Quick take:
- STEPN’s parent company Find Satoshi Lab will reduce investment in the game.
- The company will be focusing on new projects such as an NFT exchange.
- A large amount of GMT SAFT will be unlocked next March.
Popular move-to-earn game, STEPN, which saw lots of hype earlier this year, has begun to lay off staff amid the current bear market, according to Wu Blockchain, who cited community sources. The blockchain game will lay off more than 100 MODs, ambassadors and others.
This may come as a surprise as the blockchain game STEPN announced a $122.5 million profit from platform fees in July and planned to allocate some of the funds towards team expansion, branding and new partnerships.
STEPN’s parent company Find Satoshi Lab will reduce investment in the game and will instead focus on new projects such as an upcoming NFT exchange. A large amount of GMT SAFT (Simple Agreement for Future Tokens, a security issued for the eventual transfer of digital tokens from cryptocurrency developers to investors) will be unlocked in March next year.
A STEPN spokesperson reached out to NFTgators, saying that the company is not laying off staff, but is instead parting ways with volunteer MODs who have not been active in the last few weeks and months. On the contrary, STEPN is actively hiring for several different roles within the company.
“We deny the rumour that STEPN has been laying off staff due to the bear market. These are baseless claims that are factually inaccurate. We pride ourselves in being transparent with our community and we are choosing to address these rumors head-on to avoid any further speculation on falsehoods,” added the spokesperson. “We at STEPN are disappointed that we even have to address baseless rumors, but we will continue to do what we do best. We remain strong and continue to build, grow, and evolve despite the bear market.”
The blockchain game made headlines this year for its novel move-to-earn model, which rewards users in cryptocurrency for engaging in physical activities like walking, jogging or running. The Solana-based project also offers in-app gamification features such as sneaker levelling, shoe-minting, and Gems/Mystery Boxes.
STEPN partnered with Asics to launch a co-branded NFT sneaker collection on April 13, minted on the BNB chain and hosted on the Binance NFT marketplace. The collection exceeded $15 million in total trading volume with a floor price of $12,320 within two weeks of its launch.
By the end of April, STEPN had more than 24,000 daily active users, a significant increase from just 1,000 at the end of February. As recent as September, STEPN opened its first regional offices at Hong Kong’s state-owned Cyperport.
As the overall market moves deeper into crypto winter, STEPN’s number of daily active users has decreased. On Sep 29, the game saw the highest number of daily users since August 3rd, with 7,047 users in a single day.
According to data by “@lightsoutjames” on Dune Analytics, STEPN currently has 5,058 active users over the last 24 hours and 22,506 active users over the last seven days. The floor price of the STEPN x Asics NFT sneakers collection has plummeted to just $66 as of this writing. The GMT token is now priced at $0.63, down from $4.02 from its April rally.
The article was updated following an official response from STEPN.
Changes made:
- STEPN denies rumours that it is laying off staff.
- The company is parting ways with inactive MODs.
- STEPN is actively hiring for different roles within the company.
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