How STEPN (GMT) Lets You Earn While Making You Fit

One of the most important things people can do to live a healthy life is to become more active and exercise regularly. The keyword there is regularly.  For many people, being motivated to go out and perform physical exercise is the most significant battle, let alone continuing to do so.  A large percentage of people never make it past this first battle.

What if something could help motivate people to not only exercise but also change their thought process about doing it - going from initially looking at it as a daily chore that they need to do to becoming an essential highlight of their day that they look forward to?

The STEPN app does this, using something that motivates everyone to get out of bed each morning and adopt a healthy lifestyle.  Of course, that is by earning money, or in this case, cryptocurrency.

STEPN (GMT) is a move-to-earn Web3 application built on Solana that encourages people to be more active by rewarding them with cryptocurrency. Users can embark on their crypto journey and earn tokens by doing simple physical activities such as walking, jogging, or running. 

Earning isn’t the only thing STEPN brings to the crypto world. The GameFi app is also gamifying the journey of becoming healthier and adding social elements.

Move to Earn (M2E) on STEPN | Source: Stepn.com

These 1, 2, and 3 combinations of features will have users wanting to share their progress and compete with friends, making the whole process fun and addictive and rewarding them financially. This will result in users continuing to keep coming back to STEPN each day. Let alone the health benefits that they will be receiving along the way.

The play-to-earn mania in crypto was jump-started in 2021 with Axie Infinity, and now the move-to-earn cycle is gaining popularity with apps like STEPN.

Some of the most prominent players back STEPN in the space, such as Sequoia, Folius Ventures, Binance, and more. This should give users more confidence that this Web 3.0 app will be around long-term. Not only that, but they have partnered with shoe brands such as ASICS to release NFT sneakers on the platform.

The STEPN application uses two tokens. GMT is the governance token and is used throughout the STEPN game. Green Satoshi Token (GST) is the second game token and functions as the utility token, similar to Smooth Love Potion (SLP) in Axie Infinity, which helps them to level up. 

STEPN developers have designed the Green Satoshi Token to have an unlimited supply. With no fixed cap, Green Satoshi Tokens serve an inflationary purpose. 

The GMT token has a max supply of 6 billion, while the GST token has no cap and unlimited supply. When STEPN users first begin, they can only earn the GST utility token, which can be swapped for GMT. After players level up their sneakers to a high-enough level, they can begin earning GMT.

NFTs are an integral part of playing this Web3 lifestyle app and are required for users to begin earning. These NFT sneakers can be purchased on the app’s marketplace or secondary markets. Each NFT sneaker has a different appearance, attributes, skills, and stats that will increase your earning potential. 

STEPN is built on the Solana blockchain, so you must hold and spend SOL for conducting transactions, including paying the gas fees. It has since expanded to BNB Chain and Ethereum ecosystems, so you can also use BNB and ETH tokens for paying gas fees when playing STEPN game. 

They can be leveled up using two STEPN tokens, GST and GMT. Sneakers wear down as time passes and must be repaired using tokens to maintain peak performance.

How to Buy Sneakers on STEPN

You can buy NFT sneakers after downloading the STEPN app on your smartphone and setting up your account. Ensure you have sufficient funds to trade on the marketplace and pay gas fees on the respective blockchain network (Solana, BNB Chain, or Ethereum).

How to Buy Sneaker NFTs on STEPN | Source: Stepn.com

1. Locate the grocery cart button in the lower right corner of the screen and click on it to access the marketplace.

2. Visit the Sneakers section of the marketplace to purchase sneaker NFTs. 

3. Refine your search using filters and select the type of sneaker you want. 

4. Click on the sneaker you want to buy to learn more details. 

5. After reviewing all details about its pricing and features, order the sneaker and confirm the transaction. 

6. Once the transaction is confirmed, you will own the purchased sneaker NFT.

There are various ways to earn money playing the STEPN game, including:

1. Walk, jog, or run after buying sneaker NFTs to earn GMT or GST tokens as rewards. 

2. Earn rewards with in-game or native currencies such as STEPN's GMT. 

3. Earn Gems and unlock mystery boxes. 

4. Use rewards to repair, customize and level up to higher efficiency sneakers. 

5. Mint new NFT sneakers and trade them on the STEPN marketplace.

The STEPN fitness app currently has one type of game mode available to players, but it will expand further with two additional modes, allowing users to rent sneakers to play the game.

Solo Mode 

This is the core gameplay component of STEPN. With Solo Mode, users must equip NFT sneakers to earn reward tokens by being active. Your NFT sneaker must have available energy to earn GST tokens. For example, every energy cap you have equals 5 minutes of movement and earning time.

Energy will recover by 25% every 6 hours until you reach max supply. STEPN Users will begin with one sneaker and two energy caps. Users do have the ability to increase their max energy and use tokens to replenish energy faster.

Marathon Mode

Marathon Mode is under development as of June 2023 but will bring competitive contests to STEPN. In this mode, users will have the option to register for either weekly or monthly marathons. The weekly marathon offers various lengths of 2.5 km, 5 km, or 7.5 km.  At the same time, the monthly marathon includes 5 km, 10 km, and 15 km options. 

There will be leaderboards where users can win prizes or rewards for ranking high.  Special NFT badges will also be available for participating that users can either trade or use to customize their sneakers.

Background Mode

The background mode is currently in development and will allow users to earn even when not using the STEPN app. If the user has a sneaker in the app, the background mode will count steps directly from your mobile device. The maximum number of steps earned in this mode will be 3,000, and NFTs will not have any energy or durability costs while using this mode.

Energy and Durability

The NFTs in STEPN are the sneakers that allow you to earn while moving. They are unique in that their condition will change and must be cared for. Allowing sneakers to maintain peak performance will help users maximize rewards. 

As mentioned above, your STEPN sneakers' energy will deplete when you begin moving. Every energy cap your sneakers have will equal 5 minutes of earning time. Your energy recovers 25% every 6 hours. Users can even upgrade their sneakers to increase the number of energy caps they have.

Users also need to take care of the durability of their sneakers. Each sneaker begins with a health value of 100. After being used, your sneakers will become damaged and less efficient. This results in users earning less than they would have if their shoes were in perfect health. This can be fixed by using earned GST tokens - the in-game currency, to repair the health of your sneakers.

Sneaker Types

The sneakers have four main attributes, and users can choose which one they value most when purchasing their non-fungible token. These sneaker attributes are efficiency, luck, comfort, and resilience.

Sneaker NFT Attributes | Source: Stepn.com 

Each attribute will make your sneaker stronger in a particular area. There are also five different rarities of sneakers ranging from common, uncommon, rare, epic, and legendary.

Users also have options for wearing sneakers that match their active lifestyle.  They could choose different types of sneakers; walkers, joggers, runners, and trainers. The more intense sneakers have higher movement speed requirements but also net users higher rewards. While less intense options like the walker sneaker have less intense movement speed demands, they will net fewer rewards.

Earning Rewards on STEPN

Rewards are earned by moving, but results vary greatly depending on which sneaker NFT you choose. As mentioned above, each type has a minimum and maximum movement speed to begin earning rewards for being active. 

It is important to think carefully about which type of exercise you plan to do to invest in the right sneaker. For every energy cap used, Walker NFTs will earn approximately 4 GST (the in-game utility token). On the other hand, runners will receive 6 GST for every energy cap.

Gem Sockets

After STEPN users have leveled up their digital sneakers to a high enough level, they can unlock Gem Sockets. This allows them to enhance the attributes of their sneaker. The four gem types are efficiency, luck, comfort, and resilience. GST must be used to unlock the gems. This will encourage people to customize their sneakers to enhance their performance.

Shoe Minting

Users can mint their sneakers after owning 2 NFTs. This is called a Shoe-Minting Event (SME). To mint more sneakers, the user must have the two sneakers in possession and fully healthy to begin the process and hold GST and GMT tokens. 

After receiving their new sneakers, users have the option to use them for movement to increase their earnings, sell the NFT on the marketplace, or lease them out to earn a passive income.

The Green Metaverse Token (GMT) token has several use cases that make it a worthwhile investment. It is STEPN's governance token, and GMT holders can vote on issues and help shape the platform's future direction. It is required to level up, mint new sneaker NFTs, and earn passive income from the game.  

STEPN (GMT) can also upgrade your sneakers or customize them. In the future, GMT holders can stake their Green Metaverse Tokens to earn passive income. 

As of June 2023, you can earn between $10 and $100 depending on your sneakers levels and energy using daily walking entitlements. If you have very good shoes, you could win even more.

Unlike several crypto tokens with an unlimited supply, the GMT token has a max supply of six billion tokens. This means that there will always be at most six billion created.  Similar to there never being more than 21 million bitcoins that will ever be created. But, in reality, that max supply should continue to drop significantly over time. 

This is because STEPN (GMT) has implemented several token-burning mechanisms into the protocol to reduce the total supply as time goes on. In each instance, the STEPN users must choose to burn a portion of their GMT tokens to receive a benefit or upgrade. 

In theory, STEPN hopes this feature will help increase the price of GMT while decreasing the amount of the tokens, especially if the STEPN ecosystem continues to grow in popularity.

The following activities cause GMT to be burned.

GMT Token Burn Mechanism

NFTs

> GMT must be burned to reach sneaker levels 5, 10, 20, 29, and 30.

> Burning GMT is required to upgrade level 4+ Gems.

> GMT is required to mint new sneaker NFTs.

> GMT burning is required to redistribute sneaker attributes.

Enhancing In-App Mechanics

> Burning GMT allows users to increase their GST earning capability permanently.

> Burning GMT improves the odds of Gem upgrades being successful permanently.

> Burning GMT improves the odds of receiving rare and higher-quality sneakers from the shoebox permanently.

> Burning GMT improves the odds of obtaining two sneakers while shoe-minting permanently.

Schadenfreude Pools 

The STEPN whitepaper describes “Schadenfreude” as the experience of joy that comes from learning about the failures of others. These pools allow people to subscribe, burn GMT, and earn GST rewards for other players’ misfortune.

Examples of misfortune that players could earn from are the following.

> When users receive lower-quality sneakers from higher-quality shoeboxes.

> When users are unsuccessful at upgrading Gems.

GST Token Burn Mechanism

> Sneaker Repair

> GEM Socket Unlocking 

> Leveling Up

> Customizing Fees 

> Shoe Minting 

> Upgrading Gems

1. Download and open the STEPN App

2. Enter your email address, and click send code, which will send a verification code to your email that you must enter into the app. When finished, click on Login/Sign-up.

3. To register your account, an activation code is now needed. Two options are joining the waitlist and trying to get lucky on Discord. Click on Join Waitlist, and then click on Get a Code From Discord.

4. You now have the option between Discord or Telegram, where STEPN gives out activation codes on a first-come, first-get basis, around every 12 minutes. Click on Discord.

5. Accept the Invite on Discord.

6. Wait for new codes to be given out and try to input them before anyone else.

Pro Tip: Existing STEPN users also periodically receive activation codes they can share.  Often, these users share their codes on various places like Discord, Twitter, and Reddit.

The move-to-earn market in crypto is still in its infancy, and no one knows which projects will be around for the long term and which will fade into a distant memory.  However, this could be the next significant movement in crypto.

STEPN has many things working in its favor and has already built an application that has gained users' attention and quickly become the talk of the entire crypto market. 

Another important thing is that STEPN was the first move-to-earn project in crypto to burst out of the gate and become a success by getting listed on several crypto exchanges, allowing it to take hold of the category and claim mindshare. When investors think about move-to-earn projects, the STEPN ecosystem comes to mind.

Here’s an easy step-by-step guide on buying STEPN (GMT) on KuCoin. 

One thing is for sure - with the move-to-earn category surging in popularity in blockchain technology, it guarantees that many rivals will appear to try to compete with and surpass STEPN.  

What sets STEPN apart in the play-to-earn or move-to-earn category of blockchain games is its commitment to combat climate change with monthly payments towards carbon removal credits. This gives it a big boost from the sustainability perspective, even as it tries to encourage people to adopt a healthy lifestyle by offering potential gains in crypto.

STEPN is incredibly young, having launched in early 2022, but has already become very successful thanks to its exciting features. There is no denying the amount of potential that the application has. It all depends on how the market evolves and consumers' demand for such applications increases. 

Investing in a young crypto niche like move-to-earn comes with risks and rewards. Stay updated about all the latest development progress by following the STEPN roadmap on the project’s official website. 

We recommend that you do your own research (DYOR) and perform technical analysis and fundamental analysis on the project and its tokens before dipping your toes in the market.

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