Walkathons are a popular way to raise funds for charities. Today, at the Nokia Futurecom conference in Brazil, Nokia is partnering with Bitwalking , the Walking Dollars (W$) digital currency app, to launch its first charity fundraising event in São Paulo from October 17-20. Walkers will use the app to raise money for an educational project sponsored by Nokia in Latin America. The idea behind Bitwalking is to encourage people to remain healthy by walking and get rewarded with Walking Dollars for their efforts. For over a year, the Bitwalking Android app has been undergoing private testing in several locations around the world. Instead of using computers to mine as other digital currencies do, Bitwalking Walking Dollars are mined through the simple act of walking; the more a person walks, the more they earn. The app is able to verify users’ steps using a handset’s GPS position via a Wi-Fi or data connection. Despite the fact that the mobile app has only recently become available to the general public, according to the Bitwalking team there have been approximately 50 thousand downloads on Google Play. Bitwalking recently debuted their Bitwalking Events Platform, an event dashboard providing real time analytics and progress updates for participants in all Bitwalking events, including the Nokia-Bitwalking Walk for Cause . Futurecom, the largest telecom, IT and internet trade fair in Latin America, is expected to attract 14,000 visitors. During the four-day event, users across Latin America will have the option to opt-in for the walking event through the Bitwalking app. According to the Bitwalking team, 1W$ can be earned after approximately 15,000 steps. Tying the value of a W$ to the USD for every 1W$ raised, Nokia will donate $1USD for an educational project in Latin America that provides computers and (Android OS) Keepod devices […]
