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Overview

Setting up a Fedimint federation is a coordinated process between all guardians. Here's what the full journey looks like.

Before You Start​

Make sure you have:

  • Agreed on guardians. Decide who will be part of the federation and how many guardians you'll have (minimum 4 recommended).
  • A Bitcoin node. Each guardian needs access to a Bitcoin full node. Fedimint can be run using APIs like mempool.space, but that isn't recommended.
  • A server. Each guardian runs a Fedimint node — this can be a Raspberry Pi, a home server, a cloud VPS, or a dedicated node platform like Start9 or Umbrel.
  • A way to coordinate. You'll need to exchange configuration data with your fellow guardians during setup (e.g. via a group chat).

1. Deploy Fedimint​

Each guardian installs and runs Fedimint on their platform. Different guardians can use different platforms as long as they use the same Fedimint version. Pick the guide that matches your setup:

  • Start9 — Run Fedimint as a service on your Start9 personal server.
  • Umbrel — Install Fedimint from the Umbrel app store.
  • Nodana — Managed hosting for Fedimint guardians.
  • Docker — Run Fedimint directly with Docker on any Linux server.

2. Found the Federation​

Once all guardians have their nodes running, you go through the founding process together. This is a one-time event where you configure the federation's identity, generate shared keys, and bring it online. It typically takes 10–15 minutes.

3. After Founding​

Once your federation is running:

  • Share the invite code with your community so they can join from their wallet app.
  • Monitor your node — keep it online and connected. The Guardian UI shows federation status.
  • Set up a Lightning Gateway — this lets your federation members send and receive Lightning payments. Anyone can run a gateway, not just guardians.