YMCA Unveils Wellness Crypto Coin to Reward Members for Fitness

The non-profit fitness giant is pairing its new YMCA Wellness Café with the launch of a Y Coin native to the Rubix Blockchain

The YMCA is doubling down on wellness and getting in on the cryptocurrency wave in one bold move.

The non-profit fitness operator is launching the YMCA Wellness Café, a HIPAA-compliant healthcare solution platform meant to serve the global YMCA network by incentivizing wellness habits. It will also see the YMCA introduce its own cryptocurrency, in partnership with wellness platform company Finao SPV and blockchain technology company Rubix.

The YMCA will be rolling out proof-of-concept beginning in the Pacific Northwest. Current members who participate will be rewarded with Y Coin, a utility token backed by Rubix tokens native to the Rubix Blockchain.

Consistency in sticking to chosen measurable fitness activities earns members additional Y Coin.

The Y is aiming to differentiate its wellness cryptocurrency by integrating it into a larger ecosystem that features healthcare providers, corporate partners, U.S. Government health and wellness initiatives, healthcare payors and school wellness programs to promote proactive care and a higher success rate for behavioral shifts.

“We’re excited about (proof-of-concept) of the Wellness Cafe and the impact it’s going to have on our Y’s global membership of more than 60 million across 120 countries and partners,” said mission director and Finao YMCA Wellness Café project director Dr. Janele Nelson.

“In keeping with the YMCA’s mission, the YMCA Wellness Café will deliver personalized wellness solutions for mental, physical, and spiritual wellness,” she added. “We’re looking forward to launching in the Pacific Northwest and then making the shared services available to the global YMCA membership, corporate partners and institutional partners.”

As the YMCA Wellness Café expands, the brands involved are looking to scale it across locations and eventually grow the blockchain beyond its own ecosystem.

Cryptocurrency has slowly made its way into the fitness and wellness industry, with Equinox being one of the biggest names to first start accepting crypto payments for its membership fees in 2022.

The industry may be seeing more cryptocurrency favored among consumers, especially on online unregulated marketplaces — a hotspot for peptides — that are tapping into growing interest in wellness. Many of those gray market suppliers accept cryptocurrency, sometimes as their only form of payment, helping to bypass legal and regulatory risks surrounding products with unproven health benefits that prevent banks and credit card companies from allowing such transactions.