Fitness application ‘pays’ users for effort

The makers behind the fitness application Bitwalking want to reward users who exercise a lot. For about ten thousand steps they can get a ‘bitwalking dollar’, with which they can buy things. The developers hope to collaborate with other companies.

Interested parties should install the Go application, which is available for Android and iOS. For now, however, the software can only be downloaded in a small number of countries and an invitation is necessary; that’s because the makers want to test the concept before moving on to a worldwide release. When the software will be made freely available has not yet been announced, but Bitwalking has already given a lot of information about the plans in a conversation with the BBC.

Details about the reward scheme are on the Bitwalking website. Users are rewarded for taking steps, with approximately 10,000 steps needed to earn a Bitwalking dollar, the digital currency the company uses. The so-called BWs can be used in the Bitwalking shop, where you can also pay with regular dollars. Incidentally, the shop is not always open; From time to time, Bitwalking will sell stuff, which it will inform users about.

For now, a BW is worth a dollar. However, Bitwalking wants to further spread the use of BW, and hopes to collaborate with other companies, such as shoe manufacturers. Activities must also be expanded to developing countries, where people often walk more than in western countries. Bitwalking hopes that collecting BW through exercise can provide additional income, but it is still unclear whether this plan actually has a chance of success. In Western countries, the main aim is to encourage people to walk more and to leave the car at home more often.

In Bitwalking, users have access to their own wallet with which they can make transactions themselves. The company behind the fitness app uses blockchain technology for these transactions. Furthermore, there is a ‘central bank’ that is responsible for the currency.

Furthermore, Bitwalking hopes to be able to sell advertisements with the collected data. However, the company, a start-up based in London, promises that it will not resell individual user data. Furthermore, Bitwalking claims to have developed an algorithm to verify how many steps users have taken. The start-up does not want to reveal the details, in order to prevent abuse.