STEPN: Maximize Your Earnings and Fitness in the Web3 World

Ever heard of STEPN? It’s not your typical fitness app. Think of it as a blend of running, gaming, and crypto all in one. The idea is simple: stay active, and you’ll earn GST (Green Satoshi Token), a cryptocurrency you can actually cash out for real money. Sound too good to be true? Well, there's more to it. While the concept is pretty straightforward, how you maximize those earnings requires strategy. In this guide, I’ll take you through everything you need to know about STEPN, from the basics to advanced strategies that can help you get the most out of your sneakers and energy.

What is STEPN?

STEPN is a Web3 lifestyle app that rewards users for walking, jogging, or running. Built on the Solana blockchain, it incorporates both GameFi and SocialFi elements, allowing users to earn cryptocurrency while keeping fit. But it’s not just about exercise. The app also promotes carbon offsetting and includes user-generated Web3 content through its SocialFi features.

But here’s the kicker—what makes STEPN stand out from regular fitness apps is its move-to-earn model. With the help of NFT sneakers, you can earn crypto for staying active. So, instead of just tracking your steps for a virtual badge or pat on the back, you're rewarded with actual tokens that have value.

How Does STEPN Work?

In STEPN, users "wear" digital sneakers, represented as NFTs, and earn GST for walking, jogging, or running. You can use GST to level up your sneakers or mint new ones. But before diving into advanced strategies, let’s get the basics down.

How to Get Started with STEPN

  1. Download the STEPN app from the App Store or Google Play.
  2. Sign up with your email.
  3. Click the “Wallet” icon in the app to create a new wallet.
  4. Make sure you have enough SOL (Solana) in your wallet to purchase NFT sneakers.
  5. Buy your first sneaker and start your move-to-earn journey!

You can buy sneakers from the STEPN marketplace or through marketplaces like Magic Eden. The price of sneakers depends on factors like sneaker type and attributes, with current floor prices hovering around 1.5 SOL.

Choosing the Right Sneaker Type for Your Activity Level

In STEPN, picking the right sneaker type is essential. Your sneaker determines how much GST you can earn based on your activity level. There are four types of sneakers:

Pro Tip: If you're like me and regularly run 3-8 miles per week at a steady pace, the Jogger is the ideal sneaker. But if you like to vary your speed or do interval training, the Trainer is a versatile option.

Maximizing Your Earnings with STEPN

Now that you’ve got the basics down, let’s talk about how to maximize your earnings in STEPN. This is where the game gets interesting. Your ability to earn depends on your sneaker's attributes, Energy, and strategy.

Energy Management

Energy is the most critical factor in how much you can earn. It determines how long you can earn GST each day. Here’s how Energy works:

I currently have 3 sneakers (Jogger, Runner, and Trainer), which gives me 4 Energy per day. That translates to 20 minutes of active earning time. Want to earn more? Consider investing in additional sneakers to increase your Energy pool.

Pro Tip: Plan your workouts around Energy restore times. Energy replenishes at 25% every 6 hours, so you can spread out your activity sessions to maximize your GST earnings across the day.

Efficiency: The Key to Earning More GST

Efficiency is one of the most important attributes of your sneaker because it directly impacts how much GST you earn per Energy spent. The higher your Efficiency, the more tokens you rake in.

When I first started with STEPN, I focused on leveling up my sneakers’ Efficiency to maximize my earnings. You can do this by:

Pro Tip: Prioritize Efficiency early on to quickly accumulate GST, which you can use to repair your sneakers, level up, or mint new ones.

Durability: Keep Your Sneakers in Top Shape

Just like real-life sneakers, your NFT sneakers in STEPN wear down over time. Durability decreases as you use your sneakers, and once it drops below 50, your GST earnings take a hit. At 0 Durability, your sneakers stop earning entirely until repaired.

Here’s how Durability affects your earnings:

Pro Tip: Balance your points between Efficiency (to maximize earnings) and Resilience (to reduce repair costs and slow Durability decay). This ensures you're not spending too much on repairs and still earning optimal GST.

Advanced Strategies: Minting Scrolls, Attributes, and Long-Term Planning

What Are Minting Scrolls?

Minting Scrolls allow you to mint new sneakers, a key feature if you want to scale your STEPN experience. To mint a new sneaker, you’ll need:

You can use Minting Scrolls to grow your sneaker collection and increase your Energy, which ultimately allows you to earn more GST. However, minting comes at a cost, so plan your moves carefully.

Leveling Up Your Sneakers

Once you start earning consistently, leveling up your sneakers will unlock new features like:

Pro Tip: Invest in Efficiency first, then add points to Resilience to reduce repair costs. If you’re targeting Mystery Boxes, throw some points into Luck as well.

Game Modes: Solo, Marathon, and Background Mode

STEPN isn’t just about casual walking or running. The app also offers different modes that can keep things fresh and potentially increase your earnings:

Pro Tip: Marathon Mode is a great way to test your endurance while earning rewards. Register for marathons to add variety and increase your earning potential.

The Risks: Token Volatility and Costs

While STEPN is an exciting way to earn while staying fit, it’s not without risks. GST and GMT are volatile tokens, meaning their value can fluctuate significantly. For example, GST was once valued at $8.51, but now sits at around $0.02.

Before diving in, keep in mind:

Final Thoughts: Is STEPN Worth It?

STEPN is more than just a fitness app—it's an ecosystem where fitness meets finance. With the right strategy, you can maximize your earnings, but it requires careful planning, investment, and an understanding of how the app’s mechanics work. Whether you're casually jogging or seriously minting new sneakers, there's a lot of potential here.

That being said, the app’s long-term viability depends on the token economy and user growth. With new features like marathons and background mode, STEPN has the potential to keep users engaged and earning.

If you’re looking to stay fit, earn crypto, and explore the world of Web3, STEPN is worth checking out. Just be sure to manage your risks and plan. Message me if you need an activation code.

Ever heard of Disney Pinnacle? It's the latest app for Disney fans, but instead of a physical collectible, it takes the famous Disney pin-trading experience and takes it online...with a few caveats.

The app was created by Dapper Labs, which you might know if you've followed NFTs before. They are known for creating user-friendly NFT marketplaces like Doodles 2 and most famously NBA Top Shot.

They've teamed up with Disney this time, which on paper, which should bring us something truly magical (right?). Does it though?

Let's see what happens when Disney Pin Trading meets the world of NFTs.

Intro to Disney Pinnacle

Not familiar with NFTs or even Disney Pin Trading? Let me catch you up.

NFTs are essentially digital collectibles that have been verified as authentic through a technology called the blockchain. Let's go back to the aforementioned NBA Top Shot. This revolutionized the trading card industry by putting them on internet.

Now imagine NBA Top Shot, but instead of trading cards, you're swapping iconic Disney pins. Don't know about Disney pins? It's one of the most timeless and thriving collector ecosystems out there actually. They're a BIG deal! Just hop on eBay and you'll see what I mean. Or better yet, take a trip to a Disney park and check out the serious collectors with their binders full of pins. There are walls and entire stores at Disneyland dedicated to Pin Trading and people wear them around the park on lanyards and backpacks.

Now, I don't know about you, but I grew up being a Disney fan, and collecting pins was a big part of that. I remember decking out my lanyard with pins from Disney California Adventure specifically. Some of my first eBay purchases were Disney pins - good times!

So, why am I telling you all this? Well, because Disney Pinnacle isn't just about trading digital pins. It's about recapturing that feeling of excitement and wonder that comes with collecting something special. It's about bringing the magic of Disney right to your fingertips, wherever you are.

It has always made a lot of sense to bring Disney pins onto the blockchain. Counterfeit pins is actually a big issue, so by using Dapper Labs as a partner, they can make them authentic and immutable. Already, they've solved one BIG issue of pin trading!

For that reason, I was initially really excited about Disney Pinnacle's release. However, the question remains to be seen, does the app recreate any of the magic?

The Disney Pinnacle App

I got early access to Disney Pinnacle as I signed up for the alerts when the app was announced in November of 2023.

Signing Up for Disney Pinnacle

I gave my email and was instructed to sign up for an official invite link in their Discord. I joined the Dapper Labs Discord, found the Disney Pinnacle channel, and entered my email again.

From there, I was told to download the official Disney Pinnacle app in the Apple App Store (it's available on Android devices now too) and connect my Dapper Labs account to it.

From there, I was in the app and ready to start collecting pins!

Unfortunately, as constituted, it's rather a barebones app. There are 4 sections:

You can't currently trade on it, which is a big issue. However, as with Top Shot, I'm sure that the reseller marketplace will launch after they've established a base of users.

That dedicated base of users remains to be seen though.

Right now, some of the premium pin drops are not selling out. This does not bode well for the long term sustainability of the app. There needs to be a "market" if they ever hope of having a thriving marketplace.

Starter Pack

Much like in traditional pin trading, there is a starter pack that will get you going. With it, you'll have a base of the famous Mickey Friends...Pluto, Daisy, Minnie and Goofy...for $5.95.

To get Donald and Mickey, you will have to keep an eye on the Revolving Storefront (more on that in a bit).

Buying A Pin

Once you have your starters, you might want to start getting new pins to add to your collection. Luckily, there are always pins for sales and two ways to buy a pin currently in the Disney Pinnacle app.

First, there is a rotating set of individual pins that are constantly for sale, called the Revolving Storefront. For example, you can buy a Mickey pin for $5.95, an open edition pin for $6.95, and a gold for $13.95.

If you're feeling lucky though, you can buy a capsule. Inside the capsule is a random pin from a certain collection called Mystery Capsules. For $6.95 you get a pin that could be a wide variety of options. It even be a rare gold pin, but you pay the same price as you would for a standard pin.

Collections

Mystery Capsules and the Rotating Storefront are from current "Collections". A collection is a set of pins from a certain movie, series or type of pin. For example, there is an Alice in Wonderland collection, a Rogue One collection, and a Villains collection respectively.

There are limited runs of "collections" in the Pinnacle app. The length of the run varies by the type. So far, there are always at least 2 ongoing collections on sale. Strike quick though, once they're done selling they're gone forever! You will only be able to buy them through resale moving forward.

Collections typically run for a month, unless it's a Premium Collection. Premium collections run you $49.95 for one pin and are only available for 1 week only.

While the price is high, the limited run might make them more of a collector's item down the road. I bought a Disney Up premium pin, for example. You can learn more about that experience here.

Rarities

From what I can tell, there are 5 types of pins in Disney Pinnacle so far:

Conclusion

Despite the underwhelming app and the floundering market so far, there's some cool stuff brewing here.

Disney Pinnacle could totally shake things up with real-world redemption stations at their theme parks or other innovations like that. It's like when you can only get that special Star Wars pin from a specific spot in Downtown Disney. How cool would it be to swap pins right there in the park?

Much like how NBA Top Shot added Challenges, there could be some sort of gamification to the app too. It's all about adding that extra layer of fun and excitement.

Now, I know that Disney could very well kill this app tomorrow. If it's not selling, it's not selling. However, if it lasts, there's a good chance it'll be a good long term play. Disney collectibles might not be the hottest topic right now, but trust me, they've got staying power. Think of them as the classics of the collector's world...the "blue chips" if you will.

Sure, Disney might be going through some changes, but that's no reason to count them out yet. If anything, their venture into NFTs could be a game-changer for the brand. And hey, why wouldn't you want some of the first official Disney NFTs, if you truly believe in NFTs?

So, keep your eyes peeled and your pin collection ready. The magic of Disney Pinnacle is just getting started, and you won't want to miss out on the fun!

Understanding Arbitrum NFTs

Truthfully, I first bought NFTs on Arbitrum on a whim. I thought I had an interview for a marketing position there and I wanted to get familiar with their ecosystem before I chatted with them.

Spoiler: I didn’t get the job or even interview for the correct position

However, the experience of buying NFTs on a L2 was good experience for me, especially with the emergence of Base recently.

Arbitrum is a popular L2 that uses “roll-ups” to reduce gas costs and congestion on mainnet ETH…and for that reason, your eyes may have already glazed over.

But hear me out. the effectiveness of roll-ups *could* be the future of NFTs. That’s because no one wants to spend ten dollars…let alone hundreds or thousands…on gas fees. That’s what has made Solana NFTs so popular despite the network intermittently just going down…it’s quick and cheap.

As NFTs scale, this has become an important topic, and Arbitrum NFTs, much like other L2s have the advantage of having quick transactions and cheap ones too.

However, does that make them work in the long-term? I’ll dive in.

Getting Started: Buying Arbitrum NFTs

To begin, you will need an Ethereum wallet. If you do not have one, I would suggest MetaMask or Rainbow wallet.

In order to purchase an Arbitrum NFT, you'll first need to undergo a swapping process. That’s because you’ll need the Arbitrum token in order to purchase in the native currency. To do this, you’ll need to use the Arbitrum Bridge. Previously, you often had to convert to a coin like $MAGIC on Uniswap or Sushiswap if you wanted to buy a SmolBrains, for example. However, Arbitrum NFTs are now available on OpenSea and other marketplaces. This means you can keep everything in ETH after it's converted on the bridge.

Next, you'll simply need to add Arbitrum to your Metamask wallet. To do so, just click on 'add network' and input the following criteria (or OpenSea can even handle this for you):

Once that's done, return to your Ethereum Mainnet wallet and open up the bridge. Convert the total ETH you desire into Arbitrum. The bridge transaction requires 2 signatures and took me about 10 minutes in total.

It's not exactly lightning fast (it took me about 10 minutes to bridge my Ethereum), but once it's done, you just need to switch back to the Arbitrum network in Metamask... and you're all set to explore the world of Arbitrum NFTs.

I went on OpenSea and bought some ‘Government Toucans’ (see above) mostly because they were cheap and your boy loves toucans.

The most popular and historic project on Arbitrum is SmolBrains which is on a token called $MAGIC. You can swap $ARB for  $MAGIC on Uniswap or you can buy them with your bridged $ARB on OpenSea.

Smol Brains are one of the first dynamic NFTs and you’ll find that it’s revolutionary irregardless of the chain that it’s on. That means it’s certainly worth a look!

It’s up to you though now. What you buy on Arbitrum is your choice, but you’ll see that there is a thriving and cool ecosystem of NFTs already on there.

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Introduction

An ENS domain is an essential part of your Web3 identity. Do you have one yet?

If not, fear not. I’m Biv and I’m here to help. I’ve been an NFT zealot and ENS maxi for 3 years now. In fact, of all the NFTs I’ve bought, ENS domains were amongst the first I ever made. It’s also the NFT that I’ve bought the most, so I know my way around their platform.

In this guide, I’m going to dive into the Ethereum Name Service, ENS for short. I’ll teach how to buy ENS domains and explore how it can simplify and enhance your crypto experience in Web3. They might even be a good investment for the future, which I’ll also touch upon 👀

Understanding ENS

ENS is the Ethereum Name Service. Think ICANN and DNS for Web3. It allows you to replace your long, complicated public key, with a short, easy-to-remember name instead.

Much like how traditional domain names are used to send you to a website easier than typing in the website’s IP address, ENS does the same for crypto wallets.

Think of it as a phone book, instead of a long, complicated hash, ENS will allow you to simply type in biv.eth, for example.

But unlike ICANN, ENS is run by a DAO, meaning it’s decentralized, which fits into the mold of cryptocurrency.

Already, ENS has integrated its service into big platforms like Coinbase and many others including Nike and Amazon are already securing their domain names just to be safe in the future.

Benefits of Using ENS Domains

As mentioned, ENS helps you shorten the length of wallet address. But it can also be used as a branding opportunity. This ENS domain can represent your entire Web3 brand. That’s because, not only will it be used by people to send you payments, but on different platforms, this is how you’ll appear on there!

ENS integrates with various Web3 protocols and services, including OpenSea and Coinbase. Whether it’s DeFi, NFTs, or Dapps, you’ll certainly want to have a short and snappy ENS to flex on fools there. The sooner you secure them the better.

However, if you’d prefer to stay anon, ENS is still on the decentralized web. You can grab a 10K Club digit domain and operate without anyone knowing your name or online identity. They’ll simply be able to send money to 2291.eth, for example.

How to Get Started with ENS

Registering an ENS domain is straightforward enough. You simply need a wallet and an idea. You can go to https://ens.domains/ to start looking for the domain you want.

Consider the gas which is at the top left of the screen. For domains 5 characters or longer, you will have to 0.0015 ETH per year for registration+network fees (that’s why you consider gas). 3 and 4 character domains are much more expensive so do keep that in mind as you are choosing your domain.

Once you’re ready to go, simply connect your wallet and click buy. You will prompted to confirm 2 transactions. One is claim your spot. After a brief waiting period has passed to ensure no one else is trying to register that same domain at the same time, you confirm once more and the domain is yours!

You can use essentially any wallet with ENS, including MetaMask, Rainbow, MyEtherWallet, or Coinbase Wallet. You’ll want to set your new identity as your primary domain so that it shows the rest of Web3 that you’re serious about your game.

(Keep in mind the renewal date and set a reminder to renew it so you don’t lose it later).

Best Practices for Selecting ENS Domains

If you have a domain in mind already, that’s great! Go check to see if it’s available.

However, if you’re having issues deciding, I have some recommendations for you. This is true of even traditional domains.

You want something snappy and brandable. If that’s your last name, then great. However, if you need to create an entirely new identity for yourself, then do that! Web3 is a place to be a completely new person, so it’ll be good timing.

If you’re feeling very adventurous, there are already well-established ENS communities that you might want to consider joining. You can find a few on vision.io, but here are the ones that I know already slap:

Digits

Digits are the OG ENS community. 

Some genius figured out in 2022 that ENS had its own 10K collection similar to that of CryptoPunks and the Bored Ape Yacht Club. Yes, there were 9999 numbers from 0000-9999 and they could be registered on ENS.

It sounds dumb, but the more you think about it, the more it makes sense.

2291.eth, for example, can be completely anonymous and be remembered easily. It serves the base purpose of an ENS domain. However, it also unlocks the power of community.

Yes, by having only 10K of them available (hence the 10K club), there’s an exclusivity to them. There’s also a little bit of a flex to ones that are just 3 digits (called the 999 club) because they cost a big premium.

But digit owners are able to find each other online much like Bored Ape holders are able to find each other online. It became the vogue ENS domain for a while there. They’ve fallen back down to the Earth, as the high renewal prices have made it hard for people to hold onto them long term. 

That being said, it’s still a great community to belong to as you get started with ENS. They’re a lot of smart people still involved with it.

Fandom/Pokemon ENS

Soon, another genius came along and said, there are only so many Pokemon available on ENS too. That’s where Pokemon ENS comes in. This is once again a super strong community of domain collectors. They understood too that Pokemon names were a little more brandable than 4 numbers, so they were able to band together and watch their community take off.

For the same reason that the 10K club is exclusive, so is Pokemon ENS with the added bonus of being a brand that people still obsess over.

It doesn’t stop there either. Other ENS communities have started by attaching themselves to certain fandoms including anime, cartoons, and movies.

You can purchase most of these on secondary markets like OpenSea and the aforementioned vision.io (my personal preference). You’ll obviously have to pay more and deal with domain squatters who think their ENS domain is way more valuable than it is, but to join a special ENS community will be worth it in the long run.

Advanced Features and Integration Options

Subdomains

There are a lot of cool, technical tricks you can use with ENS. It’s an entire protocol and I won’t pretend to know even half of the things you can do.

The subdomains feature is probably the most useful to beginners and experts alike. It functions (again) much like a traditional subdomain as it can point to a completely different address and can even be wrapped and sold as such.

Imagine Nike wants to create subdomains for their athletes, in theory, they could do this and have each subdomain represent the wallet of a different athlete.

And so on…

To do create a subdomain, you will need to pay gas, but it’s a rather straightforward process. I have setup a “vault” subdomain so I can quickly and easily send NFTs to my hard wallet.

The Future of ENS

There you have it. You are an ENS master. You are off to the races, you can start buying and trading ENS domains today if you want to.

Remember, this is a long-term play. You won’t sell any domains overnight. It’ll be months and sometimes a years long process. Despite all the uncertainty, I believe in ENS long term.

There are services out there that track expiring ENS domains. Right now, a lot of good ENS domains are dropping like flies. That’s because the ENS DAO has kind of dropped the ball.

At one time there was a lot of money flying into the ENS ecosystem. People were overpaying for high quality domains, hoping they’d resell for much more. The 10K community was thriving and was worth a lot of money. 

However, things dried up and those people who were overextended got angry.

Despite all the turmoil (and to be clear, things don’t look great right now), I think there’s some promising things on the horizon for ENS.

First they have a new partnership with GoDaddy, which hopes to bring in traditional domain owners into the world of Web3.

Next, there is word on the street that ENS will be dropping a L2 in order to make gas fees negligible. A big issue has been paying more for gas to register a domain that it’s actual renewal costs. It makes splurge purchases hard as you have to properly time when gas is low. An L2 would change this and give ENS another chance to win back the community with an airdrop of some sort again.

(Their first ENS airdrop was a success and remains one of the smoothest and best examples in the Web3 space in my opinion).

Either way, I hope this guide helped. You can now leverage ENS domains to enhance your Web3 experience. Let’s get it.

Other FAQs

Can I transfer ownership of my ENS domain to someone else?

Yes, you just need to update the wallet address of the owner in your ENS domains account. This will effectively transfer ownership to them. This costs a small gas fee to update to the new wallet address.

How long does it take to register an ENS domain?

Do I need to renew my ENS domain annually?

Yes. To save gas, you can bulk renew your ENS domain for multiple years. If you're very confident you'll be keeping your ENS domain for the long term, you can renew it for 10 years!

Can I link multiple cryptocurrency addresses to one ENS domain?

Yes. Go to the information of your ENS domain in their admin panel. If you haven't already, connect the wallet that holds the ENS NFT you registered. Click on the DETAILS tab in the app. Enter the addresses you'd like your domain name to point to for multiple chains. For example, you can enter a BTC address, a BCH address, an ETH address, and so on.

What happens if I forget to renew my ENS domain?

If you happen to miss renewing your Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domain, don't worry; there's a 90-day grace period before it becomes available to everyone again. Within this time frame, you can still reclaim your domain without losing ownership rights, although you won't be able to make any changes to its records. This means the name and its associated information stay the same, and any Ethereum tokens sent to that name will still reach the designated wallet address.

Can I use my ENS domain for websites outside of the Ethereum ecosystem?

Are there any limitations on the characters I can use in my ENS domain name?

ENS names are generally encoded using UTS-46, which means they have partial support for Unicode characters, including emoji. In fact, emojis ENS are another community you can get involved with!

Names that are not valid UTS-46 will not be resolvable by most resolvers, which includes some emojis so be careful.

Is there a limit to how many ENS domains I can own?

Nope! You'll just be on the hook for crazy renewal payments every year. Happy hunting though.

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