// startup autopsy
STEPN
STEPN built a move-to-earn app that paid users in crypto tokens for running — reaching 700,000 daily users and 122 million dollars in monthly revenue before the Ponzi dynamics collapsed and the token lost 98 percent of its value in three months.
market collapseZombie Startup
Technically alive but effectively dead, burning cash · Fatal mistake: Market Timing
// the model, blind
Evaluating only STEPN’s profile at its peak — without knowing the outcome — the model ranked Market collapse as the #1 likely cause. That’s exactly how it died.
Key Events Timeline
FOUNDING
STEPN founded as a move-to-earn Web3 application
FUNDING
STEPN raises funding at peak hype, GST token reaches USD 8 at peak valuation
REGULATORY ACTION
China bans cryptocurrency applications, eliminating significant user base in key market
DOWN ROUND
GST token crashes from USD 8 to under USD 0.01 as user acquisition stops and flywheel breaks
SHUTDOWN
Zombie Startup: STEPN ceases operations as move-to-earn model becomes economically non-viable