Fitness Comes to the Blockchain With the Sweat-to-Earn Model

A fitness company is incentivizing individuals to burn calories by offering them a chance to earn cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

OliveX, a fitness metaverse, wants to reward users with crypto for keeping in shape. The company plans on achieving this through its mobile blockchain game that makes players run in real life to complete quests and other challenges.

The only hardware that gamers need is their smartphone and running shoes. As they run in real life, users gain rewards that can be cashed out for cryptocurrencies or NFTs.

According to Forbes, the new model is called “move-to-earn” by Keith Rumjahn and he goes on to describe it as being a game-changer. “Our mission is to onboard a billion people and in doing so, I want them to earn their first NFT and crypto token through exercising,” he said.

Fitness a fast-moving sector

Achieving this lofty objective will not come easy for OliveX but Rumjahn believes that the company’s strategy of investing in the fast-growing industries of gaming, exercising, and blockchain will be key. 

Investors seem to be buying into the vision with OliveX raising $5.7 million in 2021 that was used to create Dustland Runner, the move-to-earn title that was received with critical acclaim. The market cap of the firm has doubled while losses are down by over half in a two-year window.

Blockchain gaming has been on a steady ascent since 2020 and according to a DApp radar report, the industry has soared by over 2,000% in less than a year. 

The data indicates that blockchain games are responsible for attracting over one million unique active wallets in the period in review with gaming protocols like Axie Infinity and SandBox responsible for the spike.

“For the first time ever, players have true digital ownership of their games, and game developers also earn more because there’s no middleman,” says Rumjahn. “So it’s a win-win.”

Blockchain technology and the developments in NFTs have made it possible for gamers to own in-game items that can be traded for real cash. Some pundits have argued that gaming is the best use case for cryptocurrencies given the rapid growth of blockchain gaming.