A Beginner’s Guide to StepN

StepN is a pay-to-play move-to-earn (M2E) app built on the Solana blockchain. It is intended to promote exercise through gamified rewards and cryptocurrency rewards. The idea behind StepN is pretty straightforward; the more you move, the more tokens you earn. This also improves your chances of winning valuable in-app items. ’Movement’ in this dApp is meant to be achieved through either walking, jogging or running.

StepN’s background Info

StepN launched in December 2021 and rapidly gained popularity due to its attractive concept of motivating users to walk and run by rewarding them with tokens for achieving their goals. There are two main altcoins on the dApp: GSTs (the native cryptocurrency) and gems. 

In order to participate on the dApp, you will need to create an account by registering your email address and inputting the verification code. You will then be able to access the marketplace.

You will also need to buy a StepN sneaker non-fungible token (NFT) to earn rewards.

How to get started with StepN

Follow the steps below in our Beginner’s Guide to StepN to get started:

Download StepN – The open beta is available on both the Google Play and Apple stores, but only for compatible devices

Register with StepN – You will need to submit your email address. A 6-number verification code will then be sent to your email address. You will have 60 seconds to confirm, or you will need to resubmit your code request. It is not compatible with all email service providers, so you may need to use your alternate email address if the code appears in neither your Inbox nor Spam folder

Create a wallet – If you do not have an existing compatible wallet to connect to the dApp, you will be prompted to create one

Buy SOL, GMT or USDC – You will need one of these altcoins to buy a Sneaker.

Buy a Sneaker NFT – Sneakers are how you earn GSTs. The better the sneakers, the better the reward. This also means the more expensive the shoe, the better the reward. A shoe typically costs between 1.85 – 6 SOL (roughly $26-$84 USD), although the most expensive pairs cost about 10,000 SOL

Enable GPS tracking – This is necessary to track your movement and activity. It will also eat up a lot of battery, so make sure your phone is fully charged before you begin exercising.

Select your sneakers – Once you have a collection of sneakers, you can set the sneaker that is most suitable to your workout. The quicker the pace and the higher level of your shoe and shoe stats, the greater your reward per hour of exercise

Activate the sneakers – As you exercise, you will earn 8.5 GST per 2 energy consumed. You can then use your GST to level up your shoe. The amount of GST needed will increase per level, as will the amount of time it takes for the shoe to level up

Breed your sneakers – Yes that does sound strange, but this is how new shoes are minted and can then be listed on the StepN marketplace. In order to breed a shoe, you will need two shoes that are at level 5 or higher. Breeding them will mix the attributes of the two shoes, and create a shoebox that contains the new shoe. You can either list the shoebox for sale or open it to see whether you want to keep the new shoe and list one of your old shoes instead

Although the dApp is accessible on both the Google Play and Apple App Store, reviews indicate that the Apple version is inferior to the Android version.

Things to bear in mind before you get started

StepN is NOT free to play (f2p). You are going to need to buy at least one sneaker before you can participate on the dApp, and you will need to buy a second to breed them. So, you will need to ‘spend money to make money’ and the dApp makes you work hard to earn the rewards that you need to do so.

How StepN Works

StepN requires users to activate their sneakers in order earn crypto. However, there is a catch; different sneakers have different properties, such as energy restrictions, recharge restrictions, maximum energy capacities and so on. For instance, take a look at this chart from StepN’s whitepaper:

We see that different types of Sneakers generate a different GST reward per energy output, provided that the minimum speed requirements are met. This tells us a few things.

Firstly, see that ‘energy’ is required to register your activity. A low-level Walker sneaker that can only generate 0.5 energy every 6 hours will only allow the user’s sneaker to earn (and burn) 2 energy that day for a maximum of 8 GST (roughly $0.02 USD). This is why users usually own multiple sneakers to set. Additionally, you can also upgrade your sneakers, which will cost more in-game currency but will also generate a higher reward. Sneakers our upgraded by levelling them up, meaning that you need to fulfil certain exercise requirements and then spend the specified GST amount as well. Once you reach a certain level, you can also opt to earn Binance’s BNB cryptocurrency instead.

This is also another reason why breeding sneakers is so important to the ecosystem; namely because it allows you access to more sneakers. Although, it is possible for you to simply sell them on StepN’s marketplace as well. This is also why people might choose to simply purchase a high-level fully upgraded Sneaker for hundreds of dollars than dedicate so much time to level up their current Sneaker.

Essentially, you need to spend a lot of money to make some money. Even then, it seems that it will take daily workout commitments for months minimum before you break even, never mind start earning a profit. However, if you are looking at it purely as a fun, rewards-based motivator, then this might be for you.