diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 39b23163..1a84b559 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ data
 CMakeDoxyfile.in
 
 build
+build__*
 
 libraries/utilities/git_revision.cpp
 
diff --git a/clang-format.sh b/clang-format.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..6ab95eb9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/clang-format.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+find ./libraries/plugins/peerplays_sidechain -regex ".*[c|h]pp" | xargs clang-format -i
+
diff --git a/libraries/plugins/peerplays_sidechain/common/rpc_client.cpp b/libraries/plugins/peerplays_sidechain/common/rpc_client.cpp
index cad283a7..1db7c889 100644
--- a/libraries/plugins/peerplays_sidechain/common/rpc_client.cpp
+++ b/libraries/plugins/peerplays_sidechain/common/rpc_client.cpp
@@ -3,6 +3,10 @@
 #include <sstream>
 #include <string>
 
+#include <boost/asio.hpp>
+#include <boost/asio/buffer.hpp>
+#include <boost/asio/ssl.hpp>
+
 #include <boost/property_tree/json_parser.hpp>
 #include <boost/property_tree/ptree.hpp>
 
@@ -10,7 +14,317 @@
 
 #include <fc/crypto/base64.hpp>
 #include <fc/log/logger.hpp>
-//#include <fc/network/ip.hpp>
+#include <fc/network/ip.hpp>
+
+#include <boost/algorithm/string/case_conv.hpp>
+#include <boost/algorithm/string/trim.hpp>
+
+namespace graphene { namespace peerplays_sidechain {
+
+struct http_request {
+
+   std::string method; // ex: "POST"
+   std::string path;   // ex: "/"
+   std::string headers;
+   std::string body;
+   std::string content_type; // ex: "application/json"
+
+   http_request() {
+   }
+
+   http_request(const std::string &method_, const std::string &path_, const std::string &headers_, const std::string &body_, const std::string &content_type_) :
+         method(method_),
+         path(path_),
+         headers(headers_),
+         body(body_),
+         content_type(content_type_) {
+   }
+
+   http_request(const std::string &method_, const std::string &path_, const std::string &headers_, const std::string &body_ = std::string()) :
+         method(method_),
+         path(path_),
+         headers(headers_),
+         body(body_),
+         content_type("application/json") {
+   }
+
+   void clear() {
+      method.clear();
+      path.clear();
+      headers.clear();
+      body.clear();
+      content_type.clear();
+   }
+};
+
+struct http_response {
+
+   uint16_t status_code;
+   std::string body;
+
+   void clear() {
+      status_code = 0;
+      body = decltype(body)();
+   }
+};
+
+class https_call {
+public:
+   https_call(const std::string &host, uint16_t port = 0) :
+         m_host(host),
+         m_port(port) {
+   }
+
+   const std::string &host() const {
+      return m_host;
+   }
+
+   uint16_t port() const {
+      return m_port;
+   }
+
+   uint32_t response_size_limit_bytes() const {
+      return 1024 * 1024;
+   }
+
+   bool exec(const http_request &request, http_response *response);
+
+private:
+   std::string m_host;
+   uint16_t m_port;
+};
+
+namespace detail {
+
+static const char cr = 0x0D;
+static const char lf = 0x0A;
+static const char *crlf = "\x0D\x0A";
+static const char *crlfcrlf = "\x0D\x0A\x0D\x0A";
+
+using namespace boost::asio;
+
+class https_call_impl {
+public:
+   https_call_impl(const https_call &call, const http_request &request, http_response &response) :
+         m_call(call),
+         m_request(request),
+         m_response(response),
+         m_service(),
+         m_context(ssl::context::tlsv12_client),
+         m_socket(m_service, m_context),
+         m_endpoint(),
+         m_response_buf(call.response_size_limit_bytes()),
+         m_content_length(0) {
+      m_context.set_default_verify_paths();
+   }
+
+   void exec() {
+      resolve();
+      connect();
+      send_request();
+      process_response();
+   }
+
+private:
+   const https_call &m_call;
+   const http_request &m_request;
+   http_response &m_response;
+
+   io_service m_service;
+   ssl::context m_context;
+   ssl::stream<ip::tcp::socket> m_socket;
+   ip::tcp::endpoint m_endpoint;
+   streambuf m_response_buf;
+   uint32_t m_content_length;
+
+   void resolve() {
+
+      // resolve TCP endpoint for host name
+
+      ip::tcp::resolver resolver(m_service);
+      auto query = ip::tcp::resolver::query(m_call.host(), "https");
+      auto iter = resolver.resolve(query);
+      m_endpoint = *iter;
+
+      if (m_call.port() != 0)            // if port was specified
+         m_endpoint.port(m_call.port()); // force set port
+   }
+
+   void connect() {
+
+      // TCP connect
+
+      m_socket.lowest_layer().connect(m_endpoint);
+
+      // SSL connect
+
+      m_socket.set_verify_mode(ssl::verify_peer);
+      m_socket.handshake(ssl::stream_base::client);
+   }
+
+   void send_request() {
+
+      streambuf request_buf;
+      std::ostream stream(&request_buf);
+
+      // start string: <method> <path> HTTP/1.0
+
+      stream << m_request.method << " " << m_request.path << " HTTP/1.0" << crlf;
+
+      // host
+
+      stream << "Host: " << m_call.host();
+
+      if (m_call.port() != 0) {
+         //ASSERT(m_Endpoint.port() == m_Call.port());
+         stream << ":" << m_call.port();
+      }
+
+      stream << crlf;
+
+      // content
+
+      if (!m_request.body.empty()) {
+         stream << "Content-Type: " << m_request.content_type << crlf;
+         stream << "Content-Length: " << m_request.body.size() << crlf;
+      }
+
+      // additional headers
+
+      const auto &h = m_request.headers;
+
+      if (!h.empty()) {
+         if (h.size() < 2) {
+            FC_THROW("invalid headers data");
+         }
+         stream << h;
+         // ensure headers finished correctly
+         if ((h.substr(h.size() - 2) != crlf))
+            stream << crlf;
+      }
+
+      // other
+
+      stream << "Accept: *\x2F*" << crlf;
+      stream << "Connection: close" << crlf;
+
+      // end
+
+      stream << crlf;
+
+      // content
+
+      if (!m_request.body.empty())
+         stream << m_request.body;
+
+      // send
+
+      write(m_socket, request_buf);
+   }
+
+   void process_headers() {
+
+      std::istream stream(&m_response_buf);
+
+      std::string http_version;
+      stream >> http_version;
+      stream >> m_response.status_code;
+
+      if (!stream || http_version.substr(0, 5) != "HTTP/") {
+         FC_THROW("invalid response data");
+      }
+
+      // read/skip headers
+
+      for (;;) {
+         std::string header;
+         if (!std::getline(stream, header, lf) || (header.size() == 1 && header[0] == cr))
+            break;
+         if (m_content_length) // if content length is already known
+            continue;          // continue skipping headers
+         auto pos = header.find(':');
+         if (pos == std::string::npos)
+            continue;
+         auto name = header.substr(0, pos);
+         boost::algorithm::trim(name);
+         boost::algorithm::to_lower(name);
+         if (name != "content-length")
+            continue;
+         auto value = header.substr(pos + 1);
+         boost::algorithm::trim(value);
+         m_content_length = std::stol(value);
+      }
+   }
+
+   void process_response() {
+
+      auto &socket = m_socket;
+      auto &buf = m_response_buf;
+      auto &content_length = m_content_length;
+      auto &body = m_response.body;
+
+      read_until(socket, buf, crlfcrlf);
+
+      process_headers();
+
+      // check content length
+
+      if (content_length < 2) { // minimum content is "{}"
+         FC_THROW("invalid response body (too short)");
+      }
+
+      if (content_length > m_call.response_size_limit_bytes()) {
+         FC_THROW("response body size limit exceeded");
+      }
+
+      // read body
+
+      auto avail = buf.size(); // size of body data already stored in the buffer
+
+      if (avail > content_length) {
+         FC_THROW("invalid response body (content length mismatch)");
+      }
+
+      body.resize(content_length);
+
+      if (avail) {
+         // copy already existing data
+         if (avail != buf.sgetn(&body[0], avail)) {
+            FC_THROW("stream read failed");
+         }
+      }
+
+      auto rest = content_length - avail; // size of remaining part of response body
+
+      boost::system::error_code error_code;
+
+      read(socket, buffer(&body[avail], rest), error_code); // read remaining part
+
+      socket.shutdown(error_code);
+   }
+};
+
+} // namespace detail
+
+bool https_call::exec(const http_request &request, http_response *response) {
+
+   //	ASSERT(response);
+   auto &resp = *response;
+
+   detail::https_call_impl impl(*this, request, resp);
+
+   try {
+      resp.clear();
+      impl.exec();
+   } catch (...) {
+      resp.clear();
+      return false;
+   }
+
+   return true;
+}
+
+}} // namespace graphene::peerplays_sidechain
 
 namespace graphene { namespace peerplays_sidechain {
 
@@ -102,75 +416,60 @@ std::string rpc_client::send_post_request(std::string method, std::string params
    return "";
 }
 
-//fc::http::reply rpc_client::send_post_request(std::string body, bool show_log) {
-//   fc::http::connection conn;
-//   conn.connect_to(fc::ip::endpoint(fc::ip::address(ip), port));
-//
-//   std::string url = "http://" + ip + ":" + std::to_string(port);
-//
-//   //if (wallet.length() > 0) {
-//   //   url = url + "/wallet/" + wallet;
-//   //}
-//
-//   fc::http::reply reply = conn.request("POST", url, body, fc::http::headers{authorization});
-//
-//   if (show_log) {
-//      ilog("### Request URL:    ${url}", ("url", url));
-//      ilog("### Request:        ${body}", ("body", body));
-//      std::stringstream ss(std::string(reply.body.begin(), reply.body.end()));
-//      ilog("### Response:       ${ss}", ("ss", ss.str()));
-//   }
-//
-//   return reply;
-//}
-
-static size_t write_callback(char *ptr, size_t size, size_t nmemb, rpc_reply *reply) {
-   size_t retval = 0;
-   if (reply != nullptr) {
-      reply->body.append(ptr, size * nmemb);
-      retval = size * nmemb;
-   }
-   return retval;
-}
-
 rpc_reply rpc_client::send_post_request(std::string body, bool show_log) {
 
-   struct curl_slist *headers = nullptr;
-   headers = curl_slist_append(headers, "Accept: application/json");
-   headers = curl_slist_append(headers, "Content-Type: application/json");
-   headers = curl_slist_append(headers, "charset: utf-8");
-
-   CURL *curl = curl_easy_init();
-   if (ip.find("https://", 0) != 0) {
-      curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL, ip.c_str());
-      curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_PORT, port);
-   } else {
-      std::string full_address = ip + ":" + std::to_string(port);
-      curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL, full_address.c_str());
-      curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, false);
-      curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST, false);
-   }
-   if (!user.empty()) {
-      curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_USERNAME, user.c_str());
-      curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_PASSWORD, password.c_str());
-   }
-
-   curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, headers);
-   curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, body.c_str());
-
-   //curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_VERBOSE, true);
-
    rpc_reply reply;
+   auto start = ip.substr(0, 6);
+   boost::algorithm::to_lower(start);
 
-   curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_WRITEFUNCTION, write_callback);
-   curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_WRITEDATA, &reply);
+   if (start == "https:") {
 
-   curl_easy_perform(curl);
+      auto host = ip.substr(8); // skip "https://"
 
-   curl_easy_getinfo(curl, CURLINFO_RESPONSE_CODE, &reply.status);
+      https_call call(host, port);
+      http_request request("POST", "/", authorization.key + ":" + authorization.val, body);
+      http_response response;
 
-   curl_easy_cleanup(curl);
-   curl_slist_free_all(headers);
+      if (call.exec(request, &response)) {
+         reply.status = response.status_code;
+         reply.body.resize(response.body.size());
+         memcpy(&reply.body[0], &response.body[0], response.body.size());
+      }
+
+   } else {
+
+      std::string host;
+
+      if (start == "http:/")
+         host = ip.substr(7); // skip "http://"
+      else
+         host = ip;
+
+      std::string url = "http://" + host + ":" + std::to_string(port);
+      fc::ip::address addr;
+
+      try {
+         addr = fc::ip::address(host);
+      } catch (...) {
+         return reply;
+      }
+
+      try {
+
+         fc::http::connection conn;
+         conn.connect_to(fc::ip::endpoint(addr, port));
+
+         //if (wallet.length() > 0) {
+         //   url = url + "/wallet/" + wallet;
+         //}
+
+         auto r = conn.request("POST", url, body, fc::http::headers{authorization});
+         reply.status = r.status;
+         reply.body.assign(r.body.begin(), r.body.end());
+
+      } catch (...) {
+      }
+   }
 
    if (show_log) {
       std::string url = ip + ":" + std::to_string(port);
diff --git a/libraries/plugins/peerplays_sidechain/format.sh b/libraries/plugins/peerplays_sidechain/format.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..7b739d7f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libraries/plugins/peerplays_sidechain/format.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+#!/bin/bash 
+find . -regex ".*[c|h]pp" | xargs clang-format -i
diff --git a/libraries/plugins/peerplays_sidechain/sidechain_net_handler_hive.cpp b/libraries/plugins/peerplays_sidechain/sidechain_net_handler_hive.cpp
index 5597c06a..2db3063d 100644
--- a/libraries/plugins/peerplays_sidechain/sidechain_net_handler_hive.cpp
+++ b/libraries/plugins/peerplays_sidechain/sidechain_net_handler_hive.cpp
@@ -28,6 +28,35 @@
 #include <graphene/peerplays_sidechain/hive/transaction.hpp>
 #include <graphene/utilities/key_conversion.hpp>
 
+#include <boost/asio.hpp>
+
+namespace graphene { namespace peerplays_sidechain {
+
+std::string resolve_host_addr(const std::string &host_name) {
+   using namespace boost::asio;
+   io_service service;
+   ip::tcp::resolver resolver(service);
+   auto query = ip::tcp::resolver::query(host_name, std::string());
+   auto iter = resolver.resolve(query);
+   auto endpoint = *iter;
+   auto addr = ((ip::tcp::endpoint)endpoint).address();
+   return addr.to_string();
+}
+
+std::string strip_proto_name(const std::string &url, std::string *schema) {
+   auto index = url.find("://");
+   if (index == std::string::npos) {
+      if (schema)
+         schema->clear();
+      return url;
+   }
+   if (schema)
+      schema->assign(&url[0], &url[index + 3]);
+   return url.substr(index + 3);
+}
+
+}} // namespace graphene::peerplays_sidechain
+
 namespace graphene { namespace peerplays_sidechain {
 
 hive_node_rpc_client::hive_node_rpc_client(std::string _ip, uint32_t _port, std::string _user, std::string _password, bool _debug_rpc_calls) :
@@ -145,15 +174,33 @@ sidechain_net_handler_hive::sidechain_net_handler_hive(peerplays_sidechain_plugi
       }
    }
 
-   //fc::http::connection conn;
-   //try {
-   //   conn.connect_to(fc::ip::endpoint(fc::ip::address(node_ip), node_rpc_port));
-   //} catch (fc::exception &e) {
-   //   elog("No Hive node running at ${ip} or wrong rpc port: ${port}", ("ip", node_ip)("port", node_rpc_port));
-   //   FC_ASSERT(false);
-   //}
+   std::string schema;
+   auto host = strip_proto_name(node_ip, &schema);
 
-   node_rpc_client = new hive_node_rpc_client(node_ip, node_rpc_port, node_rpc_user, node_rpc_password, debug_rpc_calls);
+   try {
+      fc::ip::address ip_addr;
+      try {
+         // IP address assumed
+         ip_addr = fc::ip::address(host);
+      } catch (...) {
+         try {
+            // host name assumed
+            host = resolve_host_addr(host);
+            ip_addr = fc::ip::address(host);
+         } catch (...) {
+            elog("Failed to resolve Hive node address ${ip}", ("ip", node_ip));
+            FC_ASSERT(false);
+         }
+      }
+      // try to connect to TCP endpoint
+      fc::http::connection conn;
+      conn.connect_to(fc::ip::endpoint(ip_addr, node_rpc_port));
+   } catch (fc::exception &e) {
+      elog("No Hive node running at ${ip} or wrong rpc port: ${port}", ("ip", node_ip)("port", node_rpc_port));
+      FC_ASSERT(false);
+   }
+
+   node_rpc_client = new hive_node_rpc_client(schema + host, node_rpc_port, node_rpc_user, node_rpc_password, debug_rpc_calls);
 
    std::string chain_id_str = node_rpc_client->get_chain_id();
    chain_id = chain_id_type(chain_id_str);