Bitwalking: Digital Currency Pays People to Walk
Bitwalking dollars will be earned by walking, unlike other digital currencies such as Bitcoins that are "mined" by computers.
A phone application counts and verifies users' steps, with walkers earning approximately 1 BW$ for about 10,000 steps (about five miles). Initially, users will be given the chance to spend what they earn in an online store, or trade them for cash.
The founders of the project, Nissan Bahar and Franky Imbesi have attracted more than $10m (£6.6m) of initial funding from mainly Japanese investors to help launch the currency and create the bank that verifies steps and any transfers.
Japanese electronics giant Murata is working on a wearable wristband that will provide an alternative to carrying a smartphone and show how many BW$ the wearer has earned.
Shoe manufacturers are poised to accept the currency, and a UK high street bank is in talks to partner with the project at one of the UK's biggest music festivals next year.
The founders have a track record in disruptive technology that could help developing nations as much as richer ones.
The idea of Bitwalking is to take advantage of the trend for fitness trackers by offering an additional incentive to keep fit. The global scheme plans to partner with sportswear brands, health services, health insurance firms, environmental groups, and potentially advertisers who could be offered unique insights into the audiences they are targeting.
In the future, employers may be invited to take part in a scheme that would be offered to their employees to encourage them to stay fitter, with the currency they earn converted and then paid alongside their salaries.
In developed nations the average person would earn around 15 BW$ a month, but it is hoped that in poorer countries where people have to walk further for work, school, or simply to collect water, the Bitwalking scheme could help transform lives.
The idea isn't completely new. Several start-ups have tried to connect keeping fit to earning rewards but most have failed to measure movement accurately enough to avoid scammers.
Bitwalking hasn't officially released the algorithm used to verify steps but says it uses the handsets' GPS position and wi-fi connections to calculate the distance travelled.
The success of the scheme is likely to depend on how much interest there is from established companies such as big sportswear brands, health insurance firms, or charity and environmental groups all of whom have an incentive to work with the fitness sector.
BBC: http://bbc.in/1He629m
