The move-to-earn game STEPN is turning heads with its recent integration of the popular payments service, Apple Pay, as a fiat onramp for in-app purchases. The integration aims to expand the accessibility of the game by allowing users to connect their credit card to Apple Pay and purchase vital non-fungible token (NFT) sneakers for gameplay. Ultimately, this integration eliminates the need for users to connect a crypto wallet to purchase in-game assets, a step that may have previously deterred new players from joining the ecosystem.
Shiti Manghani, COO of STEPN, expressed enthusiasm about the incorporation of a fiat onramp like Apple Pay, a technology native to iOS users. Manghani believes this move will assist with the onboarding of the next 100 million users to Web3. In fact, STEPN is the first blockchain gaming app to secure Apple Pay integration, a privilege that undoubtedly provides considerable exposure to a larger audience. Manghani emphasizes the importance of diversifying and exposing the app and Web3 community to a wider range of users.
On the other hand, despite the quick scaling to over 700,000 monthly active users in May 2022, STEPN has seen a decline to around 23,000, according to data by Dune Analytics. Jerry Huang, the co-founder of Find Satoshi Labs (FSL), the company behind STEPN, maintains that utilizing a hybrid of Web2 and Web3 technologies is a useful approach to attracting more users to the ecosystem.
Huang believes that the integration of Apple Pay will significantly improve user experience, remove barriers to entry, and enable the Web3 space to reach a level of maturity necessary for mainstream adoption. To further this goal, in November, Find Satoshi Labs launched its native NFT marketplace MOOAR, enabling users to purchase in-game assets within the application. Additionally, prior to the onset of the crypto winter, STEPN reported a sizable $123 million in Q2 profits in July 2022.
In conclusion, the integration of Apple Pay as a fiat payment method in STEPN’s move-to-earn game is an innovative and strategic step towards expanding the accessibility of the game and the overall Web3 ecosystem. While the integration provides a much-needed solution to the hurdles faced by potential users, it remains to be seen if this move alone can propel Web3 to mainstream adoption and build a strong, diversified user base across various platforms.
Source: Coindesk
