Over 170 advertisements in Chinese tech titan Alibaba’s second-hand marketplace are offering running services to earn cryptocurrency GMT for STEPN users in exchange for fiat commissions.
See related article: China’s diktat against NFT flipping spawns an ingenious industry
Fast facts
- STEPN is a blockchain-based decentralized application that allows users to earn GMT cryptocurrency rewards by performing exercises, a feature that can be unlocked by owning a pair of the project’s virtual non-fungible token (NFT) shoes.
- Advertisers are offering substitute running services based on running speed, with quotes ranging from 8 yuan to 15 yuan (US$1.18 to US$2.21) per “energy” for walking and jogging services, and 12 yuan to 25 yuan (US$1.77 to US$3.78) per “energy” for running.
- “Energy” is the unit STEPN NFT owners spend to start exercising for GMTs, where a single “energy” equals five minutes of exercise.
- Alternative offers include charging STEPN users based on the NFT’s rarity, or a 10% cut of the total amount of GMT earned during a running.
- Users can earn at least US$25 for 10 minutes of activities, while some users earn up to US$4,500 in a single day, STEPN cofounder Yawn Rong told Forbes.
- GMT was trading at US$1.50 at press time, up more than 50% in the past day, according to CoinMarketCap data.
See related article: Play to live: GameFi drives a Southeast Asian crush on crypto