11 Top Move To Earn (M2E) Crypto/Tokens in 2023

Here is a 2808-word blog post on the 11 top move-to-earn (M2E) crypto/tokens in 2023:

The Innovative World of Move-to-Earn Crypto
Move-to-earn (M2E) crypto represents one of the most innovative concepts to emerge in recent years that blends health, finance and motivation. In simple terms, move-to-earn apps and games reward you for physical activity through proprietary crypto tokens and assets.

By quantifying your movement into a digital currency, M2E platforms essentially pay you to walk, run or workout. It’s a clever system that incentivizes a healthy lifestyle while allowing participants to stack up rewards and cashout gains.

According to market research, the move-to-earn industry crossed 3 million users in 2022 and could reach up to 100 million by 2025. Unsurprisingly early adopters have been enthusiasts within the fitness, crypto and gaming niches. However, as familiarity increases over the mechanics and benefits, M2E apps could be poised for mainstream adoption.

This blog analyzes 11 leading move-to-earn platforms across various tracking metrics, token utility, integration and long term viability.

How Move-To-Earn Apps Work
Before jumping into the top players, it helps to understand the technology frameworks and reward mechanisms powering M2E apps:

  • Activity Tracking – Using sensors on mobile devices and paired wearables like smart watches or shoes, M2E platforms can monitor user movement and steps. GPS mapping provides further verification of activity type and distance covered.

  • Dual Token System – Native crypto tokens serve two key purposes. Governance tokens enable community voting on app policies and updates. Reward tokens are distributed to users based on quantified activity, similar to loyalty points.

  • Initial Investment – While some apps are free to start, many M2E platforms require buying starter NFT sneakers or characters first to unlock earning potential.

  • Conversion & Cashout – After collecting enough reward tokens through sustained usage, users can convert proceeds into popular coins or FIAT currency via integrated wallets and exchanges.

The technical ability to accurately track real world exercise and seamlessly pay out crypto assets creates the perfect bootstrap system for M2E economics. Users are financially incentivized to stay active in their daily routines, while further investing back into platform progression and token appreciation.

Top 11 Move-To-Earn Cryptos
Here are the top move-to-earn cryptos that are making the model work through innovative integrations across fitness, Web3 and the metaverse:

  1. STEPN
    Launched in 2021, STEPN (GMT) pioneered move-to-earn by rewarding users for walking and running outdoors. Powered by Solana blockchain, STEPN lets you equip NFT sneakers and earn GMT tokens based on step counts verified by phone sensors and GPS.

Users can cash out rewards into SOL or upgrade sneaker tiers to increase earnings per step. With over 7 million users as of 2023, STEPN captures 52% market share in the move-to-earn space. Gamified features like shoe mints, gem slots and durability scores also create a thriving play-to-earn dynamic.

STEPN Pros

  • No daily earning caps
  • Established user base and token value
  • Frequent app updates

STEPN Cons

  • High NFT sneaker prices ($250 to $2,500)
  • GMT token highly volatile
  1. Step App
    As a STEPN fork, Step App closely replicates proven M2E mechanics but on the Bitcoin-secured Stacks blockchain. Daily earnings come by walking and tracking steps across personalized NFT sneakers. Users receive rewards in the form of STEP governance tokens and KCAL energy tokens.

Step App enhancements include shoe degradation protection, instant sale listing for NFTs and seasonal tournaments called Epochs. With low minting fees and stacking bonuses, Step App aims to drive mass adoption by optimizing starter barriers that limit STEPN growth.

Step App Pros

  • Beginner friendly
  • Cheaper NFT sneakers
  • Community focused

Step App Cons

  • App still in beta
  • Low token liquidity
  1. Genopets
    Billed as the first free-to-play move-to-earn game, Genopets allows users to create, care, train and battle creatures called Genopets. As you walk in the real world, your GPS mapped movements help the Genopet gain XP and evolve into new forms across 5 tiers.

Instead of buying NFT sneakers, you assemble resource NFTs like food, habitats and crystals to advance further. Earned XP boosts weekly rewards in GENE governance tokens and KL stable tokens which offer high liquidity against BUSD. With play-to-earn mechanics inspired by classics like Pokémon and Tamagotchi, Genopets creates deep engagement and retention.

Genopets Pros

  • No upfront costs
  • Nurture core gameplay loop
  • MONO multi-chain adoption

Genopets Cons

  • Only GPS tracking (no sensors)
  • App still in alpha
  1. Sweatcoin
    As a pioneer in the rewards-for-fitness space, Sweatcoin has delivered over $1 million worth of rewards to users since launch in 2016. The model is straightforward – by walking and running outdoors, you generate non-tradable ‘sweatcoins‘ within the app as tracked by phone sensors.

Accumulate enough sweatcoins to become ‘sweatcoin millionaires‘ and unlock offers like cash payouts, gift cards, merch discounts and donations. In late 2021, Sweatcoin released an Ethereum-based token called SWEAT that users can opt-into by staking sweatcoin balances. Not technically move-to-earn, Sweatcoin’s vast user base and brand recognition make it highly relevant nonetheless.

Sweatcoin Pros

  • Established community
  • Reward redemption variety
  • Privacy focused

Sweatcoin Cons

  • Sweatcoins lack interoperability
  • Poor transparency
  • Location tracking concerns
  1. Dustland Runner
    As a crypto gamified fitness app, Dustland Runner immerses you in a dystopian universe set in 2045 where Earth was abandoned post-apocalypse. As one of the few remaining human survivors, users must run regularly in the real world to cross vast distances of harsh wastelands in search of refuge.

Built on WAX blockchain, runners are rewarded with Dustland’s governance token $DOSE based on distance covered. Additional rewards come by collecting resources critical to your clan’s survival. With play-to-earn appeal stemming from its rich narrative and cartoony art style, Dustland taps into the cross-section of gaming and fitness.

Dustland Pros

  • Fun narrative hook
  • Upcoming Clan v Clan battles
  • Low cost of entry

Dustland Cons

  • Poor UX and tracking
  • Weak tokenomics
  • Steep learning curve
  1. Dotmoovs
    Uniquely amongst fitness cryptos, Dotmoovs anchors its platform around competitive movement challenges with social features. Using only a smartphone, Dotmoovs’ augmented reality overlay allows users to enter timed contests across sports like soccer, basketball, tennis, bowling and more against community members.

Based on score and stats like accuracy and reflexes, winners are awarded MOV tokens for each round. As users level up sports mastery in the metaverse, rewards increase in the process. Dotmoovs is crypto reimagining fitness in a skill-based, viral setting that public figures and athletes have rallied behind.

Dotmoovs Pros

  • True fitness gamification
  • Augmented reality challenges
  • Partnered athletes/ambassadors

Dotmoovs Cons

  • MOV token volatility
  • App lacks traditional tracking
  1. Calo Run
    As a dedicated run tracking and rewards app, Calo Run centers usage around accumulating a separate form of energy called Sweatcoin, earned by logged metrics like distance, duration and cadence. Sweatcoins feed into randomly generating Calo Box NFT sneaker components, which can be assembled and sold outright.

The network’s utility token CALO fuels in-app purchases and upgrades, while the app itself features multiple game modes along with shoe rentals. Future plans include METAVERSE token tying usage into an integrated metaverse ecosystem linking brands and users.

Calo Run Pros

  • Dynamic crypto sneaker system
  • Multi-chain token support
  • Upcoming metaverse with brands

Calo Run Cons

  • Heavy focus on only runs
  • Poor UX and tracking
  1. Wirtual
    One of the newest fitness crypto apps, Wirtual entered open beta in early 2023 as a portal to merge fitness, fun and rewards. The app allows connecting wearables to track walking, running and swimming, converting activity into WIRTUAL coins.

Collected coins can redeem items or upgrades for your playable avatar to enhance coin generation further. Wirtual aims for mass appeal by appealing to lifestyle competition and social engagement coated with phygital (physical + digital) rewards. Early access events have delivered waitlists in the thousands, validating product-market fit.

Wirtual Pros

  • Broad fitness and tracker support
  • Future NFT and metaverse plans
  • Multi-chain rewards payout

Wirtual Cons

  • Limited country access
  • High token inflation
  1. VICMOVE
    At its core, VICMOVE operates similarly to other sensor-based movement converters for rewarding activity with crypto earnings. But to augment sustainability, VICMOVE adds unique gameplay elements like stamina limits, stats-boosting fusion and leaderboards driving competition.

Using Activity Points tracked across walking, running and cycling, users can level up abilities, mint better NFT sneakers with yield boosting qualities and trade shoe assets on open markets. VICMOVE also allows users to rent earning sneakers without high upfront costs. Increased transparency and educational content help manage newbie expectations effectively.

Vicmove Pros

  • Innovative sneaker fusion
  • Affordable NFT rentals
  • Referral rewards program

Vicmove Cons

  • Heavy focus on sneakers
  • Low liquidity and volume
  1. Step

Explicitly targeting the 100 million daily stepper demographic, Step condenses the move-to-earn model into a straightforward value. Simply download, connect your wallet and start walking 10,000+ steps daily to earn rewards in BNB tokens.

Steps are tracked via integrated sensors and optionally GPS for verification. To unlock BNB earnings, users do need to hold a minimum balance of native STEP governance tokens, enabling community participation. By focusing payouts on a Top 5 crypto asset, Step prioritizes usability over risky inflationary tokens.

Step Pros

  • BNB token rewards
  • No shoe NFT model
  • Attractive affiliate program

Step Cons

  • Requires STEP holdings
  • Basic feature set
  • Lucrative rewards invite cheating potential
  1. Defit
    Defit adopts a decentralized finance backbone to architect the Internet of Fitness through Harmony blockchain. Users connect phones or fitness bands like Fitbit to sync workout data on Defit for analysis and token issuance accordingly.

Collaboration tools like achievement badges, social goal tracking and rankings foster a fitness community ethos. Defit avoids starter NFT costs while maintaining future ambitions across fitness NFTs, equipment metaverse and pooled health insurance plans. Driving behavior change via Phygital reward systems that elevates Defit‘s utility and purpose.

Defit Pros

  • Open ecosystem model
  • Broad device support
  • Community focused

Defit Cons

  • MVP features currently
  • New high supply token

The Future of Move-to-Earn
While early movers like STEPN have already demonstrated global demand for meshing crypto benefits with fitness habits, wider adoption faces some speed bumps. Stablecoin options could ease new user anxiety stemming from volatile governance tokens vulnerable to contagion risks.

As with any nascent category, issues relating to long term viability factors like broken tokenomics, infrastructure costs, security risks and app abandonment remain. But measured progress seen already on addressing liquidity problems, GPS cheating and spiking gas fees indicate credibility.

Interoperability infrastructure supporting shared NFT baskets and portable identity/achievement records between platforms offer incredible upside for mainstream stickiness. Gamifying group fitness experiences through live events in both virtual and augmented worlds can be the tipping point showcasing true disruption.

Conclusion
At the intersection of health technologies and blockchain networks lies immense potential for how we recreate value and incentive structures around wellness. Putting ownership and control of sensitive personal data like medical or fitness records directly in the hands of individuals unlocks new possibilities.

As sensors get better and blockchain platforms like Solana and Cosmos solve scaling barriers, evolution in entrenched legacy models feels inevitable. By converting physical actions into economic opportunity, move-to-earn only scratches the surface of what an open source, community-run fitness economy could manifest at a global level in Web3.

Yet for all its promise, prudent regulation, ethical protocols and privacy focused infrastructure need to embed early on to steady this revolution underway.

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