STEPN responds to controversy: Why do we need to clear out mainland users?

In the early morning of May 27, the user policy of Web3 application leader STEPN was "shaken". The team issued an announcement stating that it had issued an "Announcement on the Investigation of Mainland China Accounts". According to the content of the announcement, in order to actively respond to relevant regulatory policies, STEPN will investigate mainland China accounts. If users in mainland China are found, STEPN will stop providing GPS and IP location services to their accounts at 24:00 on July 15, 2022 (UTC+8) in accordance with the terms of use.

The news quickly spread. After all, STEPN is a very representative concept of Web3 and can even be considered the industry leader. The current Web3 entrepreneurial boom is closely related to the success of STEPN. Any content on the Chinese Internet that mentions the concept of Web3 cannot be separated from the name STEPN. However, this announcement in the early morning of May 27 basically indicates that after July 15, it is theoretically impossible for mainland China to participate in STEPN's Move to Earn.

The panic in the Chinese community was mixed with the spread of gossip, and information such as "the team was arrested" and "GPS data was regulated" exacerbated the community's anxiety. For this reason, BlockBeats found Yawn, co-founder of STEPN, and asked him to respond to the issues that the community is most concerned about.

Rhythm BlockBeats: First of all, let’s get straight to the point. There are rumors online that the STEPN domestic team has been taken away for investigation. What is the official response?

Yawn: I saw these rumors were written in a serious manner, but unfortunately we don’t have a team in mainland China, and being taken away for investigation is nonsense. We will have a major update to be launched next week, and I believe these rumors will be self-defeating.

We are a Web3 startup with developers from all over the world. You can apply for our job positions on Discord. In the early days, we were distributed offices. The founding team came from Australia. Ms. Shiti, the CMO in charge of the market, is based in London. The customer service center is in the Philippines, Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries. The R&D team has nearly 100 people in more than a dozen countries around the world. As the scale grows, we are setting up two large R&D centers in the United States and Australia.

BlockBeats: The announcement shows that the mainland users need to be checked in order to comply with the regulation. What kind of regulation is this? Is it the regulation related to GPS as rumored online? As far as BlockBeats knows, Didi has also faced similar regulation before. In recent days, Nike's running app NRC has also suspended the use of Chinese users. Is STEPN facing the same problem?

Yawn: As our team grows and our business expands, we deeply understand the importance of long-term development to us. Because of the need for anti-cheating, we must use GPS location as an anti-cheating verification, and GPS supervision does make large companies such as Didi face the same problem. Nike can't even do business in mainland China.

As entrepreneurs with Chinese backgrounds, we understand the relevant policies in mainland China very well. We have always supported and complied with the relevant laws and regulations of various countries. If similar policies are introduced in Zimbabwe, Kenya or South Korea one day, we will also abide by the rules in accordance with local laws. We believe that as Web3 gradually becomes mainstream, regulatory policies will gradually keep up with the development of the industry and provide us with corresponding guidance.

BlockBeats: Yesterday, Jerry said that domestic users account for 5% of STEPN's total users. Is this number accurate? Some people in the community say that domestic users account for 30% of STEPN's users.

Yawn: This number is accurate. We are talking about mainland China (excluding Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan). I need to clarify the community's view on this aspect. Chinese users are more than 5%. For example, in Malaysia, Singapore and other places, they also speak Chinese and participate in Chinese community activities. Therefore, many users are easily confused.

Chinese users are an important component of Web3 around the world. Many of the executives of Binance, FTX, etc. are Chinese. Our Chinese users are definitely more than 5%, but what I want to talk about here are Chinese users in mainland China, which indeed only account for 5%.

Web3 has no borders, but policies do. The low percentage of mainland users is mainly because according to local regulations, we have never provided download and installation services in the mainland, and the threshold for use is high. Apple users need to obtain an Apple ID in a non-mainland area, and Android users must install the Google suite to get it from Google Play. However, this cannot stop the enthusiasm of the majority of users. There are still about 5% of users from the mainland, and they use various methods to finally download our products. We also look forward to one day providing high-quality products and services to users in the mainland.

BlockBeats: In theory, users in mainland China will not be able to participate in STEPN's move to earn after July 15, no matter what method they use? But they can participate in other ways of playing STEPN, is that right?

Yawn: Since STEPN must use GPS as a way to verify users, users will not be able to use GPS at all after July 15th, and will not be able to use STEPN normally. IP bans will prevent users from accessing STEPN. We need to point out that STEPN has complied with relevant regulations since its creation and has not engaged in any business or provided download channels in mainland China. Therefore, this time we have put forward higher requirements for compliance during the self-examination process, and accordingly stopped the service for accounts used under GPS and IP in mainland China before July 15th.

Rhythm BlockBeats: Some people believe that STEPN’s development relies heavily on the Chinese community, and the investigation will cause great harm to Chinese users. Do you have anything to say to the Chinese community users?

Yawn: We still believe that Web3 has a better future. We fully understand and support the relevant policies of mainland China. We will continue to expand the market in Web3-friendly countries and gradually expand our construction of Web3 infrastructure, so that more non-Web3 users have the opportunity to participate in our ecosystem and become an important part of the Web3 world. We hope to provide more Chinese Web3 entrepreneurs with experience and skills in entrepreneurship and business development in our own way.

The above is STEPN's response to the most concerned issues of the community recently. At present, it seems that STEPN has confirmed its departure from the Chinese mainland market, which is a pity, but I also believe that all decisions made by the team must have been carefully considered. As a representative application of Web3, STEPN has brought us surprises and new imagination space, making users and entrepreneurs full of expectations for the future of Web3.

But we still hope that STEPN can return in some way, so that mainland players can enjoy the complete experience brought by STEPN again. BlockBeats will continue to bring the latest news to readers.