What Is Move-To-Earn?
Move-to-earn is the latest scheme that leverages blockchain technology to reward people for exercising. With the average individual needing some motivation to stay active, trends like move-to-earn have become popular.
What Is Move-To-earn?
As the phrase says, you earn tokens by moving. The sort of activities covered depends on the platform used.
To get involved, a user downloads the move-to-earn app, sets up an account, makes certain moves, and earns the designated token for the activity.
Move-to-earn applications use artificial intelligence to decipher how active a user is, enabling the system to reward the individual. The Global Positioning System (GPS) of a user’s device makes it possible for the dapp to confirm the movement of the participant.
Many move-to-earn dapps require an interested user to own certain NFTs, which act as the portal to its earning potential.
Why Move-to-earn?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about a quarter of the world’s 1.4 billion adult population is physically underactive. This spells doom for the world as a lack of physical activity is a risk factor for several disease conditions.
Many of those not exercising enough are either not enthusiastic about physical activities or they’re focused on more beneficial mental alternatives.
Move-to-earn dapps provide enough incentives for this demographic to get physically active. With the opportunity to earn free tokens just by exercising, more people are certain to get involved.
Move-to-earn also provides another opportunity to pitch the other benefits of blockchains and NFTs. Lots of skepticism has trailed the digital ledger and non-fungible tokens, but the move-to-earn concept shows these innovations in a positive light.
Ways To Make A Profit On Move-To-earn Platforms
The move-to-earn concept revolves around rewarding active users with cryptos based on their activity level. While this is the basic reward potential of a move-to-earn platform, the intricate dynamics of most move-to-earn dapps ensure there are other ways to maximize crypto rewards for users. Below are some popular ways to make a profit on move-to-earn platforms:
Staying fit
Created to incentivize fitness, move-to-earn dapps reward users for staying fit through activities like moving, running, and more. You can earn thousands of cryptos just by staying fit with these dapps running on your mobile device.
Typically, most move-to-earn dapps reward active users in their native token, which is often tradable on select platforms. You can also opt to use the earned tokens to upgrade your level on the dapp. That’s an option for those looking to enhance their fitness ROI.
Buy And Sell NFTs
Another route towards making a profit on move-to-earn dapps is through buying and selling of in-app NFTs. Most move-to-earn dapps have an in-house marketplace, which allows users to buy and sell items for profit.
NFT Staking
Move-to-earn dapps require users purchase NFTs to leverage the earning possibility of staying fit. You could either use these NFTs passively or actively. Staying fit (running, moving, and other exercises) is the active route; NFT staking is the passive route.
On move-to-earn dapps, you can stake your NFT and earn rewards, avoiding the need to move before earning. Of course, some of these platforms require users to complete a minimum fitness routine before accessing the NFT staking opportunity.
NFT Minting
Minting of NFTs on move-to-earn dapps is another avenue to make a tidy profit. NFTs minted can be flipped for profit. This is usually lucrative since only a limited number of NFTs can be minted.
Popular Move-To-Earn Projects
While the market capitalization of the move-to-earn niche is about $809 million, the popular dapps in this space account for a large chunk of that figure. If you’re looking to incentivize staying fit, popular move-to-earn projects are the best place to start. This is crucial since community size, reward model, and others determine the popularity of these projects. Here are some popular move-to-earn dapps:
StepN
You can’t talk about move-to-earn without mentioning StepN, a Solana-based dapp.
On StepN, you earn GST for moving, jogging, and running. The app tracks your movement using AI and your mobile device’s GPS to calculate the distance covered and GST earned. To start earning on StepN, you have to purchase sneaker NFTs, don them virtually, and move to earn.
StepN entered the limelight due to the stunning rise in the price of its native token (GMT) from 0.01$ to $4+. The move-to-earn project received funding from Solana Capital, DeFi Alliance, Sequoia Capital, and Morningstar Ventures.
Following recent revelations of exploitations by users, the StepN dapp has been upgraded, ensuring players move before earning.
Genopets
This is another popular move-to-earn project with dynamics that are more complicated than StepN. Genopets players generate avatars on the platform and enhance them by moving around in the real world. As your pet grows strong, you can battle other genopets in the virtual world, and earn tokens for emerging victorious.
Like StepN, Genopets is a Solana-based dapp with a dual token model. KI and GENE are the tokens of the Genopets ecosystem.
Conclusion
Move-to-earn is a concept aimed at promoting healthy habits like running, walking, and exercising. While the space incentivizes physical activity, the reward model has been the source of attention in many parts. Many have questioned the sustainability of the ecosystem in the face of an exodus of liquidity as everyone moves to earn.