Crypto Talk with OliveX CEO Rumjahn: Move-To-Earn Fitness App & DOSE Token

Exercise has become a popular conversation on social networking platforms. Exercise, especially indoor style, affects lifestyle among a wide range of covid-19 shutdowns globally.

Blockchain.News spoke with Keith Rumjahn, CEO of OliveX and founder of the DOSE token, to explore the potential development of a move-to-earn business model and how cryptocurrency shaping the virtual fitness and sports industry.

Cycling is more than just a fun physical activity these days, as the connection between fitness facilities and personal mobile devices is about to introduce users to a new chapter in the virtual world.

Move to Earn: Dustland Rider

OliveX, a Hong Kong-based fitness startup founded by CEO Keith Rumjahn in 2017, demonstrated their latest upcoming product, the Dustland Rider, in a recent press event in Hong Kong. It provided an alternative way to encourage the public to enter the crypto space by simply riding a bike.

By completing specific tasks by connecting users’ mobile devices, a so-called move-to-earn (M2E) approach and its application mechanism allow users to enjoy their training achievements in exchange for earning token rewards.

In particular, the digital health platform designed a series of scenarios with immersive stories and missions for users to experience in the Metaverse while exercising. Users have to tackle some challenges in this virtual game to win points or tokens; for example, users can be rewarded with a unique golden yellow sports suit if they complete 100 km in the game.

Tokens will be able to purchase additional equipment or upgrades for characters in the game or traded on the secondary market.

The company said its Dustland Rider would go live soon, expecting to roll out in late September or October of this year.

OliveX is a gamified fitness ecosystem to enhance the fitness experience through game design techniques and game-to-earn mechanisms, according to the whitepaper.

Prior to the launch of Dustland Rider, the company rolled out another similar move-to-earn audio training app to the market in 2021 called Dustland Runner, a fitness-themed training game.

The official whitepaper reads that Dustalnd Runner is the first proof of fitness audio game, which allows players to earn some native tokens or even get Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) or other monetary incentives through physical running in daily life. In addition, its NFT, called Kettlemine, can be minted on the Polygon chain, followed by earning more DOSE tokens by burning Kettlemine NFT.

CEO of OliveX and Founder of DOSE Token Keith Rumjahn Rumjahn

In an exclusive interview with Blockchain.News, Keith Rumjahn, CEO of OliveX shared his journey of running a startup.

“One of the reasons I founded this company is that I realized that some data apps could sell our training data to other commercial companies. However, as users, we lost ownership of data ourselves, without realizing that (our data) was being sold . , and even we don’t get any benefits or cashback from it,” Keith Rumjahn said.

OliveX’s Rumjahn revealed that some well-known data-driven service platforms would buy or use these users’ movement data to improve the purpose of their sales, such as deploying more rental cars to a specific area where more people exercise.

On the other hand, the higher traffic acquisition costs of technology giant platforms such as Google or Apple that dominate the market is another reason why Keith Rumjahn intends to establish a decentralized platform on his own.

When asked how to differentiate and make the brand more unique to maintain its advantages among competitors, Keith Rumjahn said uUnderstanding the game life cycle and retention rate among users is critical to designing game products, as users usually intend to look for more stylish or trendy products within a short period of time, said Keith Rumjahn; bringing innovation and a fresh product idea would be key elements for OliveX to differentiate its products among competitors.

The sense of business and industry knowledge helped Keith Rumjahn equip a sensitive awareness to meet his clients’ needs. The Canadian Chinese basketball coach and software developer said that users usually like the variety of sports, as some of them will participate in several sports during a period of time. The company would develop more types of sports, including boxing or yoga, to expand “the game portfolio, so users can have more options to choose their own favorite sports.”

Nevertheless, the 37-year-old leader said that he hopes the public builds a regular exercise habit in the long term, “I hope the public will be able to build a healthy lifestyle and regular exercise habit, whether they play our game or not in the future,” which is a much more important goal for him personally while guiding the company to remain competitive among competitors.

The company was acquired by Animoca Brands in 2017 and is a spin-off of the parent company. Over 27% of the shares are owned by the leading gamification platform.

Originally, the former fitness app developer ran a business establishing smart mirrors. This interactive device can track body movements to analyze body figures with gyms before entering the crypto world.

Yet the pandemic of COVID-19 crushed many gym operations, resulting in massive downsizing or even layoffs of those gyms, forcing OliveX to transform itself once again.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong-based company later discovered the potential development in the crypto space and declared to list on the National Stock Exchange of Australia (NSX: OLX) in Australia in 2020 and launched its Initial Public Offering (IPO).

The Australian-listed company has raised over $2.6 million between 2017 and 2018 in its last three rounds, according to Fobes.

Furthermore, the company realizes the potential business development in the crypto and virtual economy. Senior management decided to expand their footprints in the virtual space.

DOSE Token

Gamification can be an easier way to convince sports lovers unfamiliar with cryptocurrency to get into virtual sports in the Metaverse. A recent survey by ChianPlay suggests that 75% of investors are joining the crypto space because of GameFi.

Unlike other traditional or developed fitness applications in the market, OliveX launched its original token called DOSE for its M2E in 2021, which can be traded on at least three major cryptos. Exchange platforms, including OKex and Gate.io and KuCoin, to over $54 million in fully diluted market capitalization currently, according to data platform provided by CoinMarketCap.

Keith Rumjahn said their Initial Coin Offering (ICO) launch is even earlier than their main competitors including STPEN, Solana-based move-to-earn apps.

DOSE is the main trading medium in its ecosystem, allowing users and investors to unlock items, buy NFTs or join special events and game modes, according to the whitepaper.

Introducing why OliveX listed its own native token DOSE, rather than adopting other mainstream or benchmark tokens, Keith Rumjahn Rumjahn said DOSE as an Ethereum-based token, “we want to build our own specific token in terms of fitness,” adding that “adopting these mainstream or benchmark tokens may be difficult to maintain the balance of internal economy (of the game)”

“Many games (developers) will generate their own tokens for each different game, but cannot be connected to each other. The DOSE token will connect all the products instead, including Dustland Runner and Dustland Rider.”

Subject to the nature of volatility among tokens in the crypto market, Keith Rumjahn further explained that it would be more difficult to connect to their products if they adopted other tokens. A consistent token would be necessary to maintain the stability of the product price and their “in-game economy.”

Keith Rumjahn believes the external and floating price of the token in the market will not undermine the company’s performance, adding that he will not set a target price for DOSE as the milestone for the long-term performance.

DOSE reached its all-time high of $0.4051 on November 3, 2021. At the time of writing, DOSE was trading at $0.01097 with a market capitalization of over $569,000, according to CoinMarketCap.

OliveX’s token offers various types of trading services, including staking and swapping with other token trading pairs.

Barring recent crypto winters affected by the collapse of LUNA and UST, most of the leading benchmark tokens declined from their all-time high,

In terms of risk management, Keith Rumjahn said that the company has the expert teams in managing risk and the financial management tools for financial operations, whether in the stock market or the crypto market. The company is confident in avoiding liquidity risk from the crypto market, supported by Animoca Brand’s liquidity pool, especially to strengthen liquidity when needed.

As a result, the fitness-based company was able to concentrate its resources on game development, “Our capital is mainly used to run the game, rather than putting them for investment purposes,” Keith Rumjahn added.

Build a virtual training center in the Metaverse

The training-based company also shows its ambition by entering the Metaverse. OliveX enjoys a 12X 12 lot at Sandbox, where the company is establishing a virtual entertainment and even virtual sales space, according to the official white paper.

By introducing strategic partners including Stages Cycling, TRIB3 and TRAX, the company aims to bring digital training experience and NFT collectibles to the Metaverse community.

By partnering with some local fitness brands, the company believes it will be an effective way to attract sports lovers to join Metaverse, who are outsiders to this industry.

OliveX intends to market overseas in the long term, including Japan and South Korea, by recruiting local operation teams for community management.

Prospects for virtual industrial development in HK

Developing blockchain-based startups in Hong Kong is challenging in terms of legal and regulatory challenges. Keith Rumjahn suggests that local regulators should optimize policies, allowing more open-mindedness and crypto-friendly regulations in the city.

In terms of investments, it would be great to allow companies to invest in crypto-related industries or start-ups in terms of licensing, so that more capital from the top can seep into the bottom of the business.

Image source: OliveX