How do I create a federation in the Fedi app?

Creating a federation in the Fedi app is very simple and straightforward, taking only a few minutes end to end as the Manifold protocol allows for most of the setup to happen on the back end.

To create a federation, navigate to the Wallet tab and tap the + sign at the top right of the screen. Next, tap Create > Create to kick off the process.

Choose a Guardian Set

The first step is to choose how many guardians you'd like securing your federation's funds. Because fees are split amongst the guardians, there is a tradeoff between revenue & resilience as you adjust the number. More guardians means greater redundancy, but it also means keeping a smaller share of the fees collected.

All guardians are verified by Fedi using an ongoing check to ensure they remain trusted. On this screen, you'll also see the number of guardians that can go offline without affecting the operation of the federation. Fedi recommends a set of 10 guardians, which provides a nice balance of resilience and earning potential.

The total setup cost will be shown for whichever guardian set size you choose. If you tap the Guardian details drop-down, you will be able to see the names of the selected guardians. Lastly, note that the number of guardians can't be changed after it's set. Once you're ready, tap Continue > Confirm X guardians.

Confirm Setup Payment

The next step is to pay for the setup in eCash with funds from an eligible federation wallet. If you don't belong to or have sufficient funds in an eligible federation, the app will walk you through a few steps to join one and top up your wallet. Once you've done that, simply tap Pay & create to continue.

Create your Federation

This screen is merely a placeholder to represent the process happening in the background. It involves transferring the payment to the guardians of your new federation, confirming the guardian set, and bringing the federation online by establishing consensus among them (the setup ceremony).

This process shouldn't take more than a few minutes, and there is no need to wait on the screen while it happens if you don't want to. Once it's complete, you'll see a banner at the top that says "Federation ready." From here, tap Continue to proceed to the next step.

Set the Service Fee

The next step is to set your service fee, which applies to all payment types made by members of your federation: on-chain, Lightning, and eCash. You can set any service fee you'd like, and there is a helpful tool to show how much you would earn based on 100,000 sats transacted. Once you've chosen, tap Continue.

Add a Liquidity Provider

The next screen prompts you to connect a liquidity provider, which enables your members to transact over the Lightning network – including adding funds into and moving funds out of the federation. Here you can either opt for a verified provider requiring no setup on your end, or you can connect your own.

Connecting your own Lightning gateway is an advanced process and requires reading through the linked setup guide thoroughly. Fedi recommends going with a verified provider. You can also skip this step, but no Lightning transactions will be possible until a provider is connected. Once you're ready, tap Continue.

Just as before, the process of the provider connecting to your federation, allocating liquidity, and confirming the setup with the guardians all happens in the background. There is no need to wait on this screen while it does. Instead, tap Continue to complete the setup and access your new federation.