(Dockerized Crypto Nodes for the Classroom)

AKA: iCSI Coin

iCSI Coin Miner

Although this is a working peer-to-peer blockchain application, it is designed for educational purposes.

• Work with Wallet Addresses: Both iCSI_Coin and Bitcoin: Create Private/Public keypairs to understand how asymmetric encryption provides a secure mechanism for proving ownership of assets.

• Validate Data Integrity: Use SHA-256 hashing to demonstrate how the "chain" is formed and why changing one bit of data invalidates all subsequent blocks.

• Mine Blocks!: Start with a CPU miner (slow), but it won't be long before your super star students discover and deploy the GPU miner. (If you have NVIDIA or RADEON GPUs available on the host operating system, the GPU miner will very quicky render the integrated CPU miner useless. It's awesome!)

• Discover the supply/demand nature of the Bitcoin blockchain: Analyze the "Halving" mechanism to understand how programmatic scarcity affects the supply and value of iCSI Coin.

• Audit Public Transactions: Use a Block Explorer to trace wallet balances and verify that the ledger is transparent and immutable. (It's anything but anonymous!)

(See the Concept_Docs folder for in-depth explanations of how this blockchain is constructed.)

"Placing this node on the public internet unleashes its peer-to-peer nature, potentially causing your blockchain to take on a life of its own. Once public, you will own the chain as much as Satoshi Nakamoto owns Bitcoin—which is to say, not at all."

Just don't point it at or host it directly on a 'public' IP and you'll be fine. (Node owners would have to manually enter the IP of at least one 'public' facing node. So it's unlikely to spread like wildfire or anything, but once these things start talking, they tend to keep talking!)

Hosting this in a LAN is the best way to not 'accidentally' become the creator of the next big crypto breakout coin.
Remember, friends don't let friends become crypto bros!

Kali Linux (2025/2026) is the easiest way to run this project, as it supports the docker run scripts out of the box.

First, ensure Docker is installed:

sudo apt install docker.io docker-compose

Clone the repository and enter the project folder:

git clone https://github.com/androidteacher/iCSI_Coin_2026.git
cd iCSI_Coin_2026/iCSI_COIN_PYTHON_PORT

To start the environment, navigate to the STARTUP_SCRIPTS folder and verify your target configuration:

cd STARTUP_SCRIPTS

# Launch a single end-user node
./start_user_node.sh

# Optional: Launch a full 4-node cluster with STUN server
./start_full_stack.sh
#If you have more than 1-2 end user nodes on a LAN, you won't need to do this

Do the docker run commands/startup scripts seem broken? Install the latest version of docker: Click Here

If you need to wipe the blockchain data and start fresh, use the reset scripts.

CAUTION: In order to reset the blockchain and start over, you need to make sure there are no nodes online or communicating. Resetting the blockchain requires a quiet network and you have to eliminate the possibility that old nodes with previous blockchain data don't log in and commandeer your fresh blockchain!

I've been working with a group of 4-5 nodes. Resetting the blockchain and starting over has been easy so far.

cd BLOCKCHAIN_RESET_SCRIPTS

# Reset the full 4-node cluster
./clear_stack.sh

# OR reset a single end-user node
./clear_end_user_node.sh

If you need to update the admin or end-user node codebase without deleting your data (e.g. after a git pull), use the BUILD_THIS_NODE.sh script.

cd end_user_node
./BUILD_THIS_NODE.sh

Log in at http://localhost:8080 and create a username and password.

iCSI Coin: Taking over the world one block at a time!

For a comprehensive lesson plan and teacher guide, please visit: Blockchain in a Box: Dockerized Crypto Nodes for the Classroom

This software is Open Source.

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.