What is MoveToEarn and the Rise of the STEPN Cryptocurrency Document
New applications, technologies and a significant push towards Web3-styled businesses have brought a new innovation to the market that promises to disrupt the fitness industry: Move2Earn. Sometimes called Burn2Earn, Move2Earn fuses biotechnology and the blockchain. One such application is STEPN, an application built on the Solana blockchain that allows users to earn rewards by walking or jogging.
What is MoveToEarn?
Move2Earn incorporates Game-Fi and NFT aspects found in the Play2Earn model and rewards users for maintaining a healthier lifestyle. Participants earn rewards by maintaining a healthier lifestyle and using their natural movements to earn money. Wearable devices, step counters and GPS can be used to track habits and reward users with tokens.
STEPN is a Move2Earn sports app that includes blockchain token incentives. Users can earn tokens by walking, jogging or running. There’s also a fun gamification element - treasure boxes are dropped randomly during walking. Millions of people have already signed up and half a million are active users. The goal of STEPN is to encourage people to do more exercise, through real incentives.
To participate, users have to download the STEPN app and purchase an NFT representing a virtual pair of sneakers. The GPS tracking and motion sensor will monitor how far they’ve travelled and provide them with tokens as rewards that can be spent inside the game or cashed out. According to the founders, users can earn a minimum of $25 per 10 minutes of activity, with some users earning several thousand dollars a day. Most use their earnings to buy new “sneakers” in the game, trade with others or even donate their earnings to their favorite charity.
Is Participating in MoveToEarn Worth It?
There is a slight catch to MoveToEarn. To participate in STEPN, you need to purchase NFT sneakers, priced in Sol. Sol varies in value, but even the cheapest sneakers will cost more than your average pair of Nikes. In May 2022, the cheapest pair cost $872.47.
STEPN hopes to combat this heavy barrier to entry by introducing a sneaker rental system whereby new players can rent sneakers from owners and split the revenue with them until they earn enough to buy their own. This will help STEPN break into new territories and access a broader demographic. STEPN’s token prices have increased rapidly since its launch, making it even more attractive as they continue to grow. STEPN has also announced an interesting collaboration with ASICS, which released branded sneakers on the app as a limited release.
While many crypto companies come and go, the premise of MoveToEarn is very enticing: users who already exercise are rewarded for activities they do anyway, and people who want to get healthier will be enticed to exercise through cash rewards. The app earns money through the minting and selling of sneaker NFTs and from refilling users’ virtual energy. Unlike play2earn protocols that only appeal to gamers, the addressable market of STEPN is much larger. Half a billion people use fitness track apps already, and billions of people walk or run for pleasure or fitness.
That doesn’t mean there isn’t a downside. STEPN’s native GMT token is hard to value. But the developers can support or cool off prices through their actions, e.g. increasing the number of GMT needed to level up your sneakers, which boosts demand for GMT. (This has already happened, by the way!) GMT is burned when spent on level ups, decreasing the supply. After GMT decreased, developers pushed an update that substitute GST tokens for GMT as the token temporarily required to mint new NFTs. GST tokens are utility tokens used to buy goods in the app, they can be minted through basic movements and are available in an unlimited supply. These changes can contribute to price sustainability - a feature that contributes to the longevity of the app. The only downside to this is that if the NFT’s prices climb, fewer people will be able to afford the app. It will require delicate manipulation and evaluation to maintain the right balance needed over time.
STEPN Cryptocurrency Document
STEPN published its whitepaper in 2021. In it, they state that they would like to “nudge millions towards a healthier lifestyle, combat climate change and connect the public to Web 3.0”. While the company (and even the concept!) is in its infancy, STEPN’s founders have strong entrepreneurial, crypto and gaming experience. The Beta version was launched at the Solana Ignition Hackaton in 2021 and finished in fourth place against hundreds of projects. Advancements and improvements have been made, showing that their team has the technical prowess required to succeed.
STEPN really does want to get the public moving. Even people who are not fit can gain an income through the “Move” feature - simply walking or strolling will earn rewards. The minimum requirement is a mere ten minutes of exercise per day. This makes it easy for anyone to participate.
The project is also committed to the environment. STEPN donates part of its profit to combat climate change and users will be able to donate their GST earnings to Carbon Credit Buying or Burning if they choose.
Conclusion
STEPN is one of several exciting MoveToEarn projects on the market, and it's already a huge success. While STEPN is limited to a few markets, many will follow around the globe. The combination of gaming, exercising, socializing and incentivizing holds real promise, so keep an eye on early coin discovery sites like Coinscope to avoid missing out on the next big MoveToEarn project.
