'Smoke Weed and Earn Bitcoin' With This Vape Pen in Our Increasingly Dystopian Nightmare

Gudtrip is a cannabis vape pen from blockchain hardware manufacturer Puffpaw that is touting its ability to allow consumers to earn bitcoin while they smoke weed. Each of the company’s individual vape pen products has $2-3 worth of bitcoin attached to it, which can be redeemed via a QR code or NFC connection within the company’s associated mobile app. While Gudtrip has been criticized for effectively gamifying smoking marijuana, they claim that there is no direct reward tied to hitting the vape pen and seemingly have changed language on their website that previously claimed “Every hit earns crypto.” Currently, Gudtrip’s vape pen is sold only in California, where recreational cannabis is legal. Buyers activate the pen by scanning a QR code or tapping via NFC to connect it to the Gudtrip app, which unlocks the bitcoin reward as an upfront loyalty payment. The app then tracks puff-seconds of usage and displays the data purely as a personal awareness feature, much like a step counter or sleep tracker on a fitness device. Users can check in daily to build streaks that boost non-monetary virtual points awarded in the app, but according to Gudtrip, those points exist only for record-keepi