diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 532a99e8c7..e5653f207c 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -31,6 +31,14 @@ dependencies = [
  "stream-cipher 0.3.2 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "ansi_term"
+version = "0.11.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+dependencies = [
+ "winapi 0.3.8 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "arc-swap"
 version = "0.4.4"
@@ -41,6 +49,15 @@ name = "arrayref"
 version = "0.3.5"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "atty"
+version = "0.2.13"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+dependencies = [
+ "libc 0.2.65 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "winapi 0.3.8 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "bitflags"
 version = "1.2.1"
@@ -126,6 +143,20 @@ dependencies = [
  "keystream 1.0.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "clap"
+version = "2.33.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+dependencies = [
+ "ansi_term 0.11.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "atty 0.2.13 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "bitflags 1.2.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "strsim 0.8.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "textwrap 0.11.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "unicode-width 0.1.7 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "vec_map 0.8.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "clear_on_drop"
 version = "0.2.3"
@@ -396,6 +427,8 @@ dependencies = [
 name = "nym-sfw-provider"
 version = "0.1.0"
 dependencies = [
+ "clap 2.33.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "curve25519-dalek 1.2.3 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "sphinx 0.1.0",
  "tokio 0.2.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
 ]
@@ -578,6 +611,11 @@ dependencies = [
  "generic-array 0.12.3 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "strsim"
+version = "0.8.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "subtle"
 version = "1.0.0"
@@ -598,6 +636,14 @@ dependencies = [
  "unicode-xid 0.2.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "textwrap"
+version = "0.11.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+dependencies = [
+ "unicode-width 0.1.7 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "tokio"
 version = "0.2.1"
@@ -634,11 +680,21 @@ name = "typenum"
 version = "1.11.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "unicode-width"
+version = "0.1.7"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "unicode-xid"
 version = "0.2.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "vec_map"
+version = "0.8.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "wasi"
 version = "0.7.0"
@@ -686,8 +742,10 @@ dependencies = [
 "checksum aes-ctr 0.3.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "d2e5b0458ea3beae0d1d8c0f3946564f8e10f90646cf78c06b4351052058d1ee"
 "checksum aes-soft 0.3.3 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "cfd7e7ae3f9a1fb5c03b389fc6bb9a51400d0c13053f0dca698c832bfd893a0d"
 "checksum aesni 0.6.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "2f70a6b5f971e473091ab7cfb5ffac6cde81666c4556751d8d5620ead8abf100"
+"checksum ansi_term 0.11.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "ee49baf6cb617b853aa8d93bf420db2383fab46d314482ca2803b40d5fde979b"
 "checksum arc-swap 0.4.4 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "d7b8a9123b8027467bce0099fe556c628a53c8d83df0507084c31e9ba2e39aff"
 "checksum arrayref 0.3.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "0d382e583f07208808f6b1249e60848879ba3543f57c32277bf52d69c2f0f0ee"
+"checksum atty 0.2.13 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "1803c647a3ec87095e7ae7acfca019e98de5ec9a7d01343f611cf3152ed71a90"
 "checksum bitflags 1.2.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "cf1de2fe8c75bc145a2f577add951f8134889b4795d47466a54a5c846d691693"
 "checksum blake2 0.8.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "94cb07b0da6a73955f8fb85d24c466778e70cda767a568229b104f0264089330"
 "checksum block-buffer 0.7.3 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "c0940dc441f31689269e10ac70eb1002a3a1d3ad1390e030043662eb7fe4688b"
@@ -700,6 +758,7 @@ dependencies = [
 "checksum cc 1.0.47 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "aa87058dce70a3ff5621797f1506cb837edd02ac4c0ae642b4542dce802908b8"
 "checksum cfg-if 0.1.10 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "4785bdd1c96b2a846b2bd7cc02e86b6b3dbf14e7e53446c4f54c92a361040822"
 "checksum chacha 0.3.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "ddf3c081b5fba1e5615640aae998e0fbd10c24cbd897ee39ed754a77601a4862"
+"checksum clap 2.33.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "5067f5bb2d80ef5d68b4c87db81601f0b75bca627bc2ef76b141d7b846a3c6d9"
 "checksum clear_on_drop 0.2.3 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "97276801e127ffb46b66ce23f35cc96bd454fa311294bced4bbace7baa8b1d17"
 "checksum cloudabi 0.0.3 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "ddfc5b9aa5d4507acaf872de71051dfd0e309860e88966e1051e462a077aac4f"
 "checksum crypto-mac 0.7.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "4434400df11d95d556bac068ddfedd482915eb18fe8bea89bc80b6e4b1c179e5"
@@ -752,13 +811,17 @@ dependencies = [
 "checksum slab 0.4.2 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "c111b5bd5695e56cffe5129854aa230b39c93a305372fdbb2668ca2394eea9f8"
 "checksum socket2 0.3.11 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "e8b74de517221a2cb01a53349cf54182acdc31a074727d3079068448c0676d85"
 "checksum stream-cipher 0.3.2 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "8131256a5896cabcf5eb04f4d6dacbe1aefda854b0d9896e09cb58829ec5638c"
+"checksum strsim 0.8.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "8ea5119cdb4c55b55d432abb513a0429384878c15dde60cc77b1c99de1a95a6a"
 "checksum subtle 1.0.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "2d67a5a62ba6e01cb2192ff309324cb4875d0c451d55fe2319433abe7a05a8ee"
 "checksum subtle 2.2.2 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "7c65d530b10ccaeac294f349038a597e435b18fb456aadd0840a623f83b9e941"
 "checksum syn 1.0.9 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "f89693ae015201f8de93fd96bde2d065f8bfc3f97ce006d5bc9f900b97c0c7c0"
+"checksum textwrap 0.11.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "d326610f408c7a4eb6f51c37c330e496b08506c9457c9d34287ecc38809fb060"
 "checksum tokio 0.2.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "beeef686ef92a222de07e089f455d9f8478bbba9651718f9e4b276babe829082"
 "checksum tokio-macros 0.2.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "d5795a71419535c6dcecc9b6ca95bdd3c2d6142f7e8343d7beb9923f129aa87e"
 "checksum typenum 1.11.2 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "6d2783fe2d6b8c1101136184eb41be8b1ad379e4657050b8aaff0c79ee7575f9"
+"checksum unicode-width 0.1.7 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "caaa9d531767d1ff2150b9332433f32a24622147e5ebb1f26409d5da67afd479"
 "checksum unicode-xid 0.2.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "826e7639553986605ec5979c7dd957c7895e93eabed50ab2ffa7f6128a75097c"
+"checksum vec_map 0.8.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "05c78687fb1a80548ae3250346c3db86a80a7cdd77bda190189f2d0a0987c81a"
 "checksum wasi 0.7.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "b89c3ce4ce14bdc6fb6beaf9ec7928ca331de5df7e5ea278375642a2f478570d"
 "checksum winapi 0.2.8 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "167dc9d6949a9b857f3451275e911c3f44255842c1f7a76f33c55103a909087a"
 "checksum winapi 0.3.8 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "8093091eeb260906a183e6ae1abdba2ef5ef2257a21801128899c3fc699229c6"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 992f42a16c..ccc83dffa5 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -8,4 +8,6 @@ edition = "2018"
 
 [dependencies]
 sphinx = { path = "../sphinx" }
-tokio = { version = "0.2", features = ["full"] }
\ No newline at end of file
+tokio = { version = "0.2", features = ["full"] }
+curve25519-dalek = "1.2.3"
+clap = "2.33.0"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 18a7014fc2..07204e08d5 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,91 @@
+use clap::{App, Arg, ArgMatches, SubCommand};
+use curve25519_dalek::scalar::Scalar;
+use std::net::ToSocketAddrs;
+use std::process;
+
 mod provider;
 
-fn main() {
+fn execute(matches: ArgMatches) -> Result<(), String> {
+    match matches.subcommand() {
+        ("run", Some(m)) => Ok(run(m)),
+        _ => Err(String::from("Unknown command")),
+    }
+}
+
+fn run(matches: &ArgMatches) {
+    println!("Running the service provider!");
+
+    let host = matches.value_of("host").unwrap_or("0.0.0.0");
+
+    let port = match matches.value_of("port").unwrap().parse::<u16>() {
+        Ok(n) => n,
+        Err(err) => panic!("Invalid port value provided - {:?}", err),
+    };
+
+    let secret_key: Scalar = match matches.value_of("keyfile") {
+        Some(keyfile) => {
+            println!("Todo: load keyfile from <{:?}>", keyfile);
+            Default::default()
+        }
+        None => {
+            println!("Todo: generate fresh sphinx keypair");
+            Default::default()
+        }
+    };
+
+    println!("The value of host is: {:?}", host);
+    println!("The value of port is: {:?}", port);
+    println!("The value of key is: {:?}", secret_key);
+
+    let socket_address = (host, port)
+        .to_socket_addrs()
+        .expect("Failed to combine host and port")
+        .next()
+        .expect("Failed to extract the socket address from the iterator");
+
+    println!("The full combined socket address is {}", socket_address);
+
+    // make sure our socket_address is equal to our predefined-hardcoded value
+    assert_eq!("127.0.0.1:8081", socket_address.to_string());
+
     provider::listening_loop().unwrap();
 }
+
+fn main() {
+    let arg_matches = App::new("Nym Service Provider")
+        .version("0.1.0")
+        .author("Nymtech")
+        .about("Implementation of the Loopix-based Service Provider")
+        .subcommand(
+            SubCommand::with_name("run")
+                .about("Starts the mixnode")
+                .arg(
+                    Arg::with_name("host")
+                        .short("h")
+                        .long("host")
+                        .help("The custom host on which the service provider will be running")
+                        .takes_value(true),
+                )
+                .arg(
+                    Arg::with_name("port")
+                        .short("p")
+                        .long("port")
+                        .help("The port on which the service provider will be listening")
+                        .takes_value(true)
+                        .required(true),
+                )
+                .arg(
+                    Arg::with_name("keyfile")
+                        .short("k")
+                        .long("keyfile")
+                        .help("Optional path to the persistent keyfile of the node")
+                        .takes_value(true),
+                ),
+        )
+        .get_matches();
+
+    if let Err(e) = execute(arg_matches) {
+        println!("Application error: {}", e);
+        process::exit(1);
+    }
+}