SweatCoin is an app that promises to make your steps count! Steps are converted into SweatCoins and those accumulated coins can be exchanged for special deals or special gifts after accumulating a certain (and high) amount.
SweatCoin offers many lucrative prizes, including $1,000 — In your currency’s equivalent from US dollars in exchange for 20,000 SweatCoins.
To me, it sounded way too good to be true. The scam-senses were tingling up a mad storm.
SweatCoin mostly prides itself on offering special deals, where steps are the currency.
The app holds a 4.4 out of 5-star rating on the Apple Store, and reviews are positive. However, issues cited include issues with the tracking system, and the companies SweatCoin aligns itself with for deals.
I walk the average amount of each person, and these numbers do reflect my lockdown impact. I am walking less because I am going out less. The majority of steps come from the hour walk I am allocated as well as trips to the shops, and some days I take it… but some days I don’t….
Luckily for me, there is a system of daily rewards where you can earn more SweatCoins by watching 3 separate ads. These numbers are really dependent on the draw, sometimes you can be unlucky and get none, but they also advertise the possibility of earning over 1,000… (the most I’ve ever gotten in one draw is 50).
I downloaded SweatCoin on May 25th, and as of the 12th of September, I have earned 656.03 SweatCoins.
With these numbers, I’m going to make a few calculations…
Since I have 656.03 SweatCoins from 111 days of walking.
I can admit, there are days where I walk a lot, and days where I hardly walk at all. But, from these numbers, I can get an average of 5.91 SweatCoins made per day. Interesting.
So, the amount of SweatCoins required for the $1,000 reward is 20,000, just how long would someone need to be walking in order to achieve that?
20,000 / 5.91 = 3,384
3,384 days of 5.91 to reach 20,000 SweatCoins, which is 9.27 YEARS.
Now, this number does not take into account the daily rewards, so perhaps scratch of 6 months to a year from that number.
Also, SweatCoin has limitations, for instance, there are plans where you can only earn a certain amount of SweatCoins a day (not including daily rewards). Plans range from allowing earning of just 5 SweatCoins (for free), to 50 SweatCoins (for real money). Currently, I am on a plan that allows me to earn 10 SweatCoins a day through walking (at the cost of an additional 4.75 SweatCoins a month).
So, what would happen if I were to walk for 10 SweatCoins worth every day? From my experience, on the days where I have walked for more than 2 hours, I have met that threshold.
20,000 / 10 = 2,000
2,000 days of 10 to reach 20,000 SweatCoins, which is 5.48 YEARS.
Wow, so I’d have to walk for at least 2 hours a day for 5 1/2 years. I would do a lot of things for $1,000 dollars, buuuut…
Turns out I wasn’t the only person questioning this, Google could predict me typing in “has anyone ever reached 20,000 SweatCoins?”
That answer remains unclear, but it does not seem to be very likely.
While SweatCoin is honest in their promises, it just seems like the logistics and the numbers are not in the consumer's favour, at least in relation to the largest prizes on offer.
Overall, my opinion of the app is that it is fine, I don’t see a problem. They are not making promises that can’t be kept, and they do offer deals that are obtainable, there’s even an aspect of charity involved. It would be a different story if people reached 20,000 coins and didn’t get anything, or if all the other deals on offer were legit scams.
It is purely motivational for me, don’t sign up expecting to save a fortune or earn anything. It’s all for the fun of walking.