November 22, 2015 - Mike Dilke

Surely this can’t be right – go for a stroll for 10, 00 steps and earn 1BW$ which will be equivalent to 1$ US.

Well it is and the founders of the bank/ project/ movement (not sure the right word for it,) 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.

Steps are logged by a phone app and a wristband is being developed such that cheating will not be possible and 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.

I have always said that sensible employees should really care about the health of their staff. This could be a novel way to help get some staff engagement to help them look after themselves. Staff could be encouraged to stay fitter as the currency they earn is converted into the local currency and paid into their salary.

The plan is realistically only going to succeed if the BW$ have a perceived value or can be traded for the local currency and that 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.

I have to say I love the idea – there are a couple of hurdles yet for it yet but I really hope it gets traction. Maybe before long staff might get paid to keep moving at work while using a Back App chair although it may need a special version of the phone app or wristband for that! So keep moving BW$.

Full article from the BBC is here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-34872563