Hassan Maishera
Nimiq is opening the second cycle of its Mini Apps Competition on Aug. 24, giving developers, AI builders and indie hackers until Sept. 18 to create open-source applications for Nimiq Pay.
In a press release shared with Cryptowisser, the company said participants will compete for a share of $17,000 in prizes. Cycle II follows an inaugural competition that attracted 62 Mini App submissions.
The initiative is the second of three planned cycles offering builders more than $50,000 in total prizes.
Mini Apps Operate Directly Through Nimiq Pay
The Nimiq Pay Mini Apps Framework allows developers to create and host lightweight web applications that users can access through the payment app.
Nimiq Pay supplies the wallet functionality and payment rails needed by participating applications. Developers retain control over their apps, infrastructure, and intellectual property.
By providing payments at the framework level, Nimiq aims to reduce the amount of supporting infrastructure developers must build before launching a product. This allows participants to focus more closely on their applications and user experiences.
Nimiq’s framework is designed to address some of the barriers developers encounter when distributing applications through traditional mobile app stores.
Builders can make their Mini Apps available to Nimiq Pay users without paying submission fees, platform commissions or revenue-sharing charges. They also avoid having to adapt their products to a third-party platform’s monetization requirements.
“This is an ‘App Store moment’ for crypto payments,” Nimiq Executive Director Max Burger said. “Developers can ship extensions to Nimiq payment experience and put it in front of real users immediately, inside an app where it works with everything else, not in a silo.”
Competition welcomes AI-assisted development
The competition is open to traditional developers, AI builders, vibe coders and indie hackers. Participants are permitted to use artificial intelligence tools throughout the development process.
Eligible submissions can include games, productivity applications, marketplaces, social experiences and other web-based services that operate within Nimiq Pay.
Builders can register and access the Mini Apps Framework, starter resources and full competition rules through the official Mini Apps Competition website.
Nimiq is an open-source technology project currently undergoing a broader strategic and structural evolution, including changes to its direction and the components that make up its ecosystem. As part of this next phase, Nimiq is turning its payment app into a platform: developers build Mini-Apps that extend what the app can do, and distribute them instantly to the Nimiq community — an open framework, immediate reach, and experiences that work together instead of living in silos.
