A new venture is looking into leveraging blockchain technology and token rewards to help people cut back on their nicotine consumption.
Puffpaw aims to disrupt the existing vaping business by incentivising users to reduce their nicotine usage. Puffpaw intends to introduce vapes that track smoking behaviours using the blockchain and award customers with tokens as they gradually lower their nicotine intake. These tokens can then be used throughout Puffpaw’s ecosystem, providing a unique combination of health-focused behaviour and cryptocurrency rewards.
Puffpaw is one of many companies placing themselves on Berachain, a blockchain platform that has sparked substantial attention among venture capitalists. The company just raised $6 million in seed funding, with Lemniscap Ventures leading the charge. According to Shaishav Todi, General Partner at Lemniscap, their investment demonstrates faith in decentralised physical infrastructure, or DePIN, which enables for innovation in real-world blockchain applications.
“Puffpaw is making DePIN more practical by blending health-conscious behaviour with crypto incentives, which is a major step toward mass adoption,” Todi said. He also stated that the project addresses growing customer demand for healthier alternatives in the vaping market, a trend that has gained traction in recent years.
The concept of using token rewards to promote healthy habits is not new in the cryptocurrency business. Reffo Tse, Puffpaw’s founder, compared it to StepN, a move-to-earn application based on the Solana blockchain. Puffpaw’s business model focuses on creating a self-sustaining ecosystem in which customers buy the company’s vapes and gradually wean themselves off nicotine. The mechanism limits users to a specific quantity of puffs every day. The less nicotine a user consumes, the more tokens they earn, which they may then use to buy new vape cartridges straight from Puffpaw.
Tse added that the project aims to cover up to 30% of the vape’s cost during the first month for users who track their smoking habits. There are also social rewards, such as earning tokens for interacting with other Puffpaw users or engaging in social activities like “bumping” vapes.
Puffpaw has made steps to close any loopholes, such as individuals attempting to manipulate the system by utilising many vapes simultaneously. Tse was less candid about how they would restrict users from continuing to use non-blockchain vapes while still benefiting from Puffpaw’s token system.
According to a commpany spokesperson, key investors in Puffpaw’s seed round include Volt Capital, Spartan, Folius Ventures, Karatage, and others. Puffpaw aims to combine technology and health-focused behaviour, appealing to both cryptocurrency enthusiasts and smokers looking to quit.
(Photo by Rubén Bagüés)
See also: US SEC targets alleged $650 million global crypto fraud
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