As Stepn gradually fades into oblivion, the project leaders are undeterred. And intend to add a string to the bow of their ecosystem: MOOAR, an NFT marketplace with a radically different business model.
MOOAR: A subscription-based marketplace model!
Will traders have to pay 30 dollars per month to buy and sell NFTs on the new MOOAR platform? It would seem so. The new platform developed by the creators of Stepn wishes in any case to explore the track of the monthly subscription for their users. In addition to this monthly subscription, the platform will apply the royalties requested by the creators on the sales of the secondary market. For each NFT sold, this fee will represent between 0.5 and 10% of the total amount.
The least we can say is that the platform’s business model is daring. Daring because it is in contrast to what is practiced more and more with platforms with zero or optional royalties. As for operating costs, platforms often charge these for each transaction. This will not be the case on MOOAR. In any case, MOOAR already goes against what is practiced and takes over the principles of platforms like Amazon Prime or Netflix. If some consider it a foregone conclusion when others seem more enthusiastic, all agree on the risk that the developers of the project are taking.
For Stepn’s COO, Shiti Rastogi Manghani, the choice of such a business model is above all guided by ethical reasons. As she recently fervently developed:
As a creator, builder, and founder, why would I partner, collaborate, or work with someone who wouldn’t reward me or my project? We created web3 to change all that, right? Now what’s the point if we start to centralize the whole platform again and exploit the creators?
According to Manghani, seeing NFT marketplaces not taking into consideration the royalties set by creators is tantamount to rejecting the deep values of the web3. However, this is the path that the majority of these platforms seem to want to take, like Looksrare or Magic Eden.
MOOAR: A platform with ambition
If we talk about MOOAR’s projects, the platform will work with NFT collections from the Solana blockchain but also from Ethereum, the two market leaders in the non-fungible token segment. There is also talk of hosting other blockchains via the platform.
Eventually, the marketplace will offer its own launch pad for outside creators who will need to be approved by GMT token holders. Asked about her business model, Shiti Rastogi Manghani admitted that acceptance of the model would be a real challenge for the teams.
It’s not an easy thing to do. It will not be easy to build and develop, and we are fully aware of that. But we are driven by long-term value.
Can MOOAR revive Stepn?
Last spring, Stepn got off to a flying start. Powered by the Launchpad of the Binance platform, the application quickly found its audience. To the point of quickly reaching 3 million active users each month. It must be said that the proposed business model was both revolutionary while remaining extremely simple. Stepn’s “Move to Earn” model, based on the same principles as the “Play to Earn” allows users to be rewarded for exercising (walking or running). But in order to use the application, it is necessary to purchase sneakers, represented in the form of NFT. For the GMT token, this prosperous period has resulted in peaks. At the end of April 2022, one GMT token was trading for more than 4 dollars.
Since then, the enthusiasm has disappeared. The GMT token is now only trading against $0.52. Over the last 3 months, it has just lost nearly 50% of its value. Via the MOOAR marketplace, it will obviously be possible to buy or resell sneakers from the Stepn app. But the ambition of the group seems rather to be the creation of a complete ecosystem. Prior to MOOAR, the Find Satoshi Lab had developed DOOAR. And the promoters of the Stepn project intend to develop other applications to develop their ecosystem and strengthen the position of the GMT token. It is difficult to consider whether MOOAR could be the savior of an entire ecosystem. Either way, the efforts of the team at the heart of the Stepn project are to be commended.
