STEPN Set to Sack 100 Employees Due to Low Engagement
- STEPN saw a decline in the GMT price after it announced plans to cut off users in mainland China.
- As of July, the fitness app had over a hundred thousand. But those figures slipped to just under 6,000 in September.
The bear market has continued to scratch off-market activity and plunge the prices of cryptocurrencies. Several projects have been forced to collapse, while those still in operation have adopted different measures, such as reducing their staff strength to save costs.
STEPN, a move-to-earn fitness app, became the latest to disclose its intention to reduce its workforce in a bid to stay above water. The Solana-based platform will reportedly lay off 100 employees from its payroll, citing reduced user numbers as a key reason.
The blockchain-powered fitness platform will let off ambassadors and moderators. Furthermore, STEPN’s parent company, Find Satoshi Lab, will reduce its investment in the firm and will focus on promoting itself and other ventures, such as a new NFT exchange platform it is developing.
Find Satoshi Lab, an Australian fintech company, launched STEPN in 2021, and the project was a massive hit with its unique offering. STEPN offered users the chance to buy a nonfungible token (NFT) “sneakers” to walk or run in the physical world and earn Green Satoshi Tokens (GST), which can be spent in-game or redeemed.
The game adopted an approach known as the “move-to-earn” model, which rewarded people with cryptocurrency for moving and staying fit. The idea behind the platform was to leverage blockchain technology to incentivize healthy living.
STEPN enjoyed a quick and smooth climb to the top. The platform wasted no time in building a vibrant community and attracting users. In addition, the Green Metaverse Token (GMT), STEPN’s governance token, reached an all-time high of $4.11 in April. Data from CoinGecko showed that the GST peaked at $8.51, indicating a good future for the company. However, GMT and GST have fallen from their peak and lost over 85% and 99%, respectively.
STEPN’s troubles took a new turn as its app users began to decline. In June, the app reportedly had an active user base of 105,257, which was its all-time high. However, those figures became a shadow of themselves in September, dropping to under 6,000. However, STEPN saw a revival in its user base early this month. As of October 5, the fitness platform recorded 11,877 users.
STEPN’s decline has been pinned on a series of events, including its limitations. In May, the platform announced that it was cutting off users in mainland China due to regulatory concerns. Shortly after the announcement, the GMT token fell 40%.
STEPN is not the only crypto firm that has announced plans to lay off staff. Since the bear market began, there has been a trend among several cryptocurrency businesses to fire employees due to market conditions.
Gemini reportedly began the trend in June when it announced that it would reduce its workforce by 10% and another 15% in July. Crypto exchange, Coinbase, also announced that it had halted its hiring process. Other crypto platforms such as Bitmex, BlockF, Robinhood, and Crypto.com took protective measures to reduce their staff numbers.
The reports of staff reductions among crypto firms became so widespread that the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) declared it would accept individuals with an understanding of cryptocurrency who had recently been let go from a cryptocurrency organization.
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