FAQ
Frequently asked questions about MINERAL Protocol.
General
What is MINERAL?
MINERAL is a dual mining protocol on Base L2 that combines two mining mechanisms:
- Auction Mining: Dutch auction competition for token-emitting veins (earn MINERAL tokens)
- Block Mining: 5x5 grid lottery with Chainlink VRF (win ETH)
Both mechanisms generate revenue that flows into buyback & burn, staking rewards, and auto-liquidity.
What chain is MINERAL on?
Base L2 — Coinbase's Ethereum Layer 2 network built on the OP Stack. Base offers low gas fees (~$0.01), fast transactions (2-second blocks), and Ethereum-level security.
Is MINERAL a fair launch?
Yes. There is no VC allocation, no pre-sale, and no team token allocation. ~92.86% of the 21M supply is distributed through mining emissions. Initial allocations (LP + Dev) are capped at 10% maximum by the smart contract constructor.
What wallet do I need?
Any EVM-compatible wallet that supports Base L2:
- MetaMask
- Coinbase Wallet
- Rabby
- Rainbow
- Or any WalletConnect-compatible wallet
How do I get ETH on Base?
- Coinbase: Withdraw ETH directly to Base
- Bridge: Use the official Base bridge (bridge.base.org) from Ethereum
- CEX: Some exchanges support direct Base withdrawals
- Fiat on-ramp: Coinbase Wallet supports direct purchase
Auction Mining
How does Auction Mining work?
Four mining veins (Amethyst, Emerald, Sapphire, Ruby) emit MINERAL tokens per second. To mine, you pay ETH in a Dutch auction to take over a vein. You earn tokens until someone outbids you, at which point you receive 80% of what they paid.
What is a Dutch auction?
A pricing mechanism where the price starts high and decreases over time. In MINERAL, the vein price decays linearly from the last paid price (doubled) down to a minimum price over the auction duration. You can mine at any point — earlier means higher price but guaranteed position; later means lower price but risk of someone else mining first.
How much does mining cost?
The price depends on:
- When the last mine occurred (price resets and decays from 2x the last paid price)
- How long ago the auction started (price decreases over time)
- Market demand (popular veins get mined more frequently at higher prices)
The minimum auction price on mainnet is 0.01 ETH. Prices start higher and decay down to this floor over 1 hour.
What are unrefined tokens?
Mining rewards are initially credited as unrefined MINERAL — a non-transferable balance in the RefineVault. To convert them to tradeable ERC20 MINERAL tokens, you must call refine(). A 10% fee is deducted and redistributed to other unrefined holders.
Should I refine immediately or wait?
It depends on your strategy:
- Refine early: Pay the 10% fee but get tokens sooner (sell, stake, or LP)
- Wait: Earn a share of other users' refine fees (your unrefined balance grows)
- Last to refine: If you're the last holder, the fee is waived (you get 100%)
What is pool mining?
You can deposit ETH to a vein's pool instead of mining directly. The pool accumulates ETH from multiple users and mines when it has enough. Rewards (tokens + ETH) are distributed pro-rata. Useful for passive participation.
Block Mining
How does Block Mining work?
- A 5x5 grid (25 squares) opens for ~60 seconds
- Deploy ETH onto any squares you choose
- Chainlink VRF selects one winning square randomly
- Winners split 90% of all deployed ETH, proportional to their deployment on the winning square
- 3% goes to the Motherlode jackpot, 3% to stakers, 4% to treasury
Can I lose my ETH in Block Mining?
Yes. If none of your chosen squares is the winning square, you lose your deployed ETH for that round. The ETH goes to winners, the Motherlode, stakers, and treasury. Block Mining is a competitive game with real risk.
What are the odds of winning?
If you deploy on one square: 4% chance (1 in 25) per round. If you spread across multiple squares, your probability increases proportionally. Deploying on all 25 squares guarantees you're on the winning square, but you only profit from others' losing deployments.
What is the Motherlode?
A progressive jackpot that accumulates 3% of each round's total deployed ETH. Every round, there's a 1 in 625 chance (~0.16%) that the Motherlode triggers. When it does, the entire accumulated jackpot is added to that round's winner pool.
What happens if no one deployed on the winning square?
The winner pool and any Motherlode fee for that round roll into the Motherlode pool. Nothing is locked or lost. This makes the Motherlode grow faster, increasing the jackpot for future rounds.
How is the winner selected?
Chainlink VRF v2.5 — an oracle-based verifiable random function. The contract sends a request to the Chainlink network, which generates a random number with a cryptographic proof. The proof is verified on-chain before the number is used. No party (not the protocol, not miners, not even Chainlink) can predict or manipulate the result.
Is this gambling?
MINERAL's Block Mining is a competitive on-chain game where players deploy capital and compete for returns based on randomness. Players should be aware that deployed ETH can be lost if their squares don't win. As with any DeFi protocol, only deploy what you can afford to lose.
What if the VRF doesn't respond?
After 300 blocks (~10 minutes) without a VRF response, anyone can call reRequestRandomness() to send a new request. The protocol is designed to never get permanently stuck.
Staking
How does staking work?
Stake MINERAL tokens in one of five tiers (Flex through Diamond) to earn ETH rewards from protocol mining revenue. Higher tiers require longer lock periods but receive a larger share of rewards.
What do stakers earn?
Real ETH — not inflationary token emissions. Staking rewards come from:
- 3% of all Auction Mining revenue
- 3% of all Block Mining revenue
This is real yield generated by actual mining activity.
Can I unstake early?
Yes, but with a penalty. Each tier has an early unstake penalty:
- Flex: 0% (no lock, no penalty)
- Bronze: 5% (7-day lock)
- Silver: 10% (30-day lock)
- Gold: 25% (180-day lock)
- Diamond: 40% (365-day lock)
Penalty tokens go to the treasury.
Why is there a 2-day claim delay?
After staking, you must wait 2 days before claiming rewards or unstaking. This prevents flash-loan attacks where someone borrows tokens, stakes them, claims accumulated rewards, and repays the loan — all in one transaction.
Can I stake in multiple tiers?
Yes. You can have active stakes in multiple tiers simultaneously. claimAll() lets you claim from all tiers in one transaction.
Tokenomics
What is the total supply?
21,000,000 MINERAL — hard-coded in the smart contract. This cap can never be increased. The mint() function enforces totalSupply + amount <= 21,000,000 * 10^18 on every call.
Is MINERAL deflationary?
Yes. Three mechanisms reduce supply:
- Buyback & Burn: 8% of Auction Mining revenue buys MINERAL and burns it
- Refine Fee: 10% of refined tokens are redistributed (not new supply)
- Auto-LP: 3% of revenue removes tokens from circulation via LP
As mining activity continues, buyback burns permanently reduce circulating supply.
What is halving?
Every 28 days (one epoch), mining emission rates can decrease by a configured percentage (e.g., 50%). This mirrors Bitcoin's halving but at a much faster pace. It means fewer new tokens enter circulation over time, increasing scarcity.
How long until all tokens are mined?
With 50% decay per epoch, approximately:
- 50% mined: ~2 months
- 90% mined: ~8 months
- 99% mined: ~2 years
Actual timing depends on mining participation (tokens only emit when veins are actively mined).
Security
Are the contracts audited?
Yes. MINERAL has undergone 3 independent audit rounds:
- V1: Comprehensive review (4 findings, all fixed)
- V2: Fix verification (all fixes confirmed)
- V3: Final review (202 checks passed, 0 failed)
Full audit reports are available in the Security & Audits section.
Are the contracts upgradeable?
No. All contracts are immutable — no proxy patterns, no delegatecall, no selfdestruct. Once deployed, the code cannot be changed.
Can the owner steal funds?
No. The owner cannot:
- Access user deposits or staked tokens
- Manipulate VRF results (Chainlink external oracle)
- Change revenue splits (immutable)
- Mint tokens beyond the 21M cap (enforced on-chain)
- Withdraw the Motherlode or unclaimed winner pools (tracked balance accounting)
The owner can pause mining (emergency stop), update admin addresses (with 1-day timelock), and manage keeper lists for executors.
What if the owner's key is compromised?
All critical admin actions have timelocks (1-day delay), giving the community time to react. Ownership uses Ownable2Step — transferring ownership requires the new owner to explicitly accept it, preventing accidental transfers.
Is there a bug bounty?
A bug bounty program via Immunefi is planned for post-launch. Details will be announced.
Technical
What tech stack does MINERAL use?
| Layer | Technology |
|---|---|
| Smart Contracts | Solidity ^0.8.24 |
| Framework | Foundry |
| Libraries | OpenZeppelin v5.x |
| Randomness | Chainlink VRF v2.5 |
| Frontend | Next.js, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS |
| Wallet | Privy (social + web3 login) |
| Chain | Base L2 (OP Stack) |
Is the source code open?
Yes. All smart contract source code is publicly available on GitHub and verified on Basescan.
How much gas does mining cost on Base?
Typical costs:
- Auction Mine: ~$0.01-0.05
- Block Mining Deploy: ~$0.01-0.03
- Claim: ~$0.01
- Stake/Unstake: ~$0.01
Gas costs on Base are a fraction of Ethereum L1.