Inside EARN’M: How 2025 Shaped the Reward Economy

Written by

Kate

Date published

Dec 22, 2025

As 2025 comes to a close, we hosted our End-of-Year AMA to reflect on everything we’ve built, what we’ve learned, and how those lessons shape what’s coming next.

Over the past year, EARN’M evolved from a reward platform into a full reward economy — with engaged users, millions of transactions, and deep infrastructure.

Below is a complete recap of the key topics discussed, organized so you can easily explore what matters most to you.

$EARNM Token: One Year After TGE

December marked one year since the $EARNM Token Generation Event 🎉

During the AMA, we reflected openly on what that year looked like — both the wins and the challenges. Launching a token in late 2024 meant operating in a market that was still heavily focused on centralized exchanges, large listings, and short-term visibility. At the time, EARN’M worked closely with:

• Major KOLs and influencer communities
• IDO platforms and wallet providers
• Centralized exchanges and ecosystem partners

Many of those relationships remain strong today. However, the market itself changed quickly throughout 2025.

As trust in centralized exchanges declined and on-chain transparency became more important, attention shifted toward decentralized liquidity and verifiable usage. In response, EARN’M adjusted its token strategy to focus more on:

• DEX liquidity and on-chain trading
• Uniswap pools on Arbitrum
• Long-term alignment with EARNM Layer 2

One of the most important updates shared during the AMA was the completion of scheduled investor token vesting. Between December 19 and 20, all partner and investor distributions conclude. It’s one of the key milestones that creates a cleaner supply structure and a stronger foundation for long-term growth.

StormX Merger (IMO): Full Transparency

The AMA also revisited the StormX merger, introduced last year as the industry’s first Initial Merge Offering (IMO).

The original idea behind the merger was straightforward: combine two established communities, expand reach, and meet exchange-driven requirements that were prevalent at the time. The concept generated significant attention and briefly set a trend across the space.

However, several factors ultimately changed the outcome:

• Market dynamics shifted
• Exchange priorities evolved
• StormX was delisted from Binance, altering the original assumptions

Both communities participated in governance votes, and sentiment changed as these conditions unfolded. Ultimately, the EARN’M community voted not to proceed with the merger.

While the process required time to unwind operationally, it reinforced an important principle: community governance and long-term sustainability outweigh short-term momentum. The experience helped sharpen EARN’M’s focus on building independent infrastructure rather than relying on external market pressure.

The Community: From Users to Contributors

In 2025, EARN’Ms focus shifted from simply growing numbers to empowering contributors. This led to the expansion of ambassador programs, where active community members began:

• Onboarding new users
• Explaining products and mechanics
• Representing EARN’M’s culture and values

These ambassadors proved more effective than traditional marketing alone, helping build trust and continuity across the ecosystem. The team also reiterated that community feedback — both positive and critical — continues to shape product decisions.

For those interested in becoming our ambassadors, our community chat is OPEN.

EARNMax: From Concept to Core Product

One of the biggest milestones of the year was the launch and growth of EARNMax 🔝

What started as a concept in early 2025 quickly evolved into a flagship product. EARNMax was built by combining two core ideas:

1. Transparent, on-chain prize draws
2. Blockchain-native subscription mechanics

Unlike traditional subscriptions that rely on closed databases and credit cards, EARNMax subscriptions run directly on-chain. Every ticket, draw, and reward can be independently verified.

This validated a key insight: users want consistent, transparent reward systems that feel fair and accessible.

Looking ahead, EARNMax will continue to expand: plans include enabling partners to run their own prize campaigns, supporting both Web2 and Web3 payments, and reducing onboarding friction for mainstream users.

Partnerships That Drove Growth

Over the course of the year, EARN’M worked with a range of partners including AgentLayer, BTCRush, CoinGecko, CoinMarketCap, Playfull, and others. Each partnership served a slightly different purpose: expanding reach, testing new campaign mechanics, contributing to prize pools, or onboarding new users into EARNMax.

Rather than pursuing partnerships for visibility alone, the focus was on utility-driven collaboration — ensuring that every integration added measurable value to users and to the network itself.

A particularly important milestone was the partnership with Mode Mobile, which became the first project to use EARNMax as a live reward infrastructure, not just a promotional layer.

Through this integration, Mode users are able to:

• Subscribe to EARNMax using familiar Web2 payment methods
• Interact with reward mechanics without needing prior crypto knowledge
• Receive draw tickets and rewards that are fully handled on-chain behind the scenes

These partnerships also tied directly into Mystery Boxes V2, which are fully deployed on EARNM Layer 2. All Mode Earn App Mystery Box reveals take place on-chain, with gas fees paid in $EARNM, providing a live example of how partner campaigns can directly generate Layer 2 activity and token utility.

Underlying much of this infrastructure is Arbitrum, which continues to serve as a foundational partner for both EARNMax and EARN’M Layer 2. Its scalability, reliability, and low transaction costs enabled EARN’M to experiment, iterate, and grow without compromising user experience.

As we move into 2026, partnerships will increasingly focus on long-term integrations, shared incentive models, and reward systems that operate continuously rather than as one-off campaigns.

NFTs as Utility

In 2025, EARN’M launched a dedicated NFT collection on the BeeOS Launchpad, designed with a single goal in mind: long-term utility. These NFTs were not positioned around rarity or short-term trading. Instead, they act as lifetime access keys that grant holders ongoing benefits inside EARNMax.

Specifically, NFT holders receive lifetime EARNMax tickets for monthly draws, giving them permanent exposure to reward pools without the need to maintain an active subscription. This approach allowed us to test NFTs as a practical onboarding and retention mechanism rather than a speculative asset.

What this proved is simple but important:

NFTs are far from dead — they just need to be designed around real, sustained value. In the EARN’M ecosystem, NFTs became a utility layer that complements subscriptions, rewards long-term believers, and lowers friction for users who want permanent access rather than recurring commitments.

EARN’M Layer 2: The Chain Built for Rewards

One of the most significant milestones discussed during the AMA was the progress of EARNM Layer 2, which quietly became one of the strongest technical pillars of the ecosystem in 2025.

Layer 2 was built specifically for reward-driven interactions: micro-actions, high-frequency engagement, and low-cost execution. Unlike general-purpose chains, its design prioritizes throughput and efficiency over complexity.

All transactions are denominated in $EARNM, meaning the token is directly used to pay gas fees. While each individual transaction is extremely inexpensive, the scale of activity makes this one of the most meaningful real-world use cases for the token.

What makes this especially notable is that this volume is currently driven by a single primary product flow. As additional products, contracts, and partner integrations come online, the network’s transaction capacity is expected to scale significantly beyond current levels.

Based on existing metrics, EARNM Layer 2 already ranks among the Top 5 most-transacted scaling solutions, alongside much larger and more established networks. This validates the original thesis: reward infrastructure needs its own optimized execution layer, not a generic one.

EARN’M 2.0 and the 2026 Roadmap

To close the AMA, the team introduced the concept of EARN’M 2.0 — a shift in how the ecosystem is positioned as it enters its next phase of growth.

Rather than focusing on individual product launches, EARN’M 2.0 is organized around 3 strategic pillars, each targeting a different segment of the market.

1. The consumer pillar focuses on expanding products like EARNMax, improving onboarding, and deepening gamified reward experiences that appeal to both Web3-native users and mainstream audiences.
2. The institutional pillar centers on infrastructure. This includes subscription technology, DeFi integrations, and reward systems that can be embedded directly into partner products. As decentralized finance continues to mature, EARN’M aims to provide the tooling that institutions and large platforms need to run compliant, transparent reward programs at scale.
3. The alternative initiatives pillar is reserved for forward-looking experimentation. This includes exploring regulatory-aligned opportunities, adapting to frameworks such as emerging stablecoin and clarity regulations, and working closely with ecosystem leaders who are shaping the next phase of Web3 adoption.

Together, these pillars reflect a broader ambition: positioning EARN’M as a bridge between Web2 distribution and Web3 infrastructure, built to scale responsibly as regulation, DeFi, and consumer expectations evolve.