STEPN tripped up: GMT, GST token prices flounder as M2E platform user count sinks below 6k amid layoffs
12:34, 17 October 2022
STEPN (GMT), the move-to-earn (M2E) lifestyle app, has seen its tokens dramatically drop in price as reports circulate that its user count has dropped to below 6,000 and it is actively letting people go because the crypto bear market.
The Green Satoshi Token (GST), the game token of STEPN, and GMT, the app's governance token, are both massively down compared to their all-time highs. In April 2022, GMT reached the $4.11 level and GST $8.51. Earlier today (17 October) GMT was at $0.5858, an 85% drop compared to its all-time high, and GST was at $0.02608, a 99% drop from its all-time high, according to CoinMarketCap.
In early May, STEPN reported that its network reached more than 2.3 million monthly active users.
At the time STEPN said: “It has blossomed into a vibrant community of over 2.3 million monthly active users and attracted over half a million daily active users.”
According to STEPN developers, a few hours before the STEPN non-fungible token (NFT) airdrop to inaugurate the launch of STEPN Public Beta Phase IV on 1 May 2022, GMT exceeded trading volumes of lead cryptos such as bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH), as traders were accumulating GMTs in the light of the airdrop.
However, the app’s users in September fell to under 6,000. It did witness a slight recovery on 5 October and rose to 11,877, according to Dune Analytics, a crypto analytics firm.
The reasons being given for STEPN’s user base crashing include it being forced to block mainland China users, and a distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attack in June.
GMT to USD
STEPN ‘to lay off more than 100 staff’
Early in October it was claimed that STEPN was laying off more than 100 of its workers amid the ongoing crypto bear market, according to Colin Wu, a crypto reporter with a focus on the Asian market.
The 100 people will consist of contractors and STEPN ambassadors, Wu said. At the same time, he said, development progress has also been delayed.
According to Wu, focus has now been placed on “promoting” STEPN’s parent company, the Australian-based fintech Find Satoshi Lab.
However, STEPN dismissed Wu’s claim and told CoinTelegraph “We deny the rumour that STEPN has been laying off staff due to the bear market. We pride ourselves in being transparent with our community and we are choosing to address these rumours head on to avoid any further speculation on falsehoods.”
STEPN did reveal that it has let go of volunteer MODs that had not been active over the past few weeks, but said that it was actively hiring across multiple roles.
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