Sweatcoin . . . good effort but could use improvements

Has anyone out there started using sweatcoin? This seems like a rather new cryptocurrency out there. In short, it tries to take two ideas that have been tried before and combine them into a new coin. If you exercise, the app is supposed to track your steps. As steps accrue throughout the day, they will be converted into sweatcoin at the rate of 2,000 steps to one coin (minus the 5% commission).

There have been many apps that have offered exercise-related rewards in the past, but this is the first to my knowledge that converts your output into coins. Sounds great, right? I've been using the app for about two week to mixed success. For one, the biggest caveat, in my opinion, is that the app only counts steps that it considers to be "outside." Now, that's not to say that it doesn't count indoor steps. But to prevent cheating, the algorithm tracks your GPS. As such, it will not reward you steps (and coins) if it believes those steps were not legitimate.

While this sounds like a good idea to prevent users from gaming the system, it has its flaws. Specifically, if you are someone like me, much of my exercise happens at the gym. I use elliptical and tread machines five to six mornings each week for roughly 45-60 minutes each day. That is a ton of exercise and a lot of potential steps. But the app does not count these type of steps. Again, I understand why implement these rules to prevent cheating, but they need to develop a workaround for people who workout indoors. After all, it's been in the sub-zero temperature range where I live for much of the last month. It wouldn't even be safe to walk outside for a prolonged amount of time.

Another noticeable shortcoming of the app is the market for the currency. From what I have seen, the coin is not traded on any crypto market out there. This is probably based on how new it is. The problem is that I don't foresee many markets accepting the coin, in part, because the creators of the coin have already set its value. Namely, if you go to the sweatcoin store, you can trade in your accumulated coin for rewards.

But those rewards are set at astronomical rates. For example, you can trade in 20,000 coins for $1,000 in PayPal credit. Not only does that make it hard to attain at the level you can take steps (the app limits you to 5,000 steps per day, unless you opt to upgrade and pay a membership in sweatcoins), but it also sets the value of the coin at just 5 cents. It's going to get markets hard to adopt the coin if the value is set at that level and there is no reason for it to increase (because why would someone give you more if the app sets the conversion rate?!?!?!). Worse yet, the rewards are extremely limited. Last time I checked there were a handful of options to choose from.

While the coin is still new, it will be interesting to see how many users adopt the technology and whether the coin becomes anything more than something useable through the app. I am skeptical, but time will tell.