At OliveX, we recently announced an exciting partnership with Lympo, a cryptocurrency for health and fitness, and an up-and-coming platform. Together, we’re pioneering an innovative way to earn crypto tokens for doing squats and completing other fitness challenges. Move over traditional workouts, now you can earn crypto while staying fit! So, whoever told you cryptocurrencies aren’t worth squat should rethink.

Table of Contents

• Case studies
  • HQ trivia
  • Sweatcoin
  • 趣头条
• Conclusion

Previously, I expressed our mission – to inject a dose of motivation into exercise and make it more compelling. Integrating currencies like tokens into fitness regimes, I believe, can do that. Would I shell out $5 to incentivize my mom if she’s consistently hitting her weekly exercise goal? Absolutely!

My introduction to cryptocurrencies in 2017 was met with skepticism. I was dubious about its credibility and those involved with it, much like my initial reaction to NFTs.

Subsequently, interacting with Chinese developers at WWDC shed a fresh light on the emerging trends.

Stepping into WWDC 2018 changed everything; I found myself entranced by the blockchain promises. Just as Naval Ravikant once mentioned, “It’s like a brain virus. When you first discover it, it’s all you can think about”.

My intrigue towards crypto wasn’t fuelled by the prospect of outlandish profits via an ICO. Instead, I found myself drawn to the unexpected shift in user behaviour. Apps like Sweatcoin, HQ live, and m2e, backed by crypto were not just garnering millions of downloads but also retaining users phenomenally well. They were the testament of crypto unlocking a whole new wave of apps and games.

Remember the early days of the app store when the concept of offering your app for FREE was outrageous? Then came in-app purchasing, initiating a new era of freemium apps and games.

As we forge into the future, we’re transitioning into the era of ‘paid to play’. The skyrocketing user acquisition costs being the primary reason, thereby creating a need to offer tokens as rewards to grab user attention.

Case studies

HQ trivia

An app like HQ trivia has taken the world by storm! Three times a day, over a million players join a LIVE game to answer trivia questions. Getting all 10 questions right bags you a share from the cash pot varying from USD$100 — $20,000.

Sweatcoin

Sweatcoin, on the other hand, rewards you for walking. All you have to do is turn on your GPS and keep going.

趣头条

In China, a news aggregator app incentivizes users for reading each article, enabling their users to earn while they stay informed.

Our own experiment with an internal company competition for a fortnight using our activity wallet app provided interesting insights. The top 3 coworkers who walked the most were rewarded with cash prizes at our annual Christmas party. We were taken by surprise at the level of motivation it stirred.

However, how does crypto fit into the ‘paid to play’ model? Ensuring payouts to players all over the globe is a massive logistical challenge with high overheads. Add to that over 2 billion people around the world without a bank account.

I am convinced that cryptocurrencies and NFTs will significantly relieve this friction to earn and spend rewards. This seems like the start of a new wave of ‘paid to earn’ apps/games. Now, the ball is in Google and Apple’s court. Will they permit it? Only time will tell.

Conclusion

Assuming that paid to play is true, what does crypto have to do with it? Paying out money to players all over the world is a huge operation problem with lots of overhead. Plus, there are over 2 billion people around the world who do not have a bank account.

My believe is that cryptocurrency will reduce the friction to earn and spend rewards, just like how IAP made freemium frictionless. This will be the start of a new wave of paid to earn apps/games. Now, the question is will google and apple allow this? Ball’s in their court.