STEPN Earning Strategies, #3: The Minter

Strategy overview

“The Minter” is more of a trading strategy than a Move2Earn strategy, as most profits will come from sneaker sales in the STEPN marketplace. However, it combines elements from both aspects.

Here’s an overview of “The Minter” strategy:

• Profile: Aggressive

• Risk: High

• Complexity: Complex

• Intensity: Moderate-high

• Initial investment: 42 SOL, or approx. $3.2K

• Approx. ROI: 36–40 days

• Time required: ~25–30 minutes a day
  
  

Getting started with “The Minter”

This strategy is a bit more complex than the others and implies considerably more risk. However, if everything plays out well, profits will also be significantly higher.

At the time of writing this article, SOL is worth $71.47 and floor prices for sneaker NFTs are around 12.7 SOL. Let’s round that up to $75 and 13 respectively.

Nevertheless, you’ll need to buy 3 NFTs for this strategy, 2 of which will be 0-mint sneakers, which are more expensive. NFTs with these attributes are going for 14.5 SOL at the moment.

As a result, your initial investment would be around $3,150. Again, let’s bring that up to $3,2K; just in case.


Finding the sneakers

Finding apt sneakers in the STEPN marketplace will be crucial for this strategy. Please, pay attention and be read this section thoroughly.

As mentioned before, you’ll need 3 sneakers to get started with “The Minter.” Why 3, precisely? For starters, you’ll use one to walk and earn GST, and the other two to mint new NFTs and get your sneaker factory going. Having 3 sneakers will also grant you an extra 2 energy, which will allow you to generate the necessary GST to level up.


The earning sneaker

First, let’s talk about the “earning” sneaker. This will be the one you’ll use to earn GST and, in the long term, GMT. These will be your source of funds to cover the minting costs.


Sneaker type

Just like in the Mechanic strategy, “The Minter” allows you to go for whatever sneaker type you want. It’s up to you and your training style. The most important part is you have to commit.

Remember that you’ll have to be consistent and go out to earn GST every day. More importantly, you’ll have 4 energy to spend, so it’s not only 10 minutes anymore but double that. Keep that in mind when choosing between walker, jogger, and runner.

For a more detailed description on what type to choose, read “The Mechanic.”


Sneaker attributes

As the other strategies that take advantage of Move2Earn, efficiency and resilience are the key attributes to look for here. However, we need to consider an additional attribute here for the long term: comfort.

The comfort attribute impacts on your sneaker’s GMT earning rate. You’ll need GMT to mint new sneakers, so keep that in mind. However, GMT earning doesn’t happen until sneaker level 30, so we’re thinking into the future here.

On the other hand, Efficiency directly impacts your earning rate, which means that a higher value on this attribute will yield higher rewards for moving. Finally, resilience, determines how fast a sneaker wears out. As a result, this stat affects your earnings indirectly — the slower your sneaker decays, the less you have to spend repairing it.




That said, efficiency and resilience are the first priority. Try to find NFTs that have at least 5 or more base points in these two attributes, or a total of 10 adding the two — 7 efficiency, 3 resilience, for example.

Comfort is also an important attribute, but of second priority. If you find a good efficiency/resilience NFT with decent comfort too, that’s your sneaker.


Mints

Remember, this will be your earning shoe. You won’t use it to mint. You also won’t resell this NFT on the marketplace, so this aspect is irrelevant.

I’d recommend finding a high-mint sneaker with good attributes for a discount price.


Level, gems, and quality

These attributes are irrelevant for this strategy, since it uses a conservative approach. Try to find level 5, common sneakers with no gems/irrelevant gem sockets (comfort, luck) to make sure you’re not paying extra for stats you won’t use.





Were you paying attention? Take a look at the picture below.

These are two real sneakers of virtually the same price, taken from the marketplace. One of them is good for this strategy. The other one, not so much. If you look at the stats marked in red, you’ll be able to tell them apart. Which one would you choose?




Both sneakers could be acceptable as the earning shoe of this strategy. Nevertheless, the left runner prioritizes efficiency and the right one, comfort. Despite its low resilience, the former is the best shoe between the two.



The minting sneakers

These shoes will be your first “parent” sneakers to get started with minting new NFTs. Their characteristics are very different from your earning shoe, so pay attention here!


Sneaker type

You won’t actually use these sneaker for Move2Earn, and the price difference between types isn’t that relevant, so you can buy sneakers of any class.


Sneaker attributes

Attributes are randomized for each mint, so it doesn’t really make a difference if the parent sneakers are good or bad. Again, this aspect isn’t relevant for your minting shoes.

However, it’s probable that you’ll want to resell these sneakers after the third mint. For that to be easier, you might want to buy NFTs with at least decent attributes.


Mints

This is where the important part begins. These sneakers should be 0-mint, that’s the top priority. That will lower your minting costs and let you mint at least 2 NFTs from each sneaker at a profit and one more at break-even.

After the third time, minting becomes too expensive and won’t be profitable.


Level

Buying level 0 shoes may lower the price, which would be nice. You will have to level it up to level 5 to mint anyway. You should try to buy level 0 shoes for maximum profitability and ROI.


Gems and quality

Quality is irrelevant, since anything over common sneakers would tremendously raise your initial investment.

However, as we mentioned in “The Mechanich,” many STEPN users look at gem sockets when acquiring a sneaker.

That said, the gem sockets of parent sneakers impact the likelyhood of those of the “child.” In other words, if you mint with 2 sneakers with lots of efficiency sockets, there are greater chances that the minted NFT will have efficiency sockets.

The most demanded sockets are for efficiency gems, so try to find shoes with them. That will improve your chances of minting NFTs with efficiency sockets and thus, higher selling value.




Gem probability chart.







Time for round 2! Take a look at the picture below.

These are two real sneakers of virtually the same price, taken from the marketplace. One of them is good for this strategy. Which one would you choose?




This one was a pretty easy one, but if you rushed into it, you might have been deceived by the high attributes on the right sneaker, completely missing that it already has one mint! Plus, the left sneaker has better gem sockets. You should definitely go for the left one here.





Walking, earning, and spending

Ok, let’s get into the fun part. This will be a bit complex and tangled, so bear with me here.

Enhancing your sneakers

There’s a 3-step process to level your sneakers in “The Minter.”

First of all, you should upgrade your earning shoe to level 9, adding the attribute points to efficiency and resilience on a 3:1 ratio. Just like in the other strategies. It will take about a week to achieve.

This will improve your earnings and provide you with the necessary GST to cover repair costs, leveling up your 2 minting sneakers, and ultimately, minting new shoes.

At level 9, your sneaker should have 30+ efficiency and 10+ resilience. This type of attributes will yield you about 4–6 GST for each energy, or 0.8–1.2 GST for each 0.2 energy. Considering you’ll have 4 energy daily, that’s 16–24 GST per day.





Here’s a pretty close picture of what your earning sneaker should look like at level 9.







After you level up your sneaker to level 9, it’s time to bring those minters up to level 5.

How? Just keep using your earning show for your daily walks/runs, but instead of spending your earned GST on it, use it on the minters. It makes zero difference if you don’t use them for walking.

Leveling up both minters to level 5 should take another week, mostly because of the waiting times. You should simultaneously be stacking a good amount of GST in the process.


Minting

Once all 3 sneakers are at their optimum levels, it’s time to start the minting.


First mint

In the last introduced update, STEPN adjusted minting costs according to GST price, so this will add a little variance to the minting costs, which will change with market volatility.

Here are the minting costs for two 0-mint parent sneakers:




That said, you’ll have to calculate how much you’ll have to walk to earn enough for your first mint. At the time of writing this article, the current price of GST is in item #3 ($3.8), which means that minting costs 120 GST and 80 GMT.

Considering this, and with the earning rates we’ve mentioned above, you’d earn this amount in 6–11 days.

Note: The above calculation is done entirely based on current GST and GMT prices. This could change in the short-term future.


Second mint

Now that you have your first mint, it’s time to get to the second. The cost for a new mint using 1-mint sneakers is the same as when using 0-mint. This is great news, as it means there are no additional costs.

That said, calculate another 6–11 days to get the necessary funds for the second mint.




Note: The above chart should be revisited with the last minting cost updates according to GST price. It’s still unclear how these costs will scale in proportion.


Next steps

If you followed the steps, after 36–40 days (depending on your sneaker attributes), you should have:

• A level 9 earning sneaker worth around 14 SOL or $1K.

• 2 level 5 minting sneakers with 2 mints — which you used to mint your brand new sneakers — , each worth around 13 SOL or $975.

• 2 level 0, 0-mint sneaker you just created, each worth 14.5 SOL or $1,100.

This adds up to a total of 69 SOL or $5,175, adding up to a flipping 61.7% profit in 40 days.

Now, you have several options:

• You can choose to sell everything and secure your earnings.

• You can also sell only your level 5 “minting” sneakers and keep the 2 newly minted, restarting the process from the minting stage.

• You can mint a third sneaker at break-even price at a shot for minting an exceptional sneaker, or even an uncommon one. This option adds considerable risk to your strategy, so proceed at your own risk.
  
  

Risks and closing thoughts

“The Minter” is a risky strategy, as there is much left to chance and market prices:

• NFT price volatility: A major risk factor in this strategy. NFTs can experience big swings in price, and the sneaker you bought for 13 SOL may be worth 12.5 the next day. This would make a huge impact on your profits, but could also give them a huge boost if prices go higher. Stay alert!

• SOL volatility: NFTs are priced in SOL, so its price also affects profitability. If you buy a sneaker for 13 SOL at $90 ($1,170), and sell it for 14 SOL at $80 ($1,120), you’ll be selling at a loss. Even if it seems you’re earning 1 SOL, you’re actually losing $50. Make sure you keep track of coin prices and total amount in fiat — as long as you want to measure your earnings in fiat, of course.

• GST volatility: This strategy is susceptible to GST volatility too, since after the last update, it changes the minting costs of new sneakers.

• GMT volatility: GMT price swings will also affect your earnings, since you’ll need them for minting, and you’ll get them from swapping GST. If GMT/GST spikes up, you’ll take longer to earn the required GST to swap for GMT and mint.

• Luck: Newly minted sneakers attributes are randomized and, although it’s not hard to find a buyer for 0-mint NFTs, you’ll get better profits if you get a shoe with good attributes.

That’s it! I hope you find this useful and can take advantage of “The Minter” to maximize your STEPN earnings — and have some fun and exercise while doing so!

Thanks for reading!