BlockShop is a user-friendly, decentralized marketplace for digital goods (images, PDFs, music, e-books, and other files). It combines a modern web storefront with blockchain-backed ownership and IPFS file storage so creators can sell digital items directly to buyers with minimal friction.
This repository contains the frontend (Next.js), smart contract code (Hardhat + Solidity), and helper scripts used during development and deployment.
Why this matters for everyday people
- You keep control: files are stored on IPFS and sales are recorded on-chain — no single company can take down your purchases.
- Simple buying experience: connect a wallet, pay, and get immediate access to your file.
- Fair payouts for creators: the marketplace automatically distributes payments (configurable fee split), no middleman required.
How the website works (high level)
- Sellers upload a file using the web UI. The file is stored on IPFS (via a storage provider) and the UI stores metadata off-chain for browsing.
- To list a product, the seller creates an on-chain listing in the Marketplace contract, which records the product's CID and price.
- A buyer connects a web3 wallet (e.g., MetaMask or WalletConnect) and purchases a product with MATIC (this project targets Polygon Amoy testnet in development).
- The smart contract records the purchase and distributes funds automatically (platform fee + seller payout).
- The UI verifies purchase ownership and allows the buyer to download the file from IPFS (download access is gated by on-chain purchase records and optional server-side checks).
Security and privacy (what we do and what you should know)
- Decentralized storage: files use IPFS CIDs — the project does not rely on a single centralized storage provider for file availability.
- Minimal server exposure: upload endpoints should be implemented server-side so API keys are never exposed in the browser. The repo includes secure upload proxy patterns in the Next.js API routes.
- On-chain access control: purchases are recorded on-chain; the UI checks ownership before revealing download links.
- Signature-based downloads: for extra safety, downloads can be authorized with wallet signatures so only the buyer who purchased a CID can request the file.
- Important note: this is an open-source project used for learning and testnets — for production deployments you should audit contracts, secure environment variables, and run penetration tests.
Quick start (developer)
- Requirements
- Node.js 18+ and npm/yarn/pnpm
- A Polygon Amoy testnet wallet (for local testing)
- Smart contracts (locally)
- cd contracts
- Create a
.envwith keys: AMOY_RPC_URL, PRIVATE_KEY, POLYGONSCAN_API_KEY (optional), FEE_RECIPIENT, PLATFORM_FEE_BPS - npm install
- npm run build
- npm run deploy:amoy
- Web app (locally)
- cd web
- Create a
.envwith: NEXT_PUBLIC_WALLETCONNECT_ID, NEXT_PUBLIC_MARKETPLACE_ADDRESS (deployed address), WEB3_STORAGE_TOKEN, GEMINI_API_KEY (optional) - npm install
- npm run dev
- Open http://localhost:3000
How to use the site (for normal users)
- Explore: browse available products and preview product information.
- Buy: connect a wallet, click buy, approve the transaction, and the marketplace transfers the file access to you.
- Sell: upload your file, set a price, and publish the listing. The contract handles payments and fee splits automatically.
Where to look in this repo
web/— Next.js frontend and API routescontracts/— Solidity smart contract and deployment scriptsscripts/— deployment and helper scripts
Notes & next steps for production
- Audit contracts before any real-money deployment.
- Use a secure storage provider and ensure server-side upload endpoints keep keys secret.
- Consider adding end-to-end tests for purchase and download flows and automated contract verification on the desired network.