A new app is promising to pay users for their fitness efforts by converting steps into a redeemable currency.
Sweatcoin will reward users with one coin of their digital currency for every 1,000 steps taken, reports the Daily Mail.
Although the four figure requirement may seem high at a glance it is actually recommended that people walk between 5,000 and 10,000 steps every day.
The coins earned can be exchanged for Vivobarefoot running shoes, Kymira infra-red clothing and fitness classes from Wonderush or BOOMCycle.
But before you think about strapping your phone to your dog for a sneaky game of fetch, the app’s design is based upon ‘complex software’ to ensure people don’t cheat the system. It does so by cross-checking data on activity and location in order to verify steps.
Co-founder Oleg Fomenko told Reuters:
This whole business is pegged to making movement valuable. Eventually, Sweatcoin is going to have a rateof exchange tied to the British pound.
Right now, movement is valued at zero. How much value a Sweatcoin will have will be a market decision but we know it’s not zero.
The app will face competition from the British startup Bitwalking, which is set to launch it’s own digital currency in the near future.
Currently iPhone users can download the app for free from the app store, but an Android version is still under development.
It will certainly make a refreshing change to earn currency for exercise instead of parting with it!
