In the summer of 2022, I watched the boom of Stepn - an app that promised to pay for regular walking. My friend was already actively earning, having two pairs of sneakers that he minted and resold, generating a stable income. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to get into crypto and start earning.

How I entered the game

I hesitated for a long time, but ultimately decided to take the risk. The simplest sneakers cost 12 $SOL

At that moment, Solana was trading at $20–$30. I registered on Binance, invested two of my salaries - money I had saved for a vacation - and bought sneakers.

Every day I went for a walk, and the app indeed credited me 20–30 GST (game token). At that time, GST was worth about $0.5, which gave me $10–$15 a day. It seemed that the money was starting to come back, and I was already making plans to increase my earnings.

The collapse of a dream

The joy lasted less than a week. One day my friend wrote to me in a panic - Stepn had collapsed.

• The price of sneakers fell 10 times. It was already impossible to sell them - there was no liquidity left.

• GST devalued, and the rewards for walking now brought in pennies.

• Millions of people were left with useless NFT sneakers and losses in their deposits.

I looked at my balance and realized that I had lost about $400. But the real pain came later: if I had just bought Solana and held it, I would now have $2600.

Attempt number two

After that, I tried to make a comeback in the projects Walken and Chiko Roko, but ultimately got disappointed and gave up on crypto.

Everything changed in the summer of 2024 when Hamster and Blum were trending. I even tapped $15 into Hamster and suddenly remembered that I had almost a whole Solana left in Stepn.

Entering the wallet, I was shocked - Solana had grown 10 times in a couple of years. This made me return to crypto, but not for games and dubious projects anymore, but to trade and earn real money.

Now I don't chase easy money, I analyze the market and look for entry points with minimal risks. But I will never forget the lesson from Stepn. #Write2Earn