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Civic
Civic (CVC) is a digital identity technology company founded in 2015 by Vinny Lingham and Jonathan Smith.[1] It developed an Ethereum-based identity platform to help reduce online identity fraud; its products include Civic Auth and Bryn, a go-to-market AI agent.
Overview
Civic is a company founded in 2015 whose current public product emphasis includes Bryn, a signal-based go-to-market AI agent generally available since July 2, 2026, and Civic Auth, a developer authentication product whose documentation describes it as beta.[14][15] Civic announced Civic Nexus as an AI-workflow product on September 23, 2025.[20]
Civic Auth supports sign-in by email, Google, or wallet, with optional embedded Web3 wallets and integrations supporting Solana, Base, BNB Chain, Polygon, Arbitrum, Ethereum, and other EVM-compatible networks.[15]
Civic’s earlier identity-management work aimed to give individuals and businesses more control over personal identity information. Historical descriptions of that work emphasized selective sharing of data with service providers after user authorization. They described sensitive data as stored on users’ mobile devices and biometric authorization through the Civic app.[1][2]
Bryn is a signal-based go-to-market agent for founders, first go-to-market hires, and growth teams. It watches signals from product, website, CRM, and other business systems; identifies business accounts; scores them for fit, intent, and timing; runs customer-approved Plays; and uses the resulting activity as part of a watch-score-run-learn cycle. Plays can include alerts, CRM tasks, and personalized pages. Civic describes review holds and a kill switch for controlling execution, and Bryn records each run in an append-only audit log. Its integrations connect product, site, and business systems. Company-level identification is common; identifying a specific person is not the default. Documentation also describes privacy controls including erasure propagation and domain allowlists.[22][23][24] Civic announced Bryn’s general availability on July 2, 2026; the launch was self-serve and limited to the United States at launch.[14]
Civic access tokens used for MCP and API integrations are temporary, profile-scoped delegated credentials that authenticate access to Civic services and can be configured for up to 30 days. They are not CVC, the Ethereum ERC-20 cryptoasset.[17][16]
Civic’s earlier identity-verification model aimed to change how users accessed verification services by giving them more control over personal data and reducing repeated disclosure to services.
Earlier Civic descriptions presented the platform as using distributed-ledger technology to authorize identity usage and selectively share information with partners after user authorization. They described user-held data and biometric approval through the Civic app.[1][2]
Civic’s earlier product descriptions also featured a mobile application, described as a way to store verified identity information and digital assets. They listed Bitcoin as available and Ethereum, USDC, and CVC as intended future additions, and described a $1 million cryptocurrency protection guarantee for users who lost access to cryptocurrency.[1][2]
The earlier identity-verification model was presented as allowing users to verify identity once and share information with companies, potentially reducing repeated KYC/AML checks. Civic received the Best New Startup award at the K(NO)W Identity Conference in 2017.[2][13]
History
Civic was started by Vinny Lingham, a South African entrepreneur whose stated vision was that a person’s identity should be held by the person themselves. He said, “You own it, you don’t get it from your Government”.[2][1]
Civic began integrating with partner sites and developing its first set of smart contracts in Q3 2017. Its platform entered an alpha phase in Q4, providing KYC services including document verification and the ability for validators to confirm identities to earn CVC tokens.[2]
In Q1 2018, Civic progressed to Beta version 1, expanding CVC token transaction capabilities among partners and identity providers.[2]
Civic announced Civic Auth on November 12, 2024, as a single-sign-on option for Web3 applications, with sign-in using existing wallets or email, passkeys, or Google and optional automatically created embedded wallets.[18]
On June 11, 2025, Civic announced that it would sunset Civic Pass. CAPTCHA and Identity Verification were discontinued on July 1, 2025, and Uniqueness and Liveness functionality sunset on July 31, 2025. Civic said it was reallocating resources to other products and highlighted Civic Auth.[19]
Civic announced Civic Nexus on September 23, 2025, as an AI-workflow platform connecting agents to business-intelligence tools, with authentication handling and access-control guardrails.[20] In its Q3 2025 update, Civic reported Civic Auth passkeys and a SOC 2 Type 1 milestone. The update described Nexus as using the Model Context Protocol, customizable toolkits, and delegated authentication.[21]
Bryn became generally available on July 2, 2026, as a self-serve, signal-based go-to-market agent. Civic’s launch announcement identified Chris Hart as CEO, Daniel Kelleher as Chief Technology Officer, and Brad Webb as Chief Growth Officer.[14]
How Civic Works
Civic’s earlier identity-verification and Civic Pass model described three participant categories: users, validators, and service providers. Its technical descriptions referred to on-chain attestations, fingerprints, or proofs associated with verification, not a public ledger containing identity documents or personal identity records. Civic Pass functionality was sunset in 2025.[19]
Users
In the earlier Civic “Secure Identity” app model, users entered personal information such as name, address, tax or Social Security number, passport number, or driver’s-license details and secured it using biometric fingerprint scanning. The historical model did not require a username or password.[2]
Civic’s earlier materials described personal information as stored on the user’s phone in encrypted form, with attestations or references to the data recorded on a public blockchain.[1][2]
Validators
In the earlier identity-verification model, validators were third-party entities that confirmed information submitted by users. The materials described validators as often also being service providers, including financial institutions, governments, and utility companies.[2]
The historical marketplace design described validators checking information against public and financial records and receiving CVC incentives. It also described validators signing off on verified information and making encrypted versions of user data available to service providers.[2]
Service Providers
In the earlier identity-verification model, service providers or requesters were businesses and institutions, including hotels, exchanges, and banks, that registered with Civic to identify customers more efficiently.[2]
A May 9, 2016 Thomson Reuters survey reported that financial firms spent an average of $60 million to meet their obligations, while some firms spent up to $500 million on KYC and CDD compliance.[26]
The earlier marketplace design described service providers purchasing access rights to users’ information with CVC tokens. It proposed that access to encrypted references would make it easier for users to engage with multiple service providers. The design also described smart contracts transferring provider payments to validators and users.[2][13]
Civic (CVC) Token
CVC is an Ethereum ERC-20 cryptoasset with a maximum supply of 1 billion tokens.[16] Civic’s original identity-marketplace design proposed CVC as a means for service providers to pay for access to user information, with smart contracts distributing payments to validators and users.[2]
The historical design also proposed CVC as an incentive for community participation and as payment for Civic-related services.[2] Civic access tokens for API and MCP integrations are non-crypto delegated authentication credentials, not CVC.[17]
Use Cases
The following uses were proposed in Civic’s historical identity-marketplace design:
- Validators would receive CVC when participants used their attestations to prove identities.
- Users would receive CVC for providing data through the ecosystem.
- Participants could use CVC for identity-related products and services provided by Civic and third parties.
Token Allocation
As of October 2026, CoinGecko reports a circulating supply of 1 billion CVC. CVC has a maximum supply of 1 billion.[25][16]
Civic’s token-sale allocation was:
- 33% sold in the token sale
- 33% retained by Civic
- 33% allocated for distribution to incentivize participation in the ecosystem
- 1% allocated to cover token-sale costs[27]
Team
- Vinny Lingham
- Jonathan Smith
- Chris Hart
- JP Bedoya
- Daniel Kelleher
- Anna Aubuchon
- Mike Marron
- Nancy Li
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