Messaging App "Kik" Launches Its Second Blockchain To Promote The Usage Of Crypotcurrency
Canadian based chat app, Kik launched its second blockchain as part of an effort to promote the use of its digital currency known as Kin in various online communities. The move is notable because Kik, which raised $98 million dollars in a so-called “Initial Coin Offering,” already put its Kin currency into circulation on another blockchain, Ethereum, which it used to create and distribute 10 trillion Kin tokens last fall.
According to CEO Ted Livingston, Ethereum is simply too slow to serve as a viable tool for the world of rapid token transactions he envisions. In that vision, Kins will be the coin of the realm in all sorts of Internet economies, from video games to ad blocking, and help to dethrone the online duopoly of Facebook and Google. In a bid to make this happen, Livingston decided last year that Kik should turn to Stellar, an open-source blockchain whose technology is also being used for remittances, and by IBM and banks to move money in the South Pacific.
Most crypto projects to date have been technology-driven first and product-driven second. Kin has always been the opposite, Our goal is for Kin to be the most used cryptocurrency in the world, and [the Stellar blockchain] will help get us there sooner.
– Ted Livingston, CEO_ Kik
Kik will now create its own custom version of Stellar that will speed up Kin payments, and also let users move tokens back and forth between the new Stellar blockchain, and the existing Ethereum one. Today, Kik is something of a niche player, though the company says it has a loyal base on 15 million users. Last fall’s ICO also gives the company strategic room to maneuver thanks to the $98 million war chest it raised. Livingston’s former experience with Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain will play a vital role, as the company plans on scaling its operations.