Stepn, China and crypto

$104,081.00
0.90%$2,570.51
-0.83%$2.38
-6.05%$652.56
0.74%$171.95
-1.88%$0.999861
-0.01%$0.22255
-2.93%$0.771114
-2.53%$0.275711
1.28%$2,561.37
-0.46%$103,987.00
0.92%$3.90
0.93%$3,078.36
-1.29%$16.20
-3.64%$23.65
-3.83%$0.293604
-2.65%$0.00001502
-3.42%$26.23
4.42%$0.198757
-2.74%$8.83
-0.73%$399.83
0.05%$3.09
-4.40%$100.23
0.11%$4.82
-2.09%$2,569.27
-0.11%$0.999768
-0.01%$339.00
0.34%$0.859029
2.66%$2,735.21
-0.41%$4.92
2.97%$0.00001327
-2.28%$1.00
-0.13%$1.001
-0.11%$103,955.00
1.08%$30.27
-0.10%$441.03
-2.59%$6.26
-5.07%$2.91
-4.19%$226.23
-0.72%$5.36
-6.64%$53.35
-1.91%$0.984695
-2.16%$0.11828
-1.04%$206.88
-1.51%$5.46
-2.42%$19.16
-2.65%$0.101066
0.42%$1.00
0.00%$35.47
-2.25%$21.71
-0.29%$12.91
-2.80%$0.75534
-2.84%$4.86
-2.91%$0.0291318
-3.18%$1.051
0.01%$4.91
-2.59%$1.17
0.02%$0.371243
-7.59%$1.00
-0.13%$0.237863
-3.70%$103,619.00
0.87%$0.789235
-3.02%$2.96
-1.84%$0.228088
-2.48%$0.402352
-4.50%$4.38
0.12%$2.79
-7.05%$1.16
-5.96%$0.542934
-4.21%$0.00002125
-3.62%$4.58
-0.34%$2,569.20
-0.64%$0.998866
0.48%$1,816.03
-2.47%$11.90
4.94%$0.505767
-2.36%$178.37
-3.79%$2,659.44
-0.87%$0.91327
-1.01%$95.51
-4.41%$4.90
6.71%$1.32
1.79%$0.238961
-4.23%$1.27
-0.61%$0.01939562
-2.55%$0.760597
-7.17%$0.673989
-5.29%$1.85
-4.53%$12.33
-5.35%$0.793755
1.40%$2,909.71
-0.36%$0.072256
-2.61%$103,667.00
0.61%$0.114366
-4.30%$1.001
0.34%$3.50
4.61%$1.011
-9.18%$0.00010188
-4.41%$2,719.13
-1.30%$0.703397
-2.62%$652.28
0.59%$222.78
-1.37%$0.999595
0.01%$0.909911
-6.66%$0.998423
-0.33%$0.02008212
-5.76%$0.993509
-5.31%$0.01823555
-5.39%$0.01395014
-1.67%$191.24
-1.18%$0.684688
-1.24%$103,840.00
1.19%$2,690.35
-0.06%$105,130.00
1.39%$0.797834
-1.93%$3,225.52
1.36%$0.32422
-6.78%$0.999992
0.00%$102,017.00
-0.47%$0.23203
-2.50%$3,236.59
1.53%$22.94
-0.94%$4.14
-1.04%$0.00000076
-4.73%$0.02214424
30.47%$0.741416
1.82%$37.23
-2.62%$2.30
-2.43%$12.91
4.16%$2,684.14
-0.36%$0.071209
-2.68%$0.119936
-3.07%$4.23
1.82%$0.430589
-3.05%$0.720847
-2.88%$0.642333
-3.14%$1.91
0.06%$41.67
-0.03%$0.998469
0.02%$0.34468
-2.62%$1.94
-3.58%$0.998259
-0.03%$2.07
0.06%$0.166654
-6.90%$1.11
-0.91%$0.223172
-2.69%$111.06
0.01%$0.687875
-3.06%$2,571.97
-0.09%$2,543.93
-1.28%$19.35
-3.80%$0.462788
-5.58%$2,744.04
-0.18%$103,788.00
0.83%$1.90
-6.45%$2,585.50
-3.62%$0.00900731
-4.37%$0.659146
-3.24%$7.70
-5.34%$0.631681
-4.19%$0.197307
-8.40%$0.00544001
-3.24%$0.999892
-0.00%$0.160321
-8.61%$1.001
0.29%$3.07
-8.32%$103,779.00
1.13%$0.496701
-2.90%$2,569.32
-0.16%$0.00002447
0.17%$6.76
-3.07%$0.189291
-2.22%$0.432033
-3.79%$0.092001
-5.00%$0.999814
-0.01%$0.065181
1.66%$102,511.00
3.89%$0.09972
-3.48%$0.677686
-3.78%$1.68
2.76%$1.83
-3.14%$0.438994
3.31%$0.00836003
-6.16%$2,555.47
-2.35%$0.0479659
-6.30%$0.00000044
0.11%$0.04496902
-4.46%$3.52
-5.65%$0.00000107
4.12%$1.36
-4.92%$1.087
0.00%$103,779.00
2.42%$0.999172
-0.22%$44.63
-2.13%$0.00473293
-4.51%$0.151684
-2.67%$1.61
-3.40%$1.42
4.25%$1.00
0.24%$0.403722
-3.76%$0.237722
-3.80%$0.01971217
-0.22%$0.999967
0.26%$34.13
1.00%$0.998251
0.88%$2,726.11
-0.87%$0.39086
-1.58%$0.03679637
-1.09%$0.00529185
-4.38%$0.00000177
2.18%$1.00
0.11%$135.40
-2.91%$0.178583
-4.53%$0.789886
-3.35%$0.00355308
-2.14%$0.843009
-1.91%$0.0000643
-4.40%$2,823.68
-1.11%$0.325182
9.94%$26.21
4.01%$0.344575
-10.06%$20.89
-0.39%$2,798.50
-0.09%$0.306582
-8.16%$1.099
-0.09%$103,931.00
0.78%$0.263546
-4.71%$0.999874
-0.14%$19.52
-5.32%$0.715384
-1.52%$0.230383
-1.58%$2,569.09
-0.57%$2.86
-7.58%$23.64
-3.63%$0.9997
-0.00%$1.00
-0.04%$2,761.32
-0.54%$2,561.04
-0.72%$0.00343304
-3.44%$0.516698
-3.94%$0.0029143
-7.73%$3.51
-6.84%$0.00
-4.41%$23.77
-3.48%$26.19
4.41%$0.572098
-2.45%$0.835927
-5.04%$0.00066866
-9.75%Reading
Tokens underpinning the popular "move-to-earn" crypto app Stepn have plummeted following news that the game would be blocked for users in Mainland China.
"If users in mainland China are found, STEPN will stop providing GPS to their accounts at 24:00 on July 15, 2022 (UTC+8) according to the terms of use. and IP location services," reads a translation from the game's Twitter account, adding, "We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding! STEPN has not engaged in any business in mainland China since its establishment and has not provided download channels."
The associated tokens, Green Satoshi Token (GST) and the STEPN token (GMT), immediately dropped double-digits following Thursday's announcement.
GST fell from roughly $2.08 to $1.53, marking a drop of more than 26%. The token has since recovered and is now trading hands at $1.86, according to CoinMarketCap. The GMT token fell sharply, too, dropping from $1.24 to $0.83. It, too, has regained some lost grain and is now worth $1.05.
Despite the minor recovery, both tokens are still miles off of their all-time highs hit at the end of April, when they were worth $9.03 and $4.11, respectively.
China has famously come out against cryptocurrency time and again over the years, ramping up its efforts last year as it cracked down on Bitcoin mining. But what about NFTs? A new report out of the country now suggests that China will debut its own state-backed platform for launching such tokenized digital collectibles—with no crypto allowed. The South China Morning Post reports this week that the state-backed Blockchain Services Network (BSN) is readying permissioned, non-public blockchain infr...
The two tokens, as well as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of different shoes, work in tandem within the Stepn crypto game.
Users can download the app and purchase NFTs of different sneakers for the game. Once purchased, users can open the app whenever they are on a walk or going for a run to earn GST tokens based on the NFT sneakers the user is holding and how fast or how far the player walks or runs. Users can also earn GST for lending their NFT sneakers to other players.
The GST token can then be used to upgrade or repair the NFT sneakers.
The GMT token can also be earned for playing the game, but it also allows holders to gain access to different activities and change the name of their sneakers, among other benefits.
This isn't the first time China has been a thorn in the crypto industry's side.
In what has been a years-long crackdown on crypto, China again declared all crypto transactions illegal in September 2021. Then, in February this year, the country promised heavy enforcement of this mandate with fines and jail sentences.
This led to a dip in Bitcoin's hashrate, with miners leaving the country for more accommodating jurisdictions, notably the United States and Kazakhstan, among others. New research later indicated, however, that many of these miners had simply gone underground, adapting to the ban by using proxy services to hide their activity.
As for Stepn, it's unclear whether they faced pressure from the Chinese government amid the crypto game's growing popularity.
Shiti Manghani of STEPN, Ty Blackard of NFTY Labs, William Quigley of Wax blockchain, and Spencer Yang of Gomu talk with Decrypt's Dan Roberts about how the next era of NFTs will have utility and real-world use cases, as part of CoinMarketCap's The Capital virtual conference.
“Right from the start, we’ve always complied with local regulations in China, and this was a part of a long-term strategy. We want to be a sustainable long-term project," Stepn CMO Shiti Manghani told Decrypt Editor-in-Chief Dan Roberts on a live CoinMarketCap panel on Friday.
"As part of that, we need to implement GPS technology for anti-cheating," she said. "And the rules and regulations in China are different with regards to GPS supervision, so we’re not the only one. Nike just removed their Nike Run Club app. We have to comply with local regulations, and that is going to be our stance going forward with any country. Web3 does not have borders, but unfortunately, policies do.” Manghani added that Stepn sees regulations “not as hurdles, but as a route to mass adoption.”
Yawn Rong, one of the cofounders of Stepn, told the South China Morning Post in April that the game has been gaining traction in Japan and the United States.
Editor's note: This article was updated after publication to include comments from Stepn CMO Shiti Manghani.
Hong Kong investment group Avenir snapped up another 3.4 million shares of BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) during the first quarter, bringing its holdings of the fund to nearly $700 million, according to a U.S. regulatory filing published Thursday—further evidence that spot Bitcoin ETFs are gaining traction among financial institutions. Avenir held 14.7 million IBIT shares worth $688 million as of March 31, according to its filing,. That marks a 30% increase from the firm's IBIT ho...
Shares of Bitcoin Depot popped 20% to $2.04 on Thursday after the Bitcoin ATM operator reported a first-quarter profit of $12.2 million compared with a loss of $4.2 million a year earlier. Revenue for the Atlanta-based firm, which manages over 8,400 kiosks in North America that let users convert cash to Bitcoin, rose 19% year-over-year to $164.2 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company said the jump was driven by increased kiosk deployment over the...
AI infrastructure firm CoreWeave reported revenue more than five times higher than a year ago, fueled by surging demand for computing power across the sector. In the company’s first earnings report since going public in March, released Wednesday, CEO Mike Intrator said CoreWeave is "scaling as fast as possible" to meet "accelerating" needs for the booming AI sector. The New Jersey-based AI builder brought in $981.6 million in revenue for the first quarter this year, up roughly $793 million from...