Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about miniMerch and Minima
Everything you need to know about miniMerch and Minima
Minima is a Layer-1 blockchain that runs completely on-device. Unlike other blockchains that require powerful servers or mining hardware, Minima nodes can run on phones, IoT devices, or regular computers. This makes it perfect for truly decentralized applications like miniMerch.
Every Minima node participates in consensus, making the network extremely decentralized and secure. There's no mining or staking - all tokens are generated through running the node and contributing to network security.
For buying and browsing: No, you can use public nodes or access Minima through other apps.
For selling with miniMerch: Yes, your node needs to be online to receive orders. However, Minima's mobile app runs efficiently in the background with minimal battery drain. For desktop, you can run Minima during business hours and check orders periodically.
Think of it like running a web server - you need to be online to receive customers, but you don't need enterprise-grade uptime for a small shop.
Yes. Minima uses advanced cryptography for transaction validation and message encryption. The 24-word recovery phrase is based on BIP-39 standards (same as Bitcoin and Ethereum), and all sensitive data is encrypted using your node's private keys.
The miniMerch protocol encrypts delivery addresses so only you can read them - customers, other vendors, and even miniMerch itself cannot access this information.
miniMerch is a decentralized e-commerce solution built on the Minima blockchain. It allows anyone to create a shop that:
Think of it as "Shopify meets Web3" - but without the company that can shut you down.
Anything legal! miniMerch supports:
You control shipping options, prices, and product details. Use generate for a single-product shop or generate-multi to create a shop with up to 40 products — all in one ZIP file, with a built-in shopping cart.
Customers can pay with:
Payments go directly to your Minima wallet address - no intermediary, no payment processor, no escrow. You receive the funds instantly (or after your node syncs the block).
miniMerch fees: None. There's no monthly fee, no transaction percentage, and no setup fee.
Network fees: There are minimal blockchain transaction fees (usually fractions of a cent) for sending orders and payments. These are paid by the customer when they send their payment.
Compared to platforms like Shopify (29/month + 2.9% per transaction), miniMerch is completely free to use.
Yes! Unlike Shopify, WooCommerce, or other platforms where your store can be deleted by the company, your miniMerch shop is tied to your Minima node and the generated MiniDapp files.
As long as you run a node and host your shop files somewhere, your shop exists. There's no company that can:
Buyers see a clean shop MiniDapp showing your products with images, descriptions, and prices in USD (and the Minima equivalent). Multi-product shops display all items in a responsive grid on desktop, or as a scrollable list on mobile.
Buyers can add multiple items to a shopping cart and check out in a single transaction — one encrypted order message and one payment covers everything in the cart.
At checkout they enter their delivery address, which is encrypted before being sent. No one else — not other customers, not miniMerch, not anyone — can read it except you.
You share your shop URL directly with customers. Options include:
Unlike traditional e-commerce, there's no app store or marketplace. You control how customers find and access your shop.
miniMerch uses end-to-end encryption for all sensitive data:
This means even if someone hacks the blockchain or your node, they cannot see customer addresses.
No. Payment transactions go directly on-chain between the customer and your wallet. You see:
You do not see:
Your Minima funds: Without the 24-word recovery phrase, you cannot access your Minima wallet. This is why it's critical to write it down and store it securely.
Your miniMerch shop: The shop files are generated locally. If you lose them, you can regenerate them from your miniMerch configuration. Keep a backup of your config.json file.
Order history: Stored in your local node's database. Without a backup, you won't be able to see past orders.
A MiniDapp is like a web app, but with a crucial difference:
This means:
To update product info or prices:
mini-merch generate (single product) or mini-merch generate-multi (multi-product) againNote: Existing orders are not affected by shop updates - they're tied to the original transaction.
Yes! Use the generate-multi command to create a shop with up to 40 products in a single MiniDapp ZIP file. The interactive wizard walks you through adding each product one by one.
On desktop, buyers see all products displayed side by side in a grid. On a phone, products are shown one at a time in a scrollable carousel. In both cases, buyers can add items from any product to their cart and check out in one transaction.
All products in a multi-product shop share the same shipping options and checkout flow.
Yes! You can create multiple miniMerch shops for different products or businesses. Each shop generates its own MiniDapp files and can have different:
All orders from all shops will appear in your miniMerch Inbox.
Minima is a decentralized blockchain - it doesn't have a single point of failure. If some nodes go offline, the network continues.
If Minima as a project were to fail entirely:
This is a risk with any platform - centralized or decentralized. We believe Minima's technical design makes this outcome very unlikely.
For miniMerch-specific help:
For Minima blockchain questions:
miniMerch is open source! Contributions welcome: