On April 6th 2022, Huobi Research Institute, the leading blockchain research organization, published a report titled “StepN: Move-to-Earn without the Ponzi Scheme”. StepN is a Web3 running app that rewards users for exercising. Pioneering the Move to Earn concept, StepN has scaled its daily active users to over 74,000 since launching its public beta in December 2021. In January, StepN raised a US$5 million seed round from a leading consortium of investors that included Solana Capital, Alameda Research, and Sequoia Capital.
Built on Solana, StepN rewards users with Green Satoshi Tokens (GSTs) as they move and exercise throughout their day. Players can open loot boxes, mint sneakers, and win different categories of NFTs as they progress throughout the game. Each of these NFTs possess different attributes and can be customized. Key to StepN’s success are its SocialFi features; data can be shared with friends and users can invite others to join and compete. By combining social and online reputation systems, StepN makes Move to Earn a more social, rewarding Web3 community activity.
In the report, Huobi Research Institute researcher Hugo Hou dissects StepN’s business model and predicts that StepN will drive massive growth for Move to Earn, much in the same way that Axie Infinity sparked widespread adoption of the Play to Earn concept. By encouraging healthy habits, the positive reinforcement introduced by Move to Earn incentives have the potential to reach and impact a much wider audience. This is in contrast to typical Play to Earn games, which are increasingly raising the barrier to entry for new gamers and turning gaming into repetitive chores.
“The global gym industry was worth US$96.7 billion in 2020. In the U.S. alone, almost 60 million people participated in running, jogging and trail running in 2017,” said Huobi Research Institute researcher Hugo Hou. “It’s safe to say that Move to Earn could be a massive market, and StepN is well-poised to capture this opportunity.”
To read the full report, click here.
