Gudtrip is a cannabis vaporizer from blockchain hardware manufacturer Puffpaw that is promoting its ability to allow consumers to earn bitcoins while smoking marijuana. Each of the company’s individual vape products has $2-3 worth of bitcoins attached, 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 marijuana smoking, they claim that there is no direct reward associated with hitting the vaporizer and have apparently changed the language on their website that previously stated “Every hit earns crypto.”
Currently, Gudtrip’s vaporizer is sold only in California, where recreational cannabis is legal. Shoppers 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 seconds of use and displays the data solely as a personal awareness feature, much like a step counter or sleep tracker on a fitness device. Users can check in daily to generate streaks that increase non-monetary virtual points awarded in the app, but according to Gudtrip, those points exist only for record-keeping within the app and cannot be redeemed for cash, merchandise, or any other value. Puffpaw describes Gudtrip as building a user-driven network that combines cannabis, Bitcoin, and artificial intelligence.
Smoke marijuana and win @Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/sj8jHFETQy
– Gudtrip (@Gudtrip) October 24, 2025
Gudtrip has opted to use bitcoin for its crypto rewards program rather than creating its own crypto token out of thin air. Many marketing tricks have been tried around crypto rewards that turned out to be nothing more than pump and dump schemes by many companies over the years, including the marijuana industry. Perhaps the most notable crossover between the cryptocurrency and marijuana industries was Potcoin. Dennis Rodman infamously went to North Korea on a trip that was sponsored by marijuana-themed altcoin. The promotion fueled an immediate price increase, and the coin jumped nearly 97% to over $0.18 shortly after Rodman arrived in Pyongyang on June 13, 2017, raising its market capitalization to nearly $40 million. However, after Potcoin reached an all-time high of around $0.51 in late 2017, it has since lost over 99% of its value and is now trading around $0.0008.
With all that said, reporting from DL News has indicated that Puffpaw at one point explicitly told customers that a token would be released in the future in a post now deleted on X. Additionally, reward points in cryptocurrency-related apps are often eventually converted into crypto tokens with real monetary value. Previous reports of protea It also indicates that Gudtrip previously said that the rewards would be awarded through a token known as VAPE.
Gudtrip has also faced some backlash due to the perceived gamification of vaping (a characterization the company explicitly rejects). Health researchers raised specific concerns to DL News after reviewing the marketing of the product. Joshua Gowin, an associate professor who studies frequent cannabis use, said gamifying cannabis use certainly seems like the goal is habit formation. Janna Cousijn, who heads the Addiction Neuroscience Laboratory at Erasmus University Rotterdam, called it a potentially very dangerous and unethical device that could stimulate the development of addiction. Other experts warned that incentives tied to frequent use could harm health decisions and increase risks such as anxiety, memory problems and respiratory effects.
Today we received a request from the media @dlnews @DefiLlama in relation to the ethical concerns raised about @have a good trip.
To set the record straight, we published our response openly, to our users and to the public.
Hello @dlnews equipment,
Thank you for reaching out and for offering…
– Reffo (@web2reffo) April 30, 2026
In response, Gudtrip founder Reffo Tse posted on X to correct what he called factual errors in media coverage. Tse wrote that the product records puff seconds solely to raise user awareness and that there is no financial reward of any kind tied to consumption. He emphasized that the bitcoin loyalty payment is issued in advance to each customer and is not adjusted, controlled or associated with the level, frequency or duration of use. “We believe that an adult in a legal market who has visibility into their own consumption is better positioned to avoid problematic use than one who does not,” Tse added.
The gamification of everything is becoming a growing concern for many, and cryptocurrencies often play a key role in this trend of turning the entire world into one big casino. A recent example is Yours.a DeFi-powered Visa debit card that is powered by cryptocurrency and includes a “buy now, pay maybe” feature that randomly removes fees on select purchases through an undisclosed algorithm. The system frames ordinary spending as gambling, and critics describe it as an engineered addiction that feeds on the same psychological triggers found in casinos and loot boxes.
Prediction markets have come under similar scrutiny. Platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket allow betting on real-world events, including elections, but reports show that Campaign staff have used non-public internal polling data to make profitable trades. before the information reached the public. An American soldier too facing federal charges related to the prediction of market operations around the capture of Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela. These prediction market platforms have suspended users for suspected insider activity and are increasingly cooperating with authorities, but regulators and lawmakers continue to highlight the uneven playing field that favors those with inside information.
Gudtrip itself also includes the ability for awarded bitcoins to be seamlessly transferred to other, more speculative, AI-led investments, such as decentralized finance (DeFi) and prediction markets. The website states: “Users can choose to allocate eligible rewards on open-source AI agent tools that explore opportunities in DeFi (decentralized finance), native Gudtrip incentives, prediction markets, and select RWA (real-world assets) strategies.”
