# Introduction

TIX Protocol is the settlement and financial infrastructure layer for tickets. It consists of two core components:

* **Settlement Layer**: Manages ticket issuance, transfers, and resale rule enforcement.
* **Credit Layer**: Oversees underwriting, repayment, and liquidity distribution to venues and integrators. The goal of TIX is to transform tickets into programmable financial primitives, RWA's that represent their underlying cash flows and can function both as collateral and as an automated enforcement mechanism for value capture.

## What is TIX Settlement Layer?

At the Settlement Layer, TIX serves as the origination engine and transaction rails for tickets. It provides the core infrastructure for lifecycle management from issuance to redemption.

* **Primary Ticket Issuance**: Originates tickets with predefined rules and assigns verified ownership to primary buyers at the point of sale.
* **Resale Enforcement**: Enforces programmable resale conditions, including automated royalty collection for ticketing companies and artists during ownership transfers.
* **Cryptographic Verification**: Prevents fraud through cryptographic validation of ticket ownership at redemption, ensuring authenticity and eliminating duplication.

## Key Benefits

| Integrators (Ticketing Platforms)                                   | Venues                                                                                      | Artists                                                                                          |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Capture resale fees on all tickets originated through your platform | Capture resale fees on originated tickets                                                   | Capture resale fees across the secondary market                                                  |
| Immediate access to resale supply across primary integrators        | Arbitrage secondary markets to optimize pricing and recover value from distressed inventory | Enforce price caps, transfer limits, and identity rules to protect brand equity and fan goodwill |
| Expand marketplace liquidity and inventory depth                    | Improve sell-through and pricing efficiency                                                 | Identify and directly reward verified fans                                                       |

## Quick Links

* [Product Overview](https://docs.tix.xyz/overview/introduction) — Vision and core capabilities
* [Getting Started](https://docs.tix.xyz/guides/getting-started) — Set up your development environment
* [SDK Reference](https://docs.tix.xyz/sdk-reference/installation) — TypeScript SDK documentation
* [API Reference](https://docs.tix.xyz/api-reference/instructions) — On-chain instruction reference

## Architecture

```
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        TIX Protocol                             │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Solana Program (Anchor)     │     TypeScript SDK               │
│  ─────────────────────────   │     ──────────────               │
│  • Protocol Config           │     • Address derivation         │
│  • Integrator accounts       │     • Instruction builders       │
│  • Event management          │     • Account fetchers           │
│  • Permit storage            │     • Transaction helpers        │
│  • Listings & resale         │                                  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                                    │
                                    ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    USDC Settlement Layer                        │
│           All fees, royalties, and payments in USDC             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```

## Ticket Lifecycle

```
┌─────────────┐     ┌─────────────┐     ┌─────────────┐     ┌─────────────┐
│   Event     │────▶│   Ticket    │────▶│  Transfer/  │────▶│  Redeemed/  │
│  Created    │     │   Issued    │     │   Resale    │     │   Voided    │
└─────────────┘     └─────────────┘     └─────────────┘     └─────────────┘
```

***

*Document Version: 1.0*