The quick read: Sweatcoin, which rewards exercise with its own private cryptocurrency, has rocketed up the app charts in recent weeks. It sits at number two in the App Store among free apps and claims to have 2 million weekly active users and 5 million users in the past year. (TechCrunch) It is available for both iOS and Android.
How it works: The app counts your steps and gives you “Sweatcoins” based on the number of steps you’ve walked (1,000 steps=0.95 sweatcoins). You can buy fitness gear, classes and other fitness related items using the coins.
Smart take: The key to creating a successful private coin is utility. Is there a market/environment in which the coin is desirable and can be acquired and used easily? The answer to that question in this case is yes. Acquisition is simple. The phone measures your steps. The more steps you take, the more coin you make. And because this is a fitness tracker, the presumption is you’ll spend this coin on items related to fitness and healthy eating. This is the perfect match between incentive and market.