Build it right.
Then keep building.

MiniPOW Proof of Concept

Prove the mining idea and the basic network before moving onto the tiny hardware Mini Miners was actually intended for.

• MiniPOW concept created
• Basic mining protocol built
• Brief PC reference/test miner proved jobs could be issued, solved and validated
• Initial pool/server communication established
• Shares and rewards recorded

Result: MiniPOW worked. The project moved immediately toward low-power physical miners.

ESP32 Mining

Move MiniPOW onto real, tiny, low-power hardware and prove that it can mine reliably on its own.

• MiniPOW ported to ESP32
• Real ESP32 devices successfully mining MINI
• Multiple ESP32 boards tested
• Standalone Wi-Fi mining with no attached PC
• Wallet and individual miner-name support
• Accepted/rejected share reporting
• Adaptive difficulty working per miner
• Real MiniPOW/s measurement and reporting
• OLED/display support working
• Active miners have accumulated thousands of successful shares each

Result: ESP32 is now the primary Mini Miners platform.

Make It Easy

Create a miner a first-time user can set up without turning Mini Miners into a closed toy for experienced builders.

• Miner setup access point when configuration is needed
• Browser-based local setup
• Wi-Fi, wallet and miner-name configuration
• Persistent saved configuration
• Automatic connection after setup
• Automatic Wi-Fi reconnect
• Cached pool information
• Unattended operation
• No PC required for normal mining
• No Arduino IDE or source editing required for normal users

Result: Plug it in, configure it and mine. Built for newbs. Open for experts.

OTA & Remote Firmware

Make it possible to improve customer miners remotely instead of asking people to manually reflash them.

• OTA manifest system operational
• Remote firmware BIN download
• SHA-256 firmware verification
• Firmware written to the ESP32 OTA partition
• Automatic reboot into updated firmware
• Version comparison prevents repeated installation
• 1.0.4 → 1.0.5 OTA successfully tested on real hardware
• Wi-Fi, miner name and wallet/configuration preserved through the update
• Miner automatically returned to the pool and resumed mining
• Universal OTA image no longer contains personal Wi-Fi/password/wallet/miner configuration

Result: Customer miners can receive firmware improvements without being manually reflashed.

OTA configuration persistence and credential isolation were identified and corrected during testnet hardening — exactly what a testnet is for.

Customer Beta

Put ready-to-run ESP32 Mini Miners into real customer homes and networks.

• ESP32 miner hardware selected
• Firmware and OTA operational
• Website and Live Pool operational
• Mailing list completed
• Store preview created
• Initial miners defined: ESP32 $19.95, IdeaSpark OLED $24.95, large-display Mini Miner $39.95
• Finish public wallet/account signup
• Finish store/order system
• Add actual product photography
• Final customer setup testing
• Package first beta units and finish documentation/FAQ
• Open beta sales

Then: Public beta opens.

Harden & Scale

Use real customer mining to strengthen the network without losing the simplicity of the first miner.

• Larger miner population and more diverse home networks
• Automatic server discovery
• Multiple pool servers and failover
• Database backups and redundancy
• Central/shared miner state where required
• Expanded miner health telemetry and remote firmware-version visibility
• Stronger physical-device identity
• Anti-spoofing and anti-abuse controls
• Account/network/device participation history
• Gradual rewarded-device allowances based on clean participation
• Continued MiniPOW tuning using real-world data

The testnet stays online permanently as the sandbox for new firmware, hardware, servers and protocol changes.

More Ways to Mine MINI

ESP32 is where Mini Miners starts — not necessarily where it ends.

• Android/cell-phone mining option
• Arduino-class boards where the hardware makes MiniPOW practical
• Other Wi-Fi microcontrollers and mini development boards
• Additional ESP32 configurations where practical
• DIY/reference firmware for supported hardware
• Adaptive difficulty and anti-abuse controls across different device classes
• Test every new platform on the permanent testnet before live-network introduction
• Keep the emphasis on small, inexpensive, low-power physical devices

Expand Mini Miner Hardware

Build out the physical Mini Miners family while leaving room for hardware experimentation.

• Solar Mini Miners
• More display options
• Different enclosures and ready-to-run configurations
• Purpose-built Mini Miner boards
• Ultra-low-power versions
• DIY/reference builds
• Advanced and experimental miners
• Hardware optimization for enthusiasts

MINI Blockchain

Move from the initial server-side mining and reward system toward the real MINI blockchain without throwing away the hardware already in miners' hands.

• Build the real MINI blockchain
• Test it on the permanent testnet
• Preserve the MiniPOW philosophy
• Preserve existing ESP32 hardware compatibility wherever practical
• Abstract backend changes from the physical miner
• Deliver miner-side changes through OTA whenever possible
• Normal customers should not suddenly need Arduino, USB flashing or source-code editing
• Develop redundancy and decentralization appropriate to the blockchain network
• Carefully migrate from the initial server-side MINI accounting system

Goal: Update today's miners — don't obsolete them.