Treasure Hunters

Build in Public EP.2 - Mapping the path from vision to reality 2nd Stop: The Backstory Welcome to the second episode of my Build in Public series. After sharing my background and the first six months working on Treasure Hunters, it felt essential to set the full context: to understand where the project comes from, what it achieved, the mistakes made and more importantly: the lessons learned. Before that, a quick reminder of why this series exists: 👉 Radical transparency 👉 Co-building what comes next — with you 👉 Showing real-progress, real-challenges, real-journey The origins of Treasure Hunters To understand Treasure Hunters, we need to go back a bit to a time when AI wasn’t mainstream yet, but a single game reshaped geolocation gaming: Pokémon Go. It was in this context that, in 2017, in a small Swiss canton, the idea was born: Turn the entire world into a massive treasure hunt. One year later, Treasure Hunters officially launched. 1/ The initial success With a successful 1.6M CHF fundraising (1,600 investors, 95% based in Switzerland), the startup launched strong. The numbers speak for themselves; after 2 years: - 100,000+ downloads - 1,200+ DAU - 6,000+ rewards shipped - Live in 20+ countries (EU, US, Asia) - 15+ employees - Major partnerships: Tamedia, La Poste, McDonald’s, etc. The game was gaining traction, partners followed, and Treasure Hunters even became an official partner at international events (like CES - World Tech Summit Dubai . The investment bank Raymond James went as far as producing a full project review for their clients — available here: drive.google.com/file/d/1K3I… 2/ The limits of the model Despite solid numbers, challenges quickly appeared: - Scalability issues → full app redesign needed - Expensive logistics → buying, storing and shipping physical rewards - International friction → deliveries impossible in some regions - Unexpected user behavior → many preferred reselling their rewards instead of using them The model “worked”, but it wasn’t scalable. Some campaigns had an impressive ROI (+1,000%), while others barely broke even. And like any fast-scaling startup, expenses were still higher than revenues (end of 2019). On top of normal operating costs, Treasure Hunters kept buying more and more physical rewards to fuel quests and distributions. A vicious cycle when trying to scale: the more campaigns were launched, the more logistics and operational costs snowballed, amplifying the existing pain points. 3/ COVID impact — the turning point Then came 2020. A game built around IRL exploration cannot survive in a world under lockdown. Activities stopped overnight. For over two years, there was zero revenue. The priority became clear: SURVIVE. COVID loans, team reduction, progressive shutdown of operations… until eventually, the founders started funding the project themselves, out of conviction. 4/ The Web3 pivot Once the crisis passed, the team started looking for a way back. How to revive the project? How to fix the flaws of the previous model? Web3 appeared as an obvious vector: - no more physical logistics - fewer legal constraints around rewards - and huge gamification potential. This is how, in late 2022, TokenHunter was launched; aiming to replace physical rewards with tokens and NFTs, using blockchain as a value layer and gamification engine. The initial flywheel : Big vision... but messy execution. 5/ 2023 : The missed turn Unfortunately, 2023 didn’t go as planned. Due to a shallow understanding of Web3 mechanics and rushed execution, the project took a major hit: The token collapsed → from $0.05 to $0.0001 95% of the supply stayed in the team wallet (no real community distribution) Liquidity dried up, making the token unusable And at the same time, the app, still a basic MVP, no longer reflected the experience players had in V1,and had zero actual Web3 integration → no wallet connection, no on-chain logic, no token utility. In short: good idea, wrong execution; zero product/vision coherence. 6/ 2024 : The silent year In the following year, almost nothing moved. And that might be the biggest mistake the founders made: failing to keep the community flame alive. As you know, in Web3, projects live or die by their community; even more in gaming. Between the Web2 player base waiting for revival and early investors growing frustrated, communication dried out and momentum faded. 2024 clearly marked the gap between the founders’ vision and their ability to execute it. The will was there but not the energy, nor the Web3-native understanding. 7/ 2025 : Where I stepped in Early 2025, Treasure Hunters was still alive, but in a limbo state: - An app still online but limited - A token in ruins - A sleeping community. Yet, the concept remained incredibly strong. Even if the community is divided today, the project still sparks reactions. That division is clear, especially among investors: - Some still believe, convinced by the vision and waiting for a real comeback; - Others have moved on, only looking for a way out of their investment. Players, on their side, stopped playing; mostly because there was no platform offering a fun and engaging experience anymore. The lack of communication played a role, but the absence of any accessible, exciting gameplay loop slowly killed the initial momentum. Still, I am convinced that, thanks to everything we’ve learned, we will bring them back once the app becomes viable and inspiring again. And that’s the magic of Treasure Hunters: Despite the years, mistakes and silence, the core idea still resonates. Whether with investors, ecosystems, gamers or Web3 enthusiasts, the concept speaks to everyone. Because at its heart, Treasure Hunters taps into something universal: the joy of adventure, curiosity, and that childlike desire to explore the world. 8/ Why I accepted A few reasons: 1️⃣ After 5+ years in Web3, I wanted to step up — from contributor to builder. 2️⃣ The founders inspired me through their resilience, humility and transparency. 3️⃣ Their true motivation struck me: “We want to do this for those who believed in us.” And that’s exactly the mission I’m taking on. 9/ Where we are now We’re rebuilding... almost from scratch. There’s a lot to fix, rethink, and realign. But the conviction remains intact: the concept is strong, the potential is real, and Web3 is the tool that can unlock it. And that’s exactly why I dedicated the beginning of my journey to redefining the foundations and vision of the project. EP1 here → Mapping the path from vision to reality xitter.cf/Crypto_Jonesoff/status… The conclusion was clear: keep our core infrastructure and original idea : "A gamified geolocation system powered by quests" Then amplifying it with a community-driven engagement model bridging Web2 and Web3. A model built around real utility cases made possible by blockchain: Social-Fi, loyalty mechanics, and smart reward systems. 📂 Our full vision is available in the dataroom → drive.google.com/drive/folde… 📲 Join us & test the MVP: iOS : apps.apple.com/ch/app/treasu… Android : play.google.com/store/apps/d… 💬 Follow / talk with us: X: @TokenHuntersApp Discord: discord.gg/sksZ6KZ8 As always, happy to discuss, get feedbacks, critics, ideas! Cya next week for EP.3!

Build in Public; @TokenHuntersApp , 6 Months Later For the past 6 months, I’ve been working actively on the revival and evolution of Treasure Hunters. I mentioned this new chapter briefly before, but now I want to level up my communication and start sharing more openly what we’re building. My goal is simple: -Be transparent, -Show our progress, challenges, and how we overcome them, -Document the process; because if there’s one thing these past months reminded me, it’s that entrepreneurship is really just a constant problem-solving loop. ⸻ Within the project, I’m in charge of operations. Even though Treasure Hunters was originally launched in 2018, we’re still very much a startup: a small team, limited resources, but the same strong ambition. That means my job is to constantly look for the most efficient and impactful solutions — whether it’s on the marketing, funding, or tech side. I also try to keep our early investors and first users at the center of the decision-making process. It feels like the right thing to do — even if, business-wise, it can sometimes slow things down. But that’s part of the game: balancing ideals with reality, and iterating fast. ⸻ It’s a demanding role, but one I find truly exciting. It constantly pushes me to learn, test, rethink, and improve every single day. And if you know me, you know that’s exactly what drives me (whether in work or sports): self-improvement, renewal, and skill acquisition. That’s also what made me want to join Treasure Hunters in the first place and apply my Web3 knowledge to something tangible. After over 6 years navigating this space, I wanted to step up and actually build. But enough about me; let’s talk about the project ⸻ My Main Focus These Past Months My main mission has been to redefine Treasure Hunters’ vision and purpose in the Web3 context. Moving from Web2 to Web3 made sense, but the previous attempt had been too surface-level; it didn’t really showcase the true potential of what Web3 could bring. So I surrounded myself with friends, builders, and experts from the space to challenge every point: •Who we are •Where we come from •Where we want to go After months of reflection and iteration, we’ve shaped a renewed and meaningful vision: To become the go-to tool for gamified and incentivized community activations; reconnecting the virtual and real worlds, and embedding Web3 into everyday life. ⸻ Want to Go Deeper? We’ve gathered everything from this research and restructuring phase in our dataroom (available in both French and English): Link to the dataroom : drive.google.com/drive/folde… I’d love to get your feedback. Challenge us: that’s exactly what helped us reach this point. Of course, everything isn’t perfect yet, but the direction is clear and solid, and that’s what truly matters. ⸻ What’s Next? Now comes the hard part: turning all this into reality. That’s what this “Build in Public” series is all about: sharing the behind-the-scenes process, the doubts, the lessons, the decisions, and the small victories that come with building. Big thanks to everyone who has contributed so far! 💬 My DMs are open for discussion 📲 You can already test the MVP here: •iOS apps.apple.com/ch/app/treasu… •Android play.google.com/store/apps/d… ➡️ Follow us: X: @tokenhuntersapp Discord: in desc ⸻ 🎙️ Coming soon: we’ll be hosting AMAs on X to talk directly with the community, share updates, and answer your questions. ⸻ PS: Episode 2 will cover a full overview of the project its history, evolution, and current state.

Told you the other day I’d get back to business — here’s how: Help – Spread – Connect – Grow. Simple recipe. Going all in with the projects I truly enjoy: NFT / Community @boogas · @driftersEXE · @ProjectX_DAO Projects / Ecosystem @PulsarMoneyApp · @TokenHuntersApp (open to discover more on Sui / SEI / Sol 👀) My Own Sharing my building journey with TH and of course some workout & personal development content!

Got a lot in the pipeline this month with @TokenHuntersApp. Here’s what we’re focused on: •Community & communication // relaunch – realign – activate •Fundraising // can’t share numbers yet, but pushing hard on this front •Dev / Ops / Specs // a lot to build (and to improve), with limited resources but finding solutions As always, I’ll keep pushing to share updates and insights on all these fronts.

Those treasures look worth the hunt!

Irl gamification 🫱🏼‍🫲🏽