work in upgrading and redesigning the visuals on the DAO’s UI. They have put a lot of hours and effort into it and Admir even taught himself how to use Figma, which is awesome considering the new design quality of our DAO (which we cannot wait to show you all). Last, but certainly not least I want to thank our developers. They have been working hard building and testing applications and bridges on ours and other EVM compatible chains to ensure that everything is fully functional. Our senior developer Shadi is actually living in Turkey and he and his family have been through a lot over the past week or so, after the devastating Earthquakes over there, so I want to thank you for your dedication, doing as much as you can in the circumstances, despite those circumstances! The rest of the development team have stepped up and its been great to see such a diverse team pulling together in times like these.
CIC Chain is now integrated into thirdweb.com — Thirdweb is a development platform that provides a huge range of smart contracts and development tools that anybody can access for free. It’s a hub that takes a lot of the hard work out of the development process of new web3 applications and we hope that over time this will allow more users to come over and develop their applications on CIC Chain. This is a great step forwards for the project however is one of many similar integrations that we will be looking to complete in the near future, so please keep your eyes peeled for those! you can follow Thirdweb by clicking here or visit their platform at thirdweb.com — I highly recommen following them, to see how many partnerships they have and what they are planning for the future. It could make a lot of great opportunities for CIC Chain developers.
As well as the videos, the DAO UI upgrades and the thirdweb integration — CIC Labs have been discussing various blockchain EXPO events and we aim to try get one booked ASAP. We unfortunately missed out on the London event this month due to the spaces getting eaten up extremely fast and from this experience, we are going to move faster on the next one with more advanced planning. With proper planning we will be able to sponsor an event as well as attend and network with other companies — this is exciting for us an we really look forward to it.
So what’s next?
The CIC DAO, which we aptly named ‘Aegis et Concordia’ will be launching to the public on ‘X’
From this moment on, CIC takes its first step towards true decentralisation. We appreciate there have been complications and delays however I must inform you that the amount of people and the amount of hours that have gone into this thing are phenomenal. We have spent more time building this thing than we did on CIC in itself! It’s been a huge job, managed by smart contracts and many different scripts and integrations into the blockchain. After every change, the blockchain must be tested and then tested again to ensure it functions correctly and this has been extremely thorough. Our team have put 100s upon 100s of hours into the DAO and we will use this as a platform to enable you all to truly become a part of the future of this company and blockchain. This DAO truly is the only one of its kind, opening the door for us to potentially gain a lot of exposure and really put CIC on the map.
Whilst this may be the case, the DAO is just the start. During the next week we will hopefully have had a successful launch and de-brief. We will be commencing a competition which starts this Sunday (19th February) for Crazy NFT holders, where you all have one week to make the best original CIC meme/design. These designs will then be put to a vote and the winning design will be printed onto some CIC Merch, with copies of that going to the winner for free! If you haven’t got a Crazy NFT this is the perfect time to buy one and I would strongly recommend reaching out to Israr (Lol, sorry Israr) who bought up a lot of them before CIC launched. These competitions will be happening on a monthly basis from here on out!
This week coming, we will be launching our exclusive merch line, with many products and we will also be publishing a complete whitepaper update which we hope will be much better than the last one, with a better structure. Whilst this is happening, the tech team will be conducting thorough tests of each function on our token locker and Bridge, with the aim of conducting a couple of days public final tests the week after, before we launch them! We will figure out a day too, where we can organise and hold an AMA and we will finally get to work on Elitheum relaunch too (then start periodic buybacks).
In other news, the CIC Labs team have noticed there have been a lot of emotions running high across our social channels, so we are going to make a collective effort to improve our presence but in a more balanced way, a cross between where we are now and where we were before. Please be aware, that the reason for us taking a step back in the Telegram group is purely because it gives us much more time to actually work on the project, rather than just chatting. Whilst we do love to engage with you all, we realise that our priorities are to complete tasks and improve our infrastructure in order to streamline processes and make us a much more efficient company! These newsletters will be shared in our Telegram every two weeks, but will also be accompanied by any other announcements that we may have to make, so please ensure you’re paying attention to our social channels and if you’re ever in doubt — go to our website, where this medium account is linked (Meaning our articles will be published on the site).
The future is now, and we are excited to take you all with us as we explore and push the limits of utility with Crazy Internet Coin and our blockchain.
Thanks for reading, and thank you all for being a part of this journey — untill next time!
Jared

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