What Is Move-to-Earn?
Move to earn (M2E) is a term for decentralized applications that pay users to complete physical activities, such as walking, running, and lifting weights, to earn tokens.
While many think this concept was created after the popularization of Web3, the traditional Web2 world also has these types of applications. Oppizi, for example, is a Web2 application that pays cash for every mile you walk.
How Do Move-to-Earn Apps Work?
M2E applications connect to a user’s phone or other devices to extract data. The best example is Stepn, an application that counts steps. It uses the phone’s GPS to track the user’s location and approximate the number of steps they take. As a reward, users receive tokens.
Other apps like Sweatcoin and MetaGym need to read a user’s heart rate, so they work in tandem with a heart rate monitor. This can be a hardware product like an Apple Watch, a Garmin, or any other monitor that can be connected through Bluetooth.
In terms of underlying technology, all these applications use blockchain technology to operate. They are based on a set of smart contracts responsible for giving rewards, minting new NFTs, and governing the application.
How Users Earn Money with M2E Apps?
Unlike Web2 M2E apps, their Web3 counterparts offer a wider variety of possibilities to earn money. Let’s review the most important ones:
- Exercising: The easiest way to earn additional money on M2E apps is to exercise. Users can use different apps during the same workout, as some pay for cardio, like running, and others pay for weightlifting. Combining Stepn and MetaGym, for example, would allow you to earn during your whole workout session.
- Staking: In some M2Es, players can stake their tokens and earn rewards. Depending on the app and its cryptocurrency, the APR (the percentage of rewards earned out of the sum deposited) can differ a lot. Step App, for example, offers APRs varying from 0.45% to 0.51%.
- Trading: Unlike traditional M2E apps, Web3 M2Es pay in cryptocurrency, which can be traded. Most users simply hold all the crypto they earn in a staking account and sell when they consider the price peaked.
- Competitions: Many M2Es organize competitions and championships, rewarding the most active users with stablecoins or the equivalent in the platform’s native token. Being active and participating in these competitions can earn additional income.
Top M2E Crypto Apps
While tens of M2E crypto apps are available on the market, two of them are known by most crypto gamers. Let’s review them:
Stepn
With a peak market capitalization of $2.28B in 2022, Stepn is by far the biggest M2E project.
The idea of Stepn is simple – move to earn crypto. A user buys an NFT sneaker and starts walking, thus earning rewards in the form of Stepn’s native token, $GMT.
The NFT sneakers can be upgraded and rented inside the application, as well as bought and sold on third-party websites like OpenSea.
Step App
Step App is an Avalanche-based M2E application that inherited most of Stepn’s features and became its biggest competitor.
Their economy is built around sneaker NFTs, and users must walk or run to earn KCAL, the platform’s utility token.
However, Step App introduced two new features that could possibly make it more interesting than Stepn. Let’s review them:
- Micro-transactions: Users can use their credit cards or crypto wallets to buy in-app items such as character skins, map styles, and more.
- Staked Play: Users can create competitions and use their tokens to participate with friends or other players.
Besides those features, the Step App also uses a dual-token economy. Their second token is FITFI, which is used to govern the platform.
Conclusion
To sum everything up, M2E applications combine finances and fitness, motivating users to train hard in exchange for tangible rewards.
The sector is moving fast, with new projects and features being developed daily. With the help of blockchain technology, M2E can change the way fitness is perceived by many.
