diff --git a/.appveyor.yml b/.appveyor.yml
index e13c2b9..2e320b4 100644
--- a/.appveyor.yml
+++ b/.appveyor.yml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ cache:
 - sqlite-dll-win32-x86-3240000.zip -> .appveyor.yml
 - sqlite-dll-win64-x64-3240000.zip -> .appveyor.yml
 - nimbus-deps.zip -> .appveyor.yml
-- Nim -> .appveyor.yml
+- NimBinaries
 
 matrix:
   # We always want 32 and 64-bit compilation
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@ platform:
   - x86
   - x64
 
+# when multiple CI builds are queued, the tested commit needs to be in the last X commits cloned with "--depth X"
+clone_depth: 10
+
 install:
   - setlocal EnableExtensions EnableDelayedExpansion
 
@@ -55,52 +58,17 @@ install:
   - SET "LMDB_ARCHIVE=LMDB_%LMDB_VER%.tar.gz"
   - SET "LMDB_PATH=lmdb-LMDB_%LMDB_VER%\libraries\liblmdb"
   - appveyor DownloadFile "%LMDB_URL%\%LMDB_ARCHIVE%" - FileName "%LMDB_ARCHIVE%"
-  - tar xvf %LMDB_ARCHIVE%
+  - tar xzf %LMDB_ARCHIVE%
   - cd %LMDB_PATH%
-  - gcc -shared -o lmdb.dll mdb.c midl.c -lntdll
+  - gcc -march=native -O3 -pipe -shared -o lmdb.dll mdb.c midl.c -lntdll
   - cd ..\..\..
   - copy %LMDB_PATH%\lmdb.dll %CD%\bin\lmdb.dll
 
   # build nim from our own branch - this to avoid the day-to-day churn and
   # regressions of the fast-paced Nim development while maintaining the
   # flexibility to apply patches
-  - SET "NEED_REBUILD="
-
-  - IF NOT EXIST "Nim\\.git\\" (
-      git clone https://github.com/status-im/Nim.git
-    ) ELSE (
-      ( cd Nim ) &
-      ( git pull ) &
-      ( cd .. )
-    )
-
-  # Rebuild Nim if HEAD has moved or if we don't yet have a cached version
-  - IF NOT EXIST "Nim\\ver.txt" (
-      SET NEED_REBUILD=1
-    ) ELSE (
-      ( CD Nim ) &
-      ( git rev-parse HEAD > ..\\cur_ver.txt ) &
-      ( fc ver.txt ..\\cur_ver.txt || SET NEED_REBUILD=1 ) &
-      ( cd .. )
-    )
-
-  - IF NOT EXIST "Nim\\bin\\nim.exe" SET NEED_REBUILD=1
-  - IF NOT EXIST "Nim\\bin\\nimble.exe" SET NEED_REBUILD=1
-
-  # after building nim, wipe csources to save on cache space
-  - IF DEFINED NEED_REBUILD (
-      cd Nim &
-      ( IF EXIST "csources" rmdir /s /q csources ) &
-      git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/nim-lang/csources &
-      cd csources &
-      ( IF "%PLATFORM%" == "x64" ( build64.bat ) else ( build.bat ) ) &
-      cd .. &
-      bin\nim c koch &
-      koch boot -d:release &
-      koch nimble &
-      git rev-parse HEAD > ver.txt &
-      rmdir /s /q csources
-    )
+  - curl -O -L -s -S https://raw.githubusercontent.com/status-im/nimbus/devel/build_nim.sh
+  - env MAKE="mingw32-make -j2" ARCH_OVERRIDE=%PLATFORM% bash build_nim.sh Nim csources dist/nimble NimBinaries
 
 build_script:
   - cd C:\projects\%APPVEYOR_PROJECT_SLUG%
diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 4f11a53..b7b183b 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -1,63 +1,43 @@
-language: c # or other C/C++ variants
-
-sudo: false
+language: c
 
 # https://docs.travis-ci.com/user/caching/
-#
-# Caching the whole nim folder is better than relying on ccache - this way, we
-# skip the expensive bootstrap process and linking
 cache:
   directories:
-    - nim
-    - rocksdb
+    - NimBinaries
+    - rocksdbCache
+
+git:
+  # when multiple CI builds are queued, the tested commit needs to be in the last X commits cloned with "--depth X"
+  depth: 10
 
 matrix:
   include:
     - os: linux
       sudo: required
       before_install:
-        - export INSTALL_PATH=/usr
-        - export NPROC=$(nproc)
+        - export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:/usr/local/lib"
     - os: osx
       before_install:
-        - export INSTALL_PATH=$HOME # included in DYLD_FALLBACK_LIBRARY_PATH
-        - export NPROC=$(sysctl -n hw.ncpu)
+        - launchctl setenv LIBRARY_PATH /usr/local/lib # for RocksDB
 
 install:
   # build nim from our own branch - this to avoid the day-to-day churn and
   # regressions of the fast-paced Nim development while maintaining the
   # flexibility to apply patches
-  #
-  # check version of remote branch
-  - "export NIMVER=$(git ls-remote https://github.com/status-im/nim.git HEAD | cut -f 1)"
-
-  # after building nim, wipe csources to save on cache space
-  - "{ [ -f nim/$NIMVER/bin/nim ] && [ -f nim/$NIMVER/bin/nimble ] ; } ||
-      { rm -rf nim ;
-        mkdir -p nim ;
-        git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/status-im/nim.git nim/$NIMVER ;
-        cd nim/$NIMVER ;
-        sh build_all.sh ;
-        rm -rf csources ;
-        cd ../.. ;
-      }"
-  - "export PATH=$PWD/nim/$NIMVER/bin:$PATH"
+  - curl -O -L -s -S https://raw.githubusercontent.com/status-im/nimbus/devel/build_nim.sh
+  - env MAKE="make -j2" bash build_nim.sh Nim csources dist/nimble NimBinaries
+  - export PATH=$PWD/Nim/bin:$PATH
 
   # build our own rocksdb to test with a fixed version that we think works
-  - "export ROCKSDBVER=5.14.2"
-  - "[ -f rocksdb/rocksdb-$ROCKSDBVER/Makefile ] || { rm -rf rocksdb ; mkdir -p rocksdb; cd rocksdb; wget https://github.com/facebook/rocksdb/archive/v$ROCKSDBVER.tar.gz && tar xvf v$ROCKSDBVER.tar.gz; cd ..; }"
-  - cd rocksdb/rocksdb-$ROCKSDBVER
-  - "[ -f util/build_version.cc ] || { make util/build_version.cc ; }" # use cached version if possible
-  - export NO_UPDATE_BUILD_VERSION=1
-  - make shared_lib -j$NPROC && sudo make install-shared
-  - cd ../..
+  - curl -O -L -s -S https://raw.githubusercontent.com/status-im/nimbus/devel/build_rocksdb.sh
+  - bash build_rocksdb.sh rocksdbCache
 
-  # no need to cache, lmdb is small and compile very fast
-  - "export LMDBVER=0.9.22"
-  - "wget https://github.com/LMDB/lmdb/archive/LMDB_$LMDBVER.tar.gz && tar xvf LMDB_$LMDBVER.tar.gz;"
-  - cd lmdb-LMDB_$LMDBVER/libraries/liblmdb && make
+  # no need to cache, lmdb is small and compiles very fast
+  - export LMDBVER="0.9.22"
+  - "wget https://github.com/LMDB/lmdb/archive/LMDB_$LMDBVER.tar.gz && tar xzf LMDB_$LMDBVER.tar.gz;"
+  - cd lmdb-LMDB_$LMDBVER/libraries/liblmdb && make -j2
   - if [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" == "linux" ]]; then sed -i 's| liblmdb.a||' Makefile && sudo make prefix=/usr install; fi
-  - if [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" == "osx" ]]; then sudo cp liblmdb.so /usr/local/lib/liblmdb.dylib; fi
+  - if [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" == "osx" ]]; then sudo cp -a liblmdb.so /usr/local/lib/liblmdb.dylib; fi
   - cd ../../..
 
 script: