Moonwalk: The hidden cryptocurrency opportunity in the step challenge

The fitness app Moonwalk earns cryptocurrency through step tracking, raising $3.4 million in funding Do you wear an Apple or Garmin watch to track your steps and strive to reach 10,000 steps every day? Now, you can get paid for it. Moonwalk Fitness is an app that incentivizes healthy habits by rewarding users with cryptocurrency, and it has raised $3.4 million in seed funding from lead investor Hack VC, with support from Binance Labs, Reciprocal Ventures, and Solana co-founder Raj Gokal. "I call it gamified accountability," said Caitlin Cook, the growth lead and spokesperson for MoonWalk Fitness, in an interview with Fortune. "It's just trying to help people be accountable to the goals they set for themselves." The app "gamifies" fitness by allowing users to challenge friends, family, or strangers in daily competitions. Users who initiate a challenge can set parameters, including the number of days the competition will last, the daily step goal, and the deposit each participant must put up. Players can submit their deposit in USDC, Solana, or Bonk (a Solana-based meme coin). If you fail to meet the daily step goal, you will lose your deposit, and these forfeited funds will be pooled and evenly distributed to the participants who achieved their goals. If you successfully complete the daily challenge, you can reclaim your deposit and win a share of the pooled funds. The app is built on the Solana blockchain, making it easy to integrate with popular fitness trackers like FitBit, Apple Watch, and Garmin. Although MoonWalk will eventually launch a mobile version, it is currently only accessible through a web browser. Cook said that once the mobile app is released, users will be able to purchase credits through Apple Pay or credit card, as well as use crypto wallets. Crypto-based fitness apps have been trying to attract a sustainable user base since 2015. STEPN is a similar platform that requires users to purchase in-game Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) to participate. Cook said that what sets MoonWalk apart from other crypto fitness apps is that it uses mainstream tokens to pay users, rather than offering a platform-native new currency as a reward. "I think MoonWalk is a little bit different in the game mechanics, where it's very clear where any earnings are coming from, directly from other players," Cook said, "...it's like the most liquid, widely used on-chain asset, and it will also be supported by fiat very soon." MoonWalk is working to attract a broader, non-native user base by simplifying the complexity of using cryptocurrency. "The mission of this project and the users we're targeting are very much focused on mainstream consumers, building something they actually want to use, rather than making them feel too intimidated, where the blockchain part is kind of in the background," Cook said. The app taps into a broader trend of "crypto consumption" - everyday consumers adopting cryptocurrency and blockchain technology in activities like gaming, fashion, finance, music, and art. "Moonwalk sits at the intersection of fitness and crypto consumption, unlocking a whole new class of users. A seamless mobile app that abstracts away the crypto elements will enable smooth user onboarding and high retention," said Roshun Patel, a partner at Hack VC, in a statement. Currently, the app only supports step tracking, but Cook said the company will use this seed funding round to expand the app's functionality to support various types of fitness activities. She also said the funds will be used to continue developing the iOS and Android versions of the app.