Do you want to get paid for getting fit and losing weight? If you're in the UK, there's an app for that.
Sweatcoin tracks how many steps users take, which can then be traded for rewards or money, reported Reuters.
The new app rewards users one coin of virtual currency for every 1,000 steps.
Users of Sweatcoin better think twice about cheating, though, as the app uses complex technology that measures movement and location, as well as bitcoin to manage transactions.
While other fitness apps rely heavily on information reported by users, Sweatcoin cross-checks activity and location data to verify steps taken.
Oleg Fomenko, one of the Russian co-founders of Sweatcoin, says retailers, health insurers and wellness managers are jumping on this latest digital fitness trend.
"This whole business is pegged to making movement valuable," Fomenko said. "Eventually, Sweatcoin is going to have a rate of exchange tied to the British pound."
The coins acquired can be exchanged for fitness gear or services, such as Vivobarefoot running shoes, Kymira infrared clothing and fitness classes offered by Wonderush or BOOMCycle.
The company has already signed up four London startups to offer Sweatcoin to employees as part of a rewards program, which includes extra days off from work, subsidized healthy meals or free massages in exchange for coins collected throughout their physical activity.
Sweatcoin's long-term goal is for insurers or employers to pay to take coins off the market as a reward to users for staying active.
"Right now, movement is valued at zero," Fomenko told Reuters. "How much value a Sweatcoin will have will be a market decision but we know it's not zero."
The app faces tough competition against British startup Bitwalking, which is set to roll out its own digital currency.
Sweatcoin is only available to iPhone users for free from the App Store, but an Android version of the app is currently in the works.
A proprietary version of blockchain anti-tampering software is also being developed to manage the distribution of its digital currency.
This isn't the first time Fomenko has delved into running a startup.
His previous app, Bloom.fm, a music app that launched in the UK in 2013 with over 1.3 million downloads, folded when its sole investor, a Gazprom Media unit, backed out after Russian forces invaded Crimea.
