Solana Move-to-Earn App Stepn Launches NFT Collab With Atlético de Madrid

Stepn has teamed up with Spanish soccer team Atlético de Madrid and all-in-one crypto exchange Whalefin to release a new collection of 1,001 soccer boot NFTs in Stepn’s “move-to-earn” running app. 

Since its release at the beginning of the year, Stepn has encouraged crypto fans and “non-crypto natives” alike to lace up their running shoes and hit the asphalt to earn rewards for movement in the form of Green Satoshi Tokens (GST). 

The Stepn app requires the purchase of a sneaker NFT on Solana before people can begin earning rewards. New users should expect to pay at least a couple of SOL to get started. 

Each of the 1,001 soccer boots in Atlético de Madrid’s new collection falls into one of three different groups: common, uncommon, or rare. The 850 common boots are themed around the club’s national and international titles, the 140 uncommon boots are inspired by the club’s stadiums and the 11 rare boots are a reference to the starting squad. 

All 1,001 boots are of the “Genesis” variety, meaning that like previous Genesis sneakers, they net their owners exclusive rewards within the Stepn and app. They also entitle owners to rewards within Whalefin’s app. 

Every NFT owner is automatically entered into a prize draw for a holiday and hotel accommodation, in addition to tickets to a match at Atlético de Madrid’s home stadium, Civitas Metropolitano. 

Holders of uncommon boots receive the club’s official shirt, while holders of rare boots will receive autographed shirts.

Stepn: A brief primer

When Summer hit, Stepn had already attracted 3 million users in the first six months of its launch. 

While the price of the game’s native GST token was riding high, the barrier to entry was also high. A pair of sneakers could set users back by up to $600; though, they could have theoretically broken even after a month of using the app. 

Earning GST tokens also lets users mint their own sneaker NFTs, which they can rent or sell on secondary markets. 

In July this year, Stepn announced plans to use 5% of its Q2 profits ($6.125 million) to buy back and burn some of its circulating supply of GMT governance tokens, which at the time was close to 600 million. Today, there is a circulating supply of 263.6 million GMT tokens. 

While barriers to entry have lowered, so too has the value of the economic incentives of using the app.