NFT traders STEPN to a new groove — Is move-to-earn the future of fitness or another fad?

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Axi Infinity was a pioneer in the earn-for-money movement and the project inspired new Web3 applications that aspire to implement the earning model in their respective ecosystem.

The latest project to join the move-to-earn movement is STEPN, a Solana-based Web3 application where NFT sneaker owners earn on the go.

STEPN has programmed certain factors that determine how much a person can earn from their sneakers and the Green Satoshi Token (GST) is STEPN’s in-game token which currently trades for $7.30. The coin is up over 77% in the past 30 days, but is it sustainable?

GST Monthly Price Action. Source: CoinGecko

The interesting thing about the move-to-earn phenomenon is that it is essentially a form of P2E as it simplifies fitness through a digital asset (sneaker). No matter how one chops it, NFT holders must engage in the application mechanics in order to receive the reward.

While STEPN is now making some serious profits for investors, a growing number of competitors are already emerging and new earnings models may soon make it nothing more than a passing fad. Play-to-earn was all the rage in 2021, but now the movement is just a shadow of its former self. This should cause investors to question the stability of the move-to-earn trend.

Move-to-earn dapps go parabolic

Promotion of behavior is not a new concept, especially in the field of health and fitness. In fact, SweatCoin, a project founded in 2018, was one of the first applications that would pay its users digital currency to exercise.

There are other crypto fitness applications such as dotmoves, calo and step, each with their respective in-app reward tokens. This means that Stepan is not leading the movement, but it may revive it.

The project is currently in beta with new users requiring a code to participate. In a branding and packaging move-to-earn, STEPN gained popularity among crypto and NFT pundits and there was a parabolic spike in upward growth. Cumulatively, STEPN has amassed over 200,000 users with consistent volume over its lifetime. Over 32,800 new sneakers have been created in the last 7 days.

The cumulative number of STEPN shoes minted. Source: DuneAnalytics

On average, a STEPN sneaker can earn a user up to $20 per day, while a premium tier sneaker can earn users hundreds of dollars at the current cost of GST.

Similar to Axi Infinity, users must first make an initial capital investment in order to earn rewards. 99,999 NXT sneakers were available to mint, but like the Axi Infinity, users could reproduce their sneakers during sneaker minting events (SMEs).

On Magic Eden, a secondary marketplace, the cheapest Steppen sneaker is on sale for 16.56 SOL ($1,628) and the most expensive is 300 SOL ($29,493).

There are many types of sneaker, along with the qualities and levels of quality a sneaker can achieve with the effect it can achieve.

The durability of the cellular signal and the strength of the user’s Global Positioning System (GPS) play an integral role in earnings. If either the GPS or the signal is unstable, there is no guarantee that data is being recorded, and STEPN relies on knowing the distance a person has traveled to earn rewards.

STEPN is currently in beta with new users requiring a code to participate. By branding and packaging Move-to-Earn, it has gained popularity among crypto and NFT pundits and has led to an upward trend.

Cumulatively, STEPN has over 223,500 users and it currently dominates the move-to-earn landscape by total market capitalization. Its governance token, the Green Metaverse Token (GMT), is 20x higher than all other movement economy tokens, making it a desirable bet.

Web3 applications ready to race

Steppen isn’t alone in the race to earn money, and recently Step App, a dapp on the Avalanche blockchain, emerged as a competitor, aiming to tap into the $100 billion fitness industry.

The Step app features multiple token emissions, with FITFI, a governance token, and KCAL tokens earned in-game. However, any type of token emission has the risk that it becomes a vacuum for value extraction. To reduce the possibility of inflation, the Step app will integrate Token Sync into its tokens and the burning mechanism will remove the token from circulation indefinitely.

Unlike Steppen and Sweat Coin, the Step app will create a software development kit that provides tools for others to build within its metaverse. As such, it is more Web3 native and can potentially reduce the constraints that hinder the overall scalability of the product.

It is still uncertain how these move-to-earn applications will counter saturation, and how well their token mechanics can maintain a healthy price point once these applications are serving millions of users. There is also a potential decline risk in active users because maintaining an exercise regimen is stronger than habit-building and intrinsic motivations rather than extrinsic rewards.

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Since most of these move-to-earn applications require capital, users should be aware of price action, volatility, growth and movement, the saturation of the economy and the level of activity required to break or profit. .

If the move-to-earn ecosystem develops and gains greater popularity, it may be harder to turn physical activity into a benefit. As more users want to convert their physical activity to cash, this affects the token price and could increase the price of entry. As such, these applications are working to combat the manipulation of fraudulent inputs of exercise as an exploit for maximum earnings.

In theory, move-to-move-in applications for earning are well-intended for health and wellness focused. However, the success of these models stems from incentives, and indeed, habit-forming attempts to influence behavior.

Studies show that habits are more easily maintained through personal intrinsic motivations (which are difficult to quantify) rather than extrinsic rewards. Therefore, there are fundamental factors to consider when investing in move-to-earn movements for the long term.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, so you should do your own research when making a decision.