Earn coins while walking? The "scam" of Sweatcoin is not as simple as you think

Still sweating it out in the gym with no reward? Sweatcoin tells you: every step you take is worth money.

Sounds great, but what's the truth?

Sweatcoin is a Move-to-Earn app with a simple, straightforward core logic: walk → count steps → earn coins. As of May 2024, this app has attracted over 120 million users, and together they've mined 50 billion SWEAT tokens.

But here's the catch: not every step is worth money.

Mining mechanism: it's getting harder

At first, users could earn 1 SWEAT for every 1,000 steps. Sounds decent. But now? It takes 3,623 steps to mine 1 token. And this number will keep rising—by 2028, it'll be even more outrageous.

The official explanation is "to prevent inflation." But in reality, this means your effort is becoming less and less valuable. This design is similar to Bitcoin's increasing mining difficulty, but the difference is:

• Bitcoin’s scarcity is determined by technology
• Sweatcoin’s scarcity is determined by the operators

What can you do with the coins you earn?

1. Shop in the virtual store: Buy Airpods, fitness equipment, Spotify memberships, etc. Provided you have enough coins.

2. DEX trading: Transfer SWEAT tokens to your wallet and sell them on exchanges. But the price? It depends on the market. Currently, liquidity is less than ideal.

3. Staking/mining: Lock SWEAT in the Sweat Wallet to earn extra rewards. This is like anesthesia, keeping you tied to the ecosystem.

Compared to STEPN: Free vs. Paid Choices

After Sweatcoin became popular, it was naturally compared to STEPN. Both are Move-to-Earn, but there are big differences:

| Project | Sweatcoin | STEPN | |---------|-----------|-------| | Entry cost | $0 | Buy NFT shoes ($100s to $1,000s) | | Number of tokens | 1 (SWEAT) | 2 (GST + GMT) | | Difficulty to earn | Getting harder | Relatively stable but requires investment | | User count | 120M+ | Millions | | Exit difficulty | Low (free app) | High (sunk cost) |

Simply put: Sweatcoin is a paradise for "freebie hunters"; STEPN is for "bag holders."

The real issues are here

1. Inflation pressure

Core contradiction: Supply keeps increasing, but what about demand?

Over 1.2 million users generate SWEAT tokens every day. Where do these coins go?

• A small number get sold
• Most are hoarded (because the price is too low)
• Even more new coins are generated

Result: The coin depreciates. That’s why the app keeps increasing mining difficulty—essentially "cutting" users’ expectations.

2. The double-edged sword of data privacy

Sweatcoin claims it doesn’t sell user data. But the app requires these permissions:

• GPS location
• Activity data
• Health records

This data is a goldmine in itself. Even if the official team doesn’t sell it, what if they’re hacked, investigated by the government, or acquired and change their policy... who can guarantee?

3. "Health incentives" are a false promise

Data shows that after 6 months, users increase their activity by 20%. But the problem is:

• How many people quit after 6 months?
• Is using coins to incentivize exercise putting the cart before the horse?
• When the coin is worth more, the incentive works—but that leads to inflation.

What does the future hold?

The official roadmap sounds ambitious:

✓ Integrate more wearables (Fitbit, Garmin, etc.)
✓ NFT marketplace and games
✓ Move towards DAO governance
✓ Expand activity types (cycling, swimming)

Sounds great. But what does it take? Continuous user growth. Once growth slows down, the whole model collapses.

Final thoughts

Sweatcoin isn’t a scam, but it’s not free money from the sky either. It’s an experiment—to test whether "exercise can be tokenized."

For the average user:

• If you already like working out, earning some pocket change isn’t bad
• But don’t expect this to become a source of income
• And don’t treat SWEAT as a long-term investment

For investors:

• This is a traffic game, not a tech innovation
• 120 million users sounds big, but what’s the retention rate?
• The coin’s value ultimately depends on how many people want to buy

In short: Keep walking, but don’t expect to get rich. If you do earn some coins, selling them quickly might be the smartest move.