Normies Shouldn't Have To Deal: The Hidden Costs of Janky UX

When Solana's meme coin mania sent network activity and token prices soaring, one fitness app discovered it was hemorrhaging money—not from a hack or exploit, but from trying to make crypto invisible to everyday users. Moonwalk Fitness found itself paying 15 SOL per day just to cover transaction costs for its 11,000 daily active users, exposing a critical tension in building mainstream consumer apps on blockchain infrastructure.

Summary

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Moonwalk Fitness has emerged as a compelling case study in the challenges and opportunities of building consumer-facing crypto applications. The app, which launched on iOS and Android in early 2024, uses financial incentives to solve one of fitness's most persistent problems: accountability. Users join step-based contests by depositing USDC, SOL, or BONK, and those who hit their daily goals throughout the contest get their money back plus a share of forfeited deposits from participants who missed goals.

The app's core metrics are impressive—nearly 50% of users who join their first game go on to join a second, and they've built a diverse global community across age groups, geographies, and fitness backgrounds. But the real story lies in what happened when Moonwalk tried to create a frictionless experience for non-crypto-native users. By covering transaction fees and token account costs behind the scenes, they inadvertently created an unsustainable cost structure that became painfully apparent during peak network congestion.

This experience has driven Moonwalk to develop an entirely new infrastructure approach that attempts to capture the benefits of blockchain—smart contract security, on-chain treasury management, and transparent rewards—while eliminating the friction points that make crypto apps feel foreign to mainstream users. Their solution includes automated rewards distribution, one-click game signups, and free-to-play options, representing a potential blueprint for future consumer crypto applications.

Key Points

The Accountability Problem in Fitness

Moonwalk Fitness addresses a fundamental challenge that has plagued the health and wellness industry for decades: getting people to actually follow through on their fitness commitments. While traditional apps have tried social features and gamification, they've lacked meaningful financial stakes. Previous crypto-based "move-to-earn" applications like StepN achieved viral success but ultimately failed due to unsustainable tokenomics reliant on continuous new user growth to fund rewards.

Moonwalk's approach differs fundamentally by using a self-sustaining reward pool model. Rather than minting new tokens to pay rewards, the prize pool comes directly from partial deposits forfeited by users who miss their daily step goals. This creates real accountability—users have actual money on the line—while avoiding the Ponzi-like dynamics that plagued earlier move-to-earn projects. By accepting USDC, SOL, and BONK rather than creating a proprietary token, Moonwalk leverages existing liquidity and avoids the volatility issues that undermined predecessors.

The Hidden Costs of Mainstream UX

When Moonwalk integrated mainstream sign-in methods through Privy—including phone number, email, Apple, and Google authentication—they made a critical decision to abstract away crypto complexity. For users who signed up with these methods rather than connecting external wallets, Moonwalk covered all blockchain-related costs including transaction fees and Solana token account creation fees. This created a seamless experience that felt no different from any other mobile app.

However, this approach proved financially untenable as Solana's ecosystem exploded with activity. Rising SOL prices meant higher USD-equivalent costs for every transaction. Network congestion forced the app to pay priority fees to ensure reliable transaction processing. At scale, with 11,000 daily active users making deposits, claims, and game interactions, these costs reached 15 SOL per day—a significant operational expense that threatened the app's viability. This experience highlighted a fundamental tension: the very infrastructure costs that make blockchain valuable (security, decentralization, censorship resistance) become friction points when building for users who neither understand nor care about these properties.

Building a Hybrid Architecture for the Future

Moonwalk's response to this challenge offers insights for the broader consumer crypto ecosystem. Rather than choosing between "fully on-chain" or "fully traditional," they're developing a hybrid approach that places blockchain components where they add genuine value while using conventional infrastructure where crypto only adds friction. Smart contracts will continue to secure funds during active games, providing transparency and trustlessness where it matters most. On-chain treasury management maintains verifiable fund handling.

The new architecture introduces automated rewards distribution to eliminate the need for users to manually claim prizes (and pay associated gas fees). One-click game signups reduce transaction complexity, and free-to-play options allow users to experience the app without any crypto interaction whatsoever. For crypto-native users who want full control, wallet sign-in remains available. This approach recognizes a crucial insight: mainstream users don't care about blockchain—they care about the app solving their problem. Crypto should be a backend technology choice, not a user-facing requirement.

Timing and Market Context

Moonwalk's development coincides with broader favorable trends for their product category. Director of Growth Caitlin Cook noted a significant societal shift toward health-focused lifestyles, demand for "third spaces" and in-person connection, and growing desire to reduce screen time. The app's frequent in-person activations tap into this desire for real-world community, differentiating it from purely digital fitness experiences.

The Solana ecosystem's infrastructure maturation has also created better conditions for consumer app development than existed even a few years ago. Improved tooling, wallet infrastructure like Privy, and growing user familiarity with crypto basics all contribute to a more viable environment for mainstream-targeting applications. Cook's prediction that "in the future, it's not going to be crypto apps and consumer apps, it's just going to be apps" reflects confidence that blockchain will become an invisible infrastructure layer rather than a defining characteristic users must understand.

Facts + Figures

• Moonwalk currently has approximately 11,000 daily active users across iOS and Android

• Nearly 50% of users who join their first game go on to join a second game, indicating strong product-market fit

• At peak activity, Moonwalk was spending 15 SOL per day to cover transaction and token account fees for mainstream users

• The iOS app launched in January 2024, with Android following in February 2024

• Users can deposit USDC, Solana (SOL), or BONK tokens to enter contests

• The app uses Privy for mainstream authentication including phone number, email, Apple, and Google sign-in

• Moonwalk has attracted users from every age group, geography, financial situation, and fitness background

• The app hosts regular in-person activation events to build community

• New infrastructure will include automated rewards distribution, one-click game signups, and free-to-play options

• Funds during active games are secured by smart contracts on Solana

Top quotes

• "In the future, it's not going to be crypto apps and consumer apps, it's just going to be apps and the best experience will win."

• "At peak with 11,000 daily active users, we were paying and putting up 15 Sol per day to cover the cost for users that signed up with those mainstream methods rather than connecting their own software wallet."

• "The meme coin mania in Solana block's place explosion actually exposed some UX friction in the products that we are now working to remedy in a pretty large way."

• "This is a scalable rewards model unlike what we've seen before with other move-to-earn apps, not using an in-app token specifically and rather leveraging the most widely held and liquid assets on Solana."

• "Moonwalk is using the power of financial incentives to solve for one of the biggest problems we've seen historically when it comes to health and wellness, which is accountability."

• "On the crypto side, there have been very successful move to earn products of the past that were ultimately unsustainable from the rewards mechanisms that they had in place."

• "We wanted to mask parts of the experience that were more crypto forward, paying for transaction fees to deposit to games and claim your prizes."

Questions Answered

How does Moonwalk Fitness work?

Moonwalk creates step-based fitness contests where participants deposit cryptocurrency (USDC, SOL, or BONK) and commit to hitting a daily step goal. If you achieve the goal every day throughout the contest period, you receive your full deposit back plus a share of the prize pool. The prize pool is funded by partial deposits forfeited by participants who missed their daily goals one or more times. This creates meaningful financial accountability without requiring unsustainable token emissions or new user growth to fund rewards.

Why did previous move-to-earn apps fail?

Earlier move-to-earn applications like StepN relied on minting new tokens to reward active users, creating an inflationary system that required constant new user adoption to maintain token value and reward levels. This proved unsustainable once user growth slowed, leading to token price collapses and declining engagement. Moonwalk avoids this by using established cryptocurrencies and a closed-loop reward system where prizes come only from forfeited deposits, not new token creation.

What problem did Moonwalk encounter with mainstream users?

When Moonwalk tried to create a seamless experience for non-crypto users by covering transaction fees and token account costs behind the scenes, they created an unsustainable cost structure. As SOL prices increased and network congestion required priority fees, these hidden costs ballooned to 15 SOL per day at peak usage. This exposed the challenge of abstracting away blockchain costs while maintaining financial viability.

How is Moonwalk solving the UX problem going forward?

Moonwalk is developing a hybrid architecture that keeps blockchain where it adds value (securing funds in smart contracts, transparent treasury management) while removing friction points. New features include automated rewards distribution so users don't need to claim prizes manually, one-click game signups, and free-to-play options for users who want to try the app without any crypto involvement. Wallet connection remains available for crypto-native users who want full control.

What metrics indicate Moonwalk's product-market fit?

The most compelling metric is their retention rate: nearly 50% of users who join their first game go on to join a second. This high rate of repeat engagement suggests the core product mechanics are working and users find value in the accountability model. Combined with 11,000 daily active users and a diverse global user base spanning different ages, locations, and fitness backgrounds, these numbers suggest genuine product-market fit rather than novelty-driven adoption.

Why is Moonwalk bullish on consumer crypto apps now?

Several converging trends favor Moonwalk's approach. Infrastructure improvements on Solana and other networks have made consumer apps more feasible. Societally, there's growing emphasis on health and wellness, desire for in-person connection and "third spaces," and interest in reducing screen time—all aligned with Moonwalk's value proposition. The team believes blockchain will eventually become invisible infrastructure, with the best user experience winning regardless of underlying technology choices.