Snap to earn: How Japan's SNPIT is revolutionizing photography
Users can take part in battles with the community voting on whose photo is better
In a world increasingly dominated by digital experiences, one Japanese startup is harnessing the power of photography, blockchain, and the metaverse to create a unique "snap-to-earn" platform that is capturing the attention of users around the globe.
SNPIT (pronounced Snippet), a company backed by more $37 million in funding, has developed a mobile app that allows users to earn rewards simply by taking photos. Through its innovative "camera NFTs" and gameplay mechanics, it is transforming the act of photography into a lucrative, immersive experience.
NFTs—or Non-Fungible Tokens—sound complicated but are actually just unique digital assets, typically created around images and art. They are growing in popularity, and now sports ticket NFTs are becoming commonplace.
"We are a gamefi, play-to-earn app—more of a lifestyle app," explained Ani M, SNPIT's Head of Global Marketing in an interview with The Crypto Radio.
"Users essentially take photos of whatever they like—their studio, a nice scenery, anything—and through the process of taking photos, our SNPIT platform allows them to earn in-app currency and our token."
At the heart of SNPIT’s model are virtual camera NFTs that users can purchase and level up. These NFTs come with various parameters like quality, efficiency, and battery life, which determine how much users can earn from their photo-taking activities.
"You start off with a free camera, but a lot of our heavy users like to invest in camera NFTs," said Ani. "The whole idea is you're playing the game, you're earning, and you can earn by just taking a photo or by participating in photo battles."
These battles pit users against each other, with the community voting on whose photo is better. Winners earn points that can be used to further upgrade their camera NFTs, creating an engaging loop of gameplay and earning potential.
But SNPIT's ambitions extend beyond just the gaming aspect. The company is also building a vast database of unprocessed, authentic photographs—what it calls the "world repository"—that can be used for a variety of commercial purposes.
"We're building a database of these unprocessed photographs—not AI-generated, not photoshopped, not altered in any way, just purely authentic, genuine photographs," Ani said. "We'll be releasing this database for people to utilize as stock photos or to train their AI models."
This focus on verifiable, unedited imagery is a direct response to the growing threat of deepfakes and photo manipulation. By anchoring its photos to blockchain-based data like geolocation and timestamps, SNPIT aims to provide a trusted source of visual content in an era of increasing digital fakery.
"When we start facing situations where we need validation or verification, our platform can do that," said Ani. "You can't just claim a photo was taken at a certain time—we know when and where it was taken."
SNPIT is already seeing impressive traction, particularly in its home market of Japan. The company sold 10,000 camera NFTs within 21 hours of its initial launch and now boasts about 70,000 monthly active users globally.
"In Japan, we're doing really well. It's one of those things where if I'm wearing a SNPIT t-shirt and I walk into a room, people are like, 'Yeah, I play SNPIT. I love the game.'"
As the app looks to expand its reach beyond Japan, the company is banking on the universal appeal of photography and the growing appetite for innovative, blockchain-powered experiences.
Listen to the whole interview on The Crypto Radio's live player or in the Crypto Culture podcast.
