If you ask me to name an industry where blockchain has revolutionized the way it operates, without skipping a beat, my answer will be gaming. After the success of Axie Infinity (AXS), which is a blockchain game built around play to earn concept, there’s a flood of gaming projects in the crypto space.
The new gaming projects have gone a step further and expanded into innovative concepts like “contribute to earn” by Metapreme. Amid the noise, there’s one project that has successfully amalgamated GameFi with a healthy lifestyle.
Ranked 4th among the 500+ projects on Solana Ignition Hackathon 2021, STEPN is a revolutionary web3 lifestyle app that is built around “move to earn” rewarding concept. Powered by NFT Sneakers, the project has already gained traction from top investors. It is the right time we dig in and uncover the potential of the STEPN Web3 app and understand what it has to offer –
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What is STEPN?
STEPN is Australia based first move-to-earn web3 lifestyle app built on the Solana blockchain. Powered by NFT Sneakers, it encourages and rewards anyone leading a healthy lifestyle. The app integrates SocialFi and GameFi elements that add a layer of economics and social connectivity among its users.
It rewards movement of the body like walking, running or jogging outdoors. The more you run, the more your earn the game currency which can be used to purchase in-game items or take profits.
The game is also integrating the renting model (Rent Now Pay Later) in which the owner can rent his Sneakers to other players who can use the NFT Sneakers to earn game tokens and part of the earnings goes to the owner.
We're at #BinanceBlockchainWeek ⚡️
— STEPN | Public Beta Phase V (@Stepnofficial) September 15, 2022
Stop by the booth to meet the #STEPN crew, grab some merch and receive an activation code to join the Move and Earn Movement. pic.twitter.com/29p3V5ciq1
STEPN App is live on both iOS Apple store and Google Play Store
STEPN Tokens:
Just like Star Atlas Game on Solana blockchain, STEPN has two in-game tokens –
- Green Satoshi Token (GST)
- Green Metaverse Token (GMT)
Green Satoshi Token:
Green Satoshi Token or GST is the Game token in STEPN app. It is minted everytime the user moves i.e walk, jogs or runs. The token helps drive the economy of STEPN ecosystem and is burnt by a set of events like Shoe-minting, repair, Leveling up Sneakers, Upgrades and resetting Sneaker attributes.
Green Satoshi token has unlimited supply
Green Metaverse Token:
Green Metaverse Token or GMT is the native governance token of STEPN app. It is minted at the token generation event and has the following utility –
- Governance
- Staking Rewards
- Accrual of protocol revenue
Governance:
Governance gives direct voting power to the holder of GMT tokens. Users can lock their tokens to participate in the key proposals that can help evolve or shape the direction of the project. Remember, the longer the locking period, the higher will be the voting power.
Staking Rewards:
Token holders hold STEPN treasury and vote to decide the distribution of staking rewards.
Accrual of Protocol Revenue:
GMT is burnt to access in-app features like Sneakers minting & upgrades etc. There are many ways to burn GMT that ranges from governance participation to Sneaker attribute reset.
The total supply of GMT is capped at 6 billion tokens
STEPN Tokenomics:
GMT token distribution and vesting schedule can be seen from the image shared below –
60% of the share will be divided between move-to-earn & governance participation (30%) and the remainder (30%) will be allocated to the Ecosystem fund for community events and giveaways. Move-to-earn will start after the listing of GMT on the exchanges and when STEPN will release the desired daily active user count.
The total release of GMT will be halved every three years (15%, 7.5%,3.25%)
GMT Token Sale (IEO):
GMT is offered on Binance launched via IEO on 10th March 2022. The token is offered at a sale price of just 0.01 USD with 10% initial circulating supply. Participate in the IEO now, details below –
STEPN TEAM Members:
The core team members are listed below –
Jerry Huang:
Jerry is the co-founder of STEPN and Falafel games. He has a decade long experience in game development and marketing strategies that resulted in impressive game downloads in the iOS app store. Checkout his Linkedin profile for details.
Yawn Rong:
Yawn is the co-founder of STEPN. He is an angel investor and start-up incubator with expertise in scaling small startups to national brands. Before joining STEPN, Yawn served as a business ambassador for Algorand (Algo coin). Reach out to his Linkedin profile for details.
Jessica Duan:
Jessica Duan is the Chief Strategy Officer at STEPN. She has a decade long experience in client consulting services and building teams that work. Checkout her Linkedin profile for details.
Ryan Turner:
Ryan is the Lead designer at STEPN and also the founder of Malicious Delicious. He is responsible for the complete project and product design creating unique brands and identities.
How STEPN work for a user?
Using STEPN app is as easy as using any other app running on your mobile device. It’s a simple 5 step process, listed below –
- Download the STEPN app
- Sign-Up with your email account
- Create a new wallet (Solana based)
- Transfer SOL to your wallet
- Purchase Sneaker from the Marketplace
NFT Sneakers are purchased using SOL tokens (at the moment) on its marketplace. Once purchased and activated, the app will track your movement and reward GST based on the distance covered and the running speed of the chosen sneakers.
In 2021 we saw incredible hype around NFTs with the the NFT market becaming a $40 billion market. In this article we explore the next phase, the NFT Utility Movement, which #STEPN has been pioneering since the very beginning.
— STEPN | Public Beta Phase V (@Stepnofficial) September 15, 2022
Read now ⬇️ https://t.co/i4PCS2aTdi
The more you walk, the more your Sneaker will earn GST tokens and lose energy. The energy will restore at a rate of 25% every 6 hours (AEDT 00:00, 06:00, 12:00, 18:00). After the first recharge, it can be used again.
It is mandatory to purchase NFT Sneakers (for now)
STEPN Marketplace:
Marketplace is the place where you can buy/sell/rent in-game items like NFT Sneakers, Badges and Gems to play the game or receive monetary benefits. The marketplace has the following features –
- Trade System
- Rental System
- Credit System
Trade System:
Any registered user can buy and sell NFT Sneakers, Badges, Gems and Shoeboxes on the marketplace.
Rental System:
Using web3 app can be a cumbersome task for mainstream users. Creating an account and wallet followed by loading SOL tokens to purchase NFT Sneakers isn’t easy for non-crypto users. In order to onboard more users on the platform, STEPN team is developing a rental system in which the users can rent NFT Sneakers and earn rewards without having to load tokens and make in-app purchases.
The Rental contract will last for 24 hours and the agreement can stretch up to 7 days
Credit System:
The credit system is created for renters to determine their level of commitment towards honouring the rental agreement. Renters are required to answer a set of quizzes to increase their overall credit ratings.
The credit system ensures that the renter has a full understanding of the STEPN ecosystem and should not try to misguide the app by involving in bad practices like walking on a treadmill.
Minimum credit rating score of 2/5 is required to start renting
How STEPN Makes Money?
STEPN will take a small commission in the form of taxes for in-app activities to run its ecosystem. A small cut is taken from activities like NFT trading, Shoe minting and renting to fund itself for future developments. The scope of earnings will increase once the platform matures.
STEPN Benefits:
In-game Wallet:
STEPN has an in-game wallet that supports Solana and EVM chains. Moreover, the wallet has swap functionality and a backup function. The complete functionality is under development and the upgrade will support profile NFT profile photo display for Solana and Ethereum blockchains.
Carbon offsetting:
The app will have a donation system in which users can choose to donate part of their GST earnings to Carbon Credit Buying/Burning. This is a step to protect the environment by donating money to prevent the deadly impact of climate change.
Rental Plan:
The team is building a special feature that will allow the owners to rent their NFT Sneakers and earn a side income. Also, it will help users unfamiliar with the crypto concepts to access and earn GST tokens with ease.
STEPN for Health:
Unlike other blockchain games, STEPN is the first web3 app that supports a healthy lifestyle by rewarding users who move their bodies and sweat to keep themselves fit and healthy. It is a unique concept that can become popular in no time.
StepN entered into our list of top 5 projects on Solana blockchain
STEPN Drawbacks:
Centralized System:
Although it’s a Web3 app with an in-game wallet but at the same time it requires user’s email to signup & access its features. This is quite strange for a blockchain-based app. It makes the app somewhat centralized by storing the login credentials and revealing their identity to some extent.
Under Development:
Most of the app features are under development. Features like the Rental system and Credit system haven’t been tested yet and as per the roadmap (shared below), it will take sometime before the project reaches its full potential.
GMT Coin Price:
GMT is offered in IEO on the Binance launchpad at a price of $0.01 per token. Please check the latest price of GMT token shared below –
Checkout shop-to-earn platform FADO Go which rewards everytime you shop
STEPN DEX:
STEPN launched its own DEX named STEPN DOOAR. The Solana-powered exchange allows users to easily swap STEPN tokens inside the app in GMT/USDC & GST/USDC pairs. Also, users are allowed to add any token & create a liquidity pool.
The STEPN DEX has become the number 1 DEX on Solana beating Orca in terms of daily active users which stands at 77,000 as per the data provided by Dune
GMT Coin Price Prediction:
It is too early to comment on the future price prediction of the GMT token especially after the recent market crash. The fundamentals are clear but we have to wait for the technicals to reflect the price action at least for the next quarter.
The price has already skyrocketed from the initial level and it may go ballistic in the upcoming bull run. It has the potential to go beyond $5 mark and further can hit $10 per token since the project has very strong social presence and over 100K downloads.
Is STEPN worth Investing?
Before I answer this question, you must answer these questions first – Do you have faith in blockchain-based games? And do you believe NFTs are here for the long haul? If the answers to both these questions are “yes” then STEPN app should be on your watchlist.
Backed by a team of investors including Sequoia Capital and Solana Ventures, the project has already proven itself when it ranked 4th among 500+ blockchain projects in the Solana Ignition Hackathon. The app is already live on iOS and Android and has received a good response from the users. Its Twitter handle already hit over 60K followers before the launch of IEO, which is another proof of its initial success.
STEPN has raised 5 million USD from Sequoia and other investors
Combining NFT with healthy living by using move-to-earn concept can be a game-changer. Though the concept is new, I strongly believe it has the potential for mass adoption, especially with rent now pay later feature. Overall, I am bullish on GMT and will be keeping an eye on its future developments. It’s my personal suggestion to try the app before making an investment decision. Remember due diligence is the key to success.
This completes my review of STEPN app. In the next post, I will talk about Nova Finance and YOUR NFT project. If you’re a fan of blockchain technology then please do share this post on your social handles and educate everyone around you. Do remember to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more informative content, released every week.
DISCLAIMER:
Cryptocurrency is a highly volatile market. All the information shared in the post is for knowledge purpose only. By no means, it’s financial or investment advice. Readers are responsible for their own investment decisions and should only invest in cryptocurrency after proper research.
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Paras is a blockchain writer & video creator at Katoch Tubes. In his free time, he loves watching space exploration documentaries & Hollywood movies.