The STEPN, a move-to-earn fitness program powered by blockchain, has denied allegations that it fired some of its employees in the aftermath of the current crypto conflict, which has seen several digital assets lose more than 60% of their value.
On October 12, more than 100 employees at Find Satoshi Labs, the parent firm of the STEPN exercise program, were apparently fired off, reported to the South China Morning Post and cryptocurrency news writer Colin Wu from Wu Blockchain.
The famous blockchain game STEPN began to lay off staff in the bear market. It will mainly lay off more than 100 MODs, ambassadors, etc., and will reduce investment in STEPN, and some development progress has been delayed. According to community sources.
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) October 12, 2022
Community moderators, ambassadors, and other people whom the business pays to promote its brand in various locations were on the list of contracts that were cancelled. The media sites said that the corporation saw a consistent decline in player numbers due to the weak cryptocurrency market.
STEPN Disavows Layoff Allegations
STEPN called the circulating rumors “baseless claims that are factually inaccurate” in an interview with Decrypt on October 13. The STEPN spokesman surprised everyone by revealing that the fitness app is even actively recruiting. He stated:
“The reality is that STEPN has parted ways with volunteer MODs who have not been active in the last few weeks and months. Regarding our staff, STEPN is actively hiring for several different roles within the company.”
Market Vitality of STEPN Despite Crypto Winter
The 2021-released cryptocurrency app STEPN enables users to purchase digital running shoes in the form of NFTs. They may get GMT, STEPN’s native token, by completing these NFTs. Nevertheless, the crypto war has caused a minor decline in virtual shoes.
Dune Analytics reports that STEPN had a significant increase in monthly active users in May and June, with more than 700,000 and 500 users, respectively. Unfortunately, the fitness has declined by more than 50% amid the widespread bearishness that started around the middle of June.
From 140,000 monthly active users in August to barely 99,000 in September, the cryptocurrency fitness app has seen a decline. A high of 58,000 users per day on June 21 has been replaced by merely 5,800 users per day on September 15.
The “Careers” link on the STEPN website, where applicants may submit a form indicating interest in working for the firm, is still operational, therefore STEPN is still robust and active despite its dismal performance.
Another NFT project leveraging play-to-earn capabilities, similar to STEPN, is Tamadoge. Last week, Tamadoge unveiled its ultra-rare NFT collection. Its ongoing auction for its NFT collection is scheduled to expire on October 13.
Thanks to Dominic Kimani at Business 2 Community whose reporting provided the original basis for this story.
