The crypto space has witnessed a surge in move-to-earn projects focused on the health and fitness sector. The global fitness app market reached $5.1 billion in 2021, projected exponential growth at a CAGR of 17.6% from 2022 to 2028. This growth can be attributed to the increasing adoption of smartphones and wearable devices, rising healthcare costs, and the escalating rates of obesity worldwide.
One of the key drivers of this trend is the concept of gamification, which has made it easier for people to adopt healthier habits. Despite the daily struggle for many to meet recommended physical activity levels (with 1 in 4 individuals globally falling short), fitness and move-to-earn apps have become vital in motivating people to embrace healthier lifestyles.
Notably, these move-to-earn games not only make fitness enjoyable but also offer an opportunity for users to earn extra income through in-game NFTs, tokens, and blockchain-based rewards. The emergence of play-to-earn and move-to-earn projects has seen strong growth in the Web3 and gaming industry, with the GameFi market cap reaching a staggering $55.38 billion in February 2022. Additionally, the blockchain gaming industry is projected to grow by $50 billion by 2025, outpacing traditional gaming's growth rate by 10 times.
In this analysis, we focus on the move-to-earn project, Walken, the first play-to-earn, move-to-earn mobile app that rewards users with $WLKN tokens based on their steps. Walken's mission goes beyond promoting a healthy lifestyle; it aims to onboard the next billion users to Web3 by providing a user-friendly product that allows people to earn money by simply walking.
What is Walken, and Who is the Founding Team?
Walken is a free-to-play, walk-to-earn, and win-to-earn mobile app game built on the Solana blockchain. The GetFit apps team developed the app, a Web2 mobile app and gaming studio with a strong track record of over 60 million downloads in the fitness app sector.
The concept of Walken materialized in late 2021, and the team swiftly released a prototype in early 2022. Within five weeks of its launch, Walken quickly became one of the Top 6 projects on the Solana blockchain. The app boasts over 1 million users in just eight months and has recently surpassed the 2.5+ million off-chain user milestone, signifying strong global interest despite challenging macroeconomic conditions last year.
The co-founders of Walken, Alexei Porodzinsky, Alexei Kulevets, and Konstantin Kozlovsky, have an impressive history of collaboration through their ventures, GetFit Apps and Appyfurious. Together, they have assembled a team of 50 in-house professionals dedicated to realizing Walken's vision.
Fundraising, $WLKN Tokenomics & Recent Successes
In June 2022, Walken successfully closed its funding round, raising $4.7 million in a co-led investment by Infinity Ventures Crypto and Shima Capital, alongside other institutional investors like Ghaf Capital Partners and Morningstar Ventures. The project completed successful public sales (IEOs) on prominent exchanges, including ByBit, Huobi, and Gate.
Walken's in-game economy is powered by its native token, $WLKN, based on the Solana blockchain, with a total supply of 2 billion tokens. $WLKN's value is closely tied to user behavior, with more active players contributing to a higher token price.
The app currently enjoys 218K unique monthly on-chain users, with 553K on-chain users and 2.5+ million off-chain (free-to-play) users. Additionally, Walken has been downloaded over 2.5 million times across both the App Store and Google Play.
Final Remarks and Roadmap
In conclusion, Walken has demonstrated a strong foundation with a sustainable token economy, showcasing a robust tokenomic model and a high demand for $WLKN tokens, as evidenced by a positive net token inflow of 28% over four months. The app has achieved steady growth, amassing a user base of over 2.5 million engaged off-chain users, indicating a growing interest in the game and positive user sentiment.
With its mission to address crucial health issues and its user-friendly concept appealing to crypto enthusiasts and non-crypto users, Walken is well-positioned to contribute significantly to mass crypto adoption. However, the project also faces some challenges ahead, particularly in making crucial decisions regarding blockchain infrastructure and overcoming market perception concerns about the sustainability of the GameFi sector in the long run.
Looking to the future, Walken's exciting roadmap promises many new features, including Daily Quests, new race modes, tournaments, in-game currency utility, offline events, partnerships, and social features. These initiatives are expected to enhance user engagement and drive further growth in the on-chain user base, solidifying Walken's position as a strong contender and a viable use case in the evolving Web3 landscape.
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