Three years ago, we reviewed Cheelee, a platform that lets users earn crypto rewards just by watching videos. Fast forward to 2025, and Cheelee has not only lived up to its promise and attracted over 14M users worldwide, but has also evolved into a powerful ecosystem, driving mass adoption of crypto and bringing SocialFi to the new level.
Cheelee: A New Paradigm in SocialFi
Cheelee operates on the concept of the attention economy, a model where users' time and attention are monetized — one can earn $LEE tokens by passively watching videos. To make this experience more engaging, Cheelee has introduced digital glasses. These digital assets determine the rate at which users earn — the rarer the glasses the more paid watching time per day they give. For instance, Lite glasses, priced at $30.90, yield potential up to $101.97 while Rare glasses, priced at $103, are capable of generating up to $339.90.
This monetization system is simple, yet effective — for several reasons:
Frictionless Engagement
Users aren’t required to do anything extraordinary. They earn by doing what they already enjoy — watching short videos, similar to any traditional social platform.
Free Trial and Low Entry Barrier
One of Cheelee’s strongest onboarding mechanics — every new user receives a free pair of Starting glasses upon registration. These glasses work for 3 days of active usage and allow users to earn up to $10 offering a risk-free opportunity to explore the platform’s core mechanics and get acquainted with its reward model.
To activate full functionality — including the withdrawal of rewards — users simply need to purchase some glasses, with prices starting as low as $6.18. This accessible entry point lowers financial barriers and supports broad user acquisition across both crypto-native and Web2 audiences.
Fair Play Guarantee
Cheelee offers a 120% refund if digital glasses don’t break even within 28 days of active use. This lowers entry risk, builds user trust, and helps drive broader crypto adoption through a safe, transparent experience.
Self-Directed Yield
Earnings scale based on the rarity of the glasses purchased and the time spent watching content. Thus, users can choose their level of participation and ROI, even combining multiple pairs and rotating them during the day to maximize returns.
Strategic Earnings
Each pair of glasses allows for earning strategies, similar to gameplay mechanics — encouraging active economic decision-making and deeper user retention.
Anti-Fraud Design
Glasses wear down with use and degrade after approximately one month of active engagement, requiring repurchase. This mechanic adds deflationary pressure and protects the ecosystem against exploitation or abuse.
Cheelee’s model thus blends accessibility, scalability, and sustainability — creating a robust attention-based economy within the SocialFi paradigm.
Expansion of Cheelee’s Earning Mechanics
While the foundational earning mechanic centers around tokenized attention via digital glasses, Cheelee has since matured into a multi-layered SocialFi protocol offering diverse yield strategies. The current framework includes:
Referral & Ambassador ProgramA permissionless, uncapped structure enabling users to generate rewards by bringing in new participants. As soon as a referred user registers and makes a purchase, the inviter receives a bonus. The program has no cap — users can invite as many people as they want.
Swipe-to-Earn MechanismA real-time engagement model where EASY — new rewards — are emitted for micro-interactions — including scrolls, likes, and video watching.
Task CenterA dynamic mission-based interface providing recurring quests and event-driven challenges. Participants earn EASY by completing tasks, driving stickiness and increasing user LTV through behavioral gamification.
LootboxesTradable containers with randomized $LEE token rewards. ROI is directly correlated with rarity tier, offering speculative upside while introducing strategic risk-reward dynamics.
Social Boost A cross-channel incentivization module that rewards users for integrating Cheelee into their Web2 social networks (e.g., Twitter/X bios, Instagram Stories), accelerating organic distribution and community-led marketing.
Risk Glasses
Unlike standard glasses, Risk Glasses are consumable assets that deliver maximum possible rewards from a single lootbox, then immediately break.
Once purchased, these glasses activate automatically and remain usable for a 3-minute window, during which users can get $LEE. This feature introduces a gamified layer of strategic timing and risk appetite, appealing to users seeking dynamic and short-term yield opportunities within the platform.
Cheelee’s Upgraded Tokenomics
Cheelee's token architecture now consists of three assets: $CHEEL, $LEE, and the newly launched EASY.
$CHEEL, the governance token with a 1B fixed supply, has seen a 28x growth since 2022, driven by a deflationary model featuring buybacks (funded by 100% of glasses sales and 70% of ad revenue), staking rewards, and periodic burns. Ranked among the top 100 currencies on CoinGecko, it had a peak position of 79th.
$LEE serves as the utility and reward token for core user actions, with mining difficulty increasing over time to support long-term value. Both tokens are deeply embedded in Cheelee’s internal economy and transaction logic.
EASY, Cheelee’s latest in-app token, powers high-frequency interaction mechanics like Swipe-to-Earn, Task Center, and Social Boost. While currently unlisted, the team has confirmed that EASY will enable new utilities in upcoming platform releases.
Simplified Withdrawals: A Major Leap in Accessibility
Cheelee has made progress in simplifying the cash-out process. Previously, withdrawing earnings was a challenge — especially for those unfamiliar with crypto exchanges. Today, things are radically different: users can now withdraw funds directly to their bank cards, bypassing the need for external wallets or exchanges altogether.
This feature is already available in a number of countries, including Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Thailand, the Philippines, India, Brazil, Mexico, and several West African nations like Ivory Coast, Senegal, Mali, Benin, Togo, and Burkina Faso. Minimum withdrawal amounts are country-specific, starting as low as 0.6–1.3 $LEE depending on the region. Meanwhile, the Cheelee team is actively working on expanding card withdrawals to even more countries, aiming to make crypto income as accessible and tangible as possible — for everyone, everywhere.
Cheelee’s Long-Term Viability
Cheelee has demonstrated impressive growth since its inception. In 2022, the platform raised $22.45 million in funding, contributing to its current valuation of $100 million. With a robust user base, including 14.2 million downloads and 1.2 million monthly active users, Cheelee is on track for continued expansion.
Meanwhile, Cheelee's diversified revenue model, which includes advertising, brand partnerships, in-app purchases, commissions, etc. helps mitigate risks associated with market volatility. The platform has already attracted $41 million in investments — half from founders and half from external funds — and is poised to scale further. With 4.6 billion social media users, Cheelee is well-positioned to expand its reach and continue its leadership in the SocialFi sector.
Conclusion: Cheelee — The Future of SocialFi
In just three years, Cheelee has made significant breakthroughs — from its innovative functionality to the impressive rise in the product’s value. The platform has attracted millions of users, many of whom have been introduced to crypto for the first time.
This progress not only offers promising prospects for the future of SocialFi but also serves as a solid example for other projects in the space, showcasing how engaging mechanics and a stable economy can drive long-term success. It will be fascinating to see where Cheelee goes in the next three years — the future certainly looks bright. Let’s continue to watch its evolution together. You can download Cheelee on Google Play and the App Store.