This App Gave Me Cash for Holding My Breath — I’m Serious 😮💰

When I first saw the ad for BreatheBank, I thought it was satire.

“Hold your breath. Earn real money. No catch.”

Sure, I’ve heard of apps that pay you to walk, to watch ads, even to water virtual plants… but to hold my breath? That sounded like something a prank YouTuber would make up.

Still, the idea nagged at me. If there was any chance I could monetize the same thing I did every time I tried not to sneeze in public, I had to try it. What followed was part science experiment, part ridiculous endurance contest — and yes, I walked away with actual cash.

How the “Holding Your Breath” Economy Apparently Exists

The app’s official explanation is surprisingly serious. According to BreatheBank, they work with:

• Sports science researchers studying lung capacity across different demographics.
• Medical AI companies training algorithms to detect breathing irregularities.
• Gamified wellness platforms promoting breathing exercises.

Essentially, your “breath-holding data” becomes part of a larger dataset used for training and testing. And in exchange, you get paid per verified session.

They even claim that holding your breath for short bursts has health benefits — increasing CO₂ tolerance and improving diaphragm control. Whether that’s true for everyone is debatable, but I was willing to become their guinea pig… for money.

Signing Up for BreatheBank

The onboarding was simple:

1. Download the app.
2. Verify your identity (they don’t want bots “holding” fake breaths).
3. Calibrate your baseline breath-hold time.
4. Choose a “challenge mode” — Casual, Competitive, or Extreme.

The app uses your phone’s microphone and camera to detect subtle chest movements, facial changes, and breathing sounds. It’s surprisingly sophisticated — apparently to prevent people from cheating by just holding still without actually holding their breath.

My First Attempt: Reality Check

I consider myself reasonably fit, so I thought I’d crush this. My baseline test? 37 seconds.

Pathetic. I was barely into my “mind over matter” pep talk when my lungs panicked.

Still, the app rewarded me with $0.25 for completing the test and offered a list of “breath-hold training” mini-sessions. The longer you hold, the higher the payout. At first, this felt easy money… until I realized the psychological battle was the real challenge.

Day 1 Earnings: The Humble Start

I did five paid breath-hold attempts in Casual Mode:

• 40 seconds — $0.30
• 43 seconds — $0.32
• 45 seconds — $0.35
• 38 seconds — $0.28
• 50 seconds — $0.40

Total: $1.90.

Not exactly rent money, but the novelty kept me going.

The Gamification Factor

BreatheBank has leaderboards, badges, and “Streak Bonuses”:

• Hold your breath 3 times in a row without dropping below your average — +$1 bonus.
• Beat your personal best — +$0.50 bonus.
• Join a “Marathon Match” (group challenge) — bigger payouts for the top 10.

Suddenly, I wasn’t just holding my breath for money… I was holding it for glory.

The Weird Science of Breath-Holding

I started researching why anyone would want this data. Turns out, breath-holding is used in:

• Freediving training to expand lung capacity.
• Medical diagnostics for detecting heart or lung issues.
• Stress testing for endurance athletes.

BreatheBank’s AI supposedly measures:

• Time to oxygen drop.
• Heart rate changes (if synced with a smartwatch).
• Facial strain patterns.

That’s a lot of insight from me just looking like a human balloon.

Day 2: Competitive Mode

I decided to up the stakes. Competitive Mode matched me with random strangers worldwide in real-time “breath battles.” You all start holding your breath at the same moment; the last one breathing wins the biggest payout.

My first match:

• Player from Norway: 1 min 32 sec
• Player from Japan: 1 min 15 sec
• Me: 56 seconds (third place, $0.75 prize)

By the third match, I pushed past the one-minute mark and earned $1.25 for second place. This was addicting — partly because I wanted the money, but mostly because I refused to keep losing to a guy with the username FishLungs88.

The Cheating Problem

Of course, any app that pays for a physical action attracts cheaters. The BreatheBank forums are full of debates about people:

• Using oxygen tanks before sessions.
• Hyperventilating to extend times.
• Holding still while subtly breathing through their nose.

The app’s detection tech is supposedly advanced enough to catch most cheats — and it bans accounts caught “breathing illegally.”

My Funniest Session

One night, I joined a live challenge while watching TV. Midway through holding my breath, my cat jumped on my lap, dug its claws in, and I gasped in shock. The app immediately buzzed: “Session ended — 17 seconds.”

I lost the round, but at least I got $0.10 consolation pay.

Day 3: Extreme Mode

Extreme Mode is where things got weird. Payouts here are much higher — up to $5 per attempt — but you need to hold your breath well beyond your comfort zone.

Before starting, the app made me agree to a disclaimer about dizziness, fainting, and “safe breathing practices.” They recommended doing it sitting down.

My best Extreme attempt? 1 min 47 sec, which earned me $3.85 in one shot. I actually felt lightheaded afterward — not exactly a sustainable income strategy.

Three-Day Earnings Summary

• Day 1: $1.90
• Day 2: $6.10
• Day 3: $9.50

Total: $17.50 for less than two hours of actual “work” spread over three days. Not life-changing, but for literally not breathing, it’s ridiculous and kind of amazing.

The Physical Side Effects

After several sessions, I noticed:

• Slight lung “burn” sensation from extended holds.
• Mental calmness afterward (apparently CO₂ buildup can trigger relaxation for some).
• Minor dizziness in Extreme Mode.

The app is careful to warn users not to overdo it — you can train your lung capacity gradually without pushing to dangerous limits.

Why This Works as a Business

Here’s my best guess at the business model:

• Sell anonymized breath-holding performance data to research groups.
• License AI algorithms to sports and wellness tech companies.
• Attract sponsorships from fitness brands for in-app competitions.

It’s a weird niche, but clearly, someone values this data enough to pay for it.

Could You Make a Living Off This?

Not likely. There’s a daily earning cap, and you can only do so many safe breath-hold sessions in a day before it becomes risky. But as a quirky, low-effort side hustle? Absolutely.

A Hypothetical Future

If apps like this take off, we might see:

• VR meditation games that pay you for controlled breathing.
• Fitness trackers giving discounts for lung health improvements.
• Competitive breath-holding as an e-sport (imagine the sponsorship deals).

My Verdict

BreatheBank is the strangest, funniest side hustle I’ve tried. It’s safe in moderation, pays instantly via PayPal, and gives you bragging rights for literally being paid not to breathe.

It’s part sport, part science experiment, and part absurd comedy. Just don’t expect to quit your day job — unless your lungs are truly Olympic-level.

✅ Sources

1. “Breath-Holding in Sports Science,” Journal of Human Performance, 2024 — https://humanperformancejournal.org/breath-hold
2. BreatheBank Official FAQ — https://breathebank.app/faq
3. “Lung Capacity and CO₂ Tolerance Training,” Wired Magazine, June 2025 — https://wired.com/lung-training
4. “AI in Respiratory Health Monitoring,” MIT Technology Review, May 2025 — https://technologyreview.com/ai-respiratory
5. User discussions on r/WeirdSideHustles — https://reddit.com/r/WeirdSideHustles

Written by the author, Fatima Al-Hajri 👩🏻‍💻