People want to get paid in crypto for exercising in the metaverse: survey

A new survey found that over 80% of people would be motivated to exercise more if they were paid in cryptocurrency for their efforts.

The survey, which was conducted by fitness website FitRated, asked 1,001 Americans for their opinions on blockchain-related fitness technology.

The survey found that a staggering 40% of people would be willing to cancel their current physical gym membership for one in the metaverse and that 81% of respondents would be more motivated to stay in shape if they were incentivized by cryptocurrency payments.

Previously, a study conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research concluded that money alone would not be enough to motivate people to go to the gym. However, according to research from FitRated, blockchain-based financial incentives might just do the trick, with 63% of people agreeing fitness motivation was a “main benefit” of blockchain technology. Several moving projects attempt to take advantage of this.

The concept of “gamification” was found to be the main reason why people may prefer blockchain-based financial incentives over standard monetary incentives, with 83% of respondents saying they liked the fact that blockchain-based fitness apps blockchain gamified physical activity.

When asked what types of fitness they would undertake to earn crypto, 49.1% of respondents said walking would be the activity of choice. Next comes cycling with 47.2% and swimming in third place with 41.4%.

When it came to what cryptocurrency people wanted to get paid in, Bitcoin (BTC) was overwhelmingly the preferred choice, with 72% of respondents opting for BTC. Ethereum (ETH) was far behind at 35.5%, closely followed by Dogecoin (DOGE) at 34.6%.

Blockchain-based fitness apps are currently on the rise. A move-to-win Web3 app called STEPN — which gamifies the running experience by giving users the ability to craft unique NFT shoes — has been a pioneer in the blockchain fitness space.

Although STEPN is one of the most established Web3 applications in the fitness world, it is certainly not the only one. Another mobile app called Step App, which runs on the Avalanche blockchain, has emerged as a contender, signaling the surge of Web3 companies looking to tap into the $100 billion fitness industry.