STEPN Move To Earn Guide

GMT, the governance token for the STEPN application has increased by over 2000% in the past month. This suggests that a new trend encompassing Move-to-Earn (M2E) could begin to form within the crypto markets.

? Here are some key features of M2E:

• Utilises GPS and sensor technology within modern handheld devices to gamify outdoor activities such as walking and running to reward users with tokens and NFTs.
• Is still a very small niche within the crypto market and is yet to fully take off with a total market cap of $1.47 billion according to data from CoinGecko.
• Currently, the two largest M2E games are STEPN and Genopets with a market cap of $1.36 billion and $40.8 million respectively.

? Why Is M2E Gaining Attention? 

STEPN has led the hype around M2E gaming having recently attracted investment from the likes of Sequoia Capital, Alameda Research and many other big Web3 investors. They have begun to incorporate the metaverse with reality.

• STEPN is a Solana based Web3 Social-Fi application that incorporates Game-Fi elements. Users equipped with NFT sneakers can walk, jog or run outdoors in the real world to earn GST tokens.
• The team have stated a clear mission: to inspire millions to a healthier lifestyle, easily connect them to Web3 and combat climate.
• STEPN has a two token system similar to Axie Infinity:
  • GST acts as the game’s currency and utility token with an uncapped supply. It can be used to mint new shoes or repair and boost existing ones.
  • GMT will act as the governance token of the ecosystem with a limited supply of 6 billion tokens.

According to STEPN’s official Medium, they have generated a profit of 198,635.62 SOL ($26,815,807.35) from their NFT Marketplace trading and royalty fees in the first quarter of 2022. They plan to use the generated profits to buy back and burn GMT from the secondary market to accrue more value to the STEPN ecosystem.

?️ How To Navigate M2E

M2E is a new and relatively niche area of crypto, these games are a natural continuation of Play-to-Earn (P2E) games and as such have many similarities such as:

• High Barriers to Entry: To participate in the gameplay mechanics of STEPN, an NFT sneaker is required. There are 4 different classes of sneakers with 5 different rarity levels. At the time of writing the cheapest available sneaker is 10.6 SOL ($1138).
• Unstable Token Prices: GST token is earned as a reward to users of the application. If the gameplay mechanics are not interesting enough, like with Axie Infinity, we could see users play M2E games purely for profit. If this was to occur we could see similar sell pressure as SLP which has lost 95.6% of its value from the all-time high.

The success of M2E will depend on how successful the teams are at navigating the two issues that plagued P2E gaming discussed above.

As an investor in M2E and P2E, the earlier you are to the project, the greater your expected returns. As such, take the necessary precautions to protect your capital and only invest as much as you are willing to lose.