Introducing Manifold

Create a federation and provide community custody

Manifold is an open protocol used to help set up a federation without running the servers yourself. Trusted, verified Guardians secure your community’s funds, you pay in bitcoin, and Manifold handles the setup.

Create a federationSoon Become a guardian
100% open source Verified guardians Simple set up process
Open development·github.com/fedibtc/manifold
Live · 10/10 guardians online
No single key holderthe guardians hold it together
Members pay each otherinstantly, in ecash
How it works

Community custody, ready to deploy

The Ambassador starts the federation. Guardians secure it. Members transact inside it, in ecash.

Federation Ambassador Your federation members pay each other, in ecash PeerBadge verifiedPeerBadge verified PeerBadge verifiedPeerBadge verified PeerBadge verifiedPeerBadge verified PeerBadge verifiedPeerBadge verified PeerBadge verifiedPeerBadge verified PeerBadge verifiedPeerBadge verified PeerBadge verifiedPeerBadge verified

In this example, 7 guardians protect the federation. Each one is verified and runs on a different independent operator’s hardware.

For Federation Ambassadors

Provide community custody

A safer way for any group to hold money together, without one person holding the keys.

Your guardian set, assembled for you

You decide how many guardians secure your federation. Manifold fills each seat with an independent, verified operator. No searching, vetting, or negotiating required.

Earn when your members transact

Set a fee for every transaction made by the members, and your share lands in your wallet balance as it happens.

A gold bitcoin coin floating in the open centre of a frosted glass ring
Create a federationSoon
Federations, faster

Deliver Community Custody in a few steps.

  1. Open the Wallet tab

  2. Create

  3. Choose how many guardians

  4. Pay once for the whole set

  5. Set your fee

  6. Your federation is ready

For Guardians

Protect money that matters, and earn for it

Hold a trusted role in a group’s money without taking sole custody of it, and earn a share of the fees for every federation you help secure.

Help secure a group’s funds

Serve as one of several guardians for funds that groups rely on. Each guardian is accountable for their role, and none has sole control.

Five hands each resting a fingertip on one of five frosted glass blocks holding gold coins

You never see who holds what

Guardians secure the federation’s funds with no view of any individual balance. It is not a rule you are asked to follow, it is simply not something a guardian can see.

How to become a guardian
Guardian Setup

Earn sats by supporting federations

Every federation needs guardians. If you already run an Umbrel or Start9, you can hold multiple guardian seats for communities that want community custody.

01

Install on your node platform

One click on UmbrelOS or StartOS. An x86 Linux path too.

02

Open your guardian seats

Set your capacity and price once. Federation Ambassadors are matched to you automatically.

03

Help keep federations running

Stay online, keep your keys safe. The fees keep arriving.

Run it on the hardware you already have

Start9

Plug and play. A federation in minutes on StartOS.

Umbrel

Run a seat on your own Umbrel, solo or alongside other guardians.

Mini PC

Any x86 mini PC on Linux. Run the guardian software straight from the container.

See the step by step guide
Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Manifold?
Manifold is an open protocol that helps you quickly set up a federation for your community, choose guardians to help secure it, and earn fees.
Who runs my federation day-to-day?
Guardians do. They hold the keys and run the servers, so there is nothing for you to operate day to day. Your federation keeps running on their hardware while your share of the fees lands in your balance.
How do I know if the Guardians are trustworthy?
Every operator hosting a guardian seat is verified before they can take it. A real person has vouched for them, the credential can be checked by anyone, and it can be revoked if it no longer holds.
How is this different from setting up a federation the usual way?
In the DIY method, you find your own guardians, every one of them installs and runs a server, and you coordinate the setup between them. In the chat-based G-Bot method, you paid a monthly fee and selected from vetted guardians. With Manifold, it is a simple process and a one-time payment. From there, Manifold finds verified independent guardians, fills the guardian seats, and runs the key ceremony. You get to a running federation faster, without having to assemble it yourself.
Can I bring my own guardians?
Not yet. Manifold fills every seat from the pool of verified operators, and it spreads your seats across different operators on purpose, so no single operator holds too many of them. If people in your community want to take part, they can run the guardian software and open seats of their own, but Manifold cannot pin those seats to your federation today.
Who is Manifold for?
Communities that want a federation of their own without running the infrastructure behind it: nobody to recruit, no servers to keep online, and no one person holding the keys. If you already run a federation with guardians you chose yourself, nothing about it changes.
How do I pay for the setup?
You pay the guardians in ecash, from an eligible federation. The app shows which of your federations are eligible, and if your balance is short it guides you through topping it up before you pay.
What if an operator drops out?
During formation, the app proposes replacements for you to approve. Once live, the Guardians absorb downtime, which is exactly what the extra guardians are for.

Bring community custody to your community with Manifold

Create a federation or become a Guardian and help bring community custody to more people.

Create a federationSoon Become a guardian
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