Nimiq Opens Its Payment App to Builders With Second $17,000 Mini Apps Competition

Nimiq has opened Cycle II of its Mini Apps Competition, advancing its vision of turning Nimiq Pay from a payment app into an open platform where developers can build, launch and distribute their own applications.

The four-week competition runs until Sept. 18 and offers $17,000 in prizes. It follows a debut cycle that attracted 62 Mini App submissions and is the second of three competition cycles offering more than $50,000 in total prizes.

The bigger idea behind the competition is to give independent builders a more direct path from creating an application to putting it in front of real users.

Through the Nimiq Pay Mini Apps Framework, developers can build and host lightweight web applications that users access directly within Nimiq Pay. Nimiq Pay provides the wallet functionality and payment rails, while builders retain control of their applications, infrastructure and intellectual property.

“This is an 'App Store moment' for crypto payments," said Max Burger, Executive Director at Nimiq. "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."

For developers, this means they can focus more of their time on the product itself. Instead of building separate wallet and payment infrastructure, they can use the functionality already available through Nimiq Pay.

The framework also removes several of the conditions commonly associated with conventional app distribution. Mini Apps can be made available to Nimiq Pay users without submission fees, platform commissions or revenue sharing. Builders continue to own the applications they create and can host them on their own infrastructure.

Cycle II is open to developers, AI builders, vibe coders and indie hackers. Participants can use AI development tools throughout the build process, making the competition accessible to a broader group of creators with ideas for new digital experiences.

Eligible applications can include games, productivity tools, marketplaces, social experiences and other web apps. Each submission has the potential to extend what users can do within Nimiq Pay while becoming part of a connected app environment rather than operating as a separate product.

The competition represents an early step in Nimiq’s renewed vision for payments. By opening its payment app to external builders, Nimiq aims to create an ecosystem where new applications can reach its community immediately, work alongside one another and expand the capabilities of Nimiq Pay.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.