What Was Kin?
Let me tell you about Kin—it was the cryptocurrency tied to the Kik messaging service, created and run by Kik Interactive. They built this crypto specifically for the messenger's community and launched an initial coin offering to fund it.
The SEC came after Kik Interactive with charges for an unregistered security offering. Fighting those regulators sucked up their resources, leading them to take a buyout from MediaLab in 2019 to keep the service alive. Even then, Kik kept pushing to save their cryptocurrency.
Kin had unique roles inside the Kik platform. You could earn Kin by contributing to the community and spend it on goods and services right there. It went fully decentralized in July 2023, handed over to the users, and by January 2024, its market cap sat at $40.28 million.
Key Takeaways
Kin served as the crypto for Kik's messaging service, starting with a 2017 ICO. That ICO pulled in about $100 million. Kik's edge was its millions of active users from the messaging app, setting it apart from other cryptos. The Kin Foundation closed in 2023 to decentralize the coin and its blockchain completely.
Understanding Kin
Kin kicked off in September 2017 through an ICO, raising around $100 million in just two weeks. The founders pitched the Kin Ecosystem as something to unite people in a new shared economy, with the crypto laying the groundwork for decentralized digital services.
Unlike most crypto launches without a built-in audience, Kik had millions of users already on its messaging platform. This drove adoption of Kin, with the app hosting wallets and other features for the currency.
Kin's launch followed a three-year experiment called Kik Points, where users earned and spent points in the app—much like Kin itself.
Kin Rewards Engine
A standout feature was the Kin Rewards Engine. Kik used it to distribute Kin daily as rewards, allocated by an algorithm based on contributions to the ecosystem.
Ted Livingston, Kik's CEO and founder, saw Kin as a way to spread value to developers. The plan was for Kik to give away value, encouraging devs to build an open, decentralized app ecosystem on the platform.
The Kin Foundation
The Kin Foundation handled governance and ecosystem building for Kin. It avoided ad-based models like other social platforms, focusing instead on users providing value and getting rewarded for it.
Kin wasn't just any digital currency; its site called it a true cryptocurrency, using a public blockchain like Bitcoin and holding real monetary value.
Future of Kin
In 2019, Kik said they'd shut down the messaging service to concentrate on Kin, but MediaLab bought them soon after, keeping the service running. This followed the SEC suing Kik for not registering the Kin ICO.
By 2020, the SEC ruled Kik broke securities laws with the 2017 sale, fining them $5 million. They didn't have to kill the Kin network or register it, so Kin still trades on exchanges.
Kin's value is in the thousandths of a cent, development has stopped, but it has users trading on some decentralized exchanges.
Is Kin a Good Crypto?
Kin was the token for Kik's social app. They abandoned it in 2023, but you can still find it on a few decentralized exchanges.
Is Kin Worth Anything?
On January 24, 2024, Kin's price was $0.00001372, with a market cap of $40.28 million.
What Is Kin in Crypto?
Kin was a crypto meant to reward use of the Kik app and its services. The project closed in 2023.
The Bottom Line
Kin came from Kik's developers as one of the early projects rewarding company service use with crypto. After years, they tried ditching Kik for Kin, but it didn't soar, and everything shut down in 2023.
Remember, any comments or analyses here are for info only. Check our warranty and liability disclaimer. As of writing, I don't own any cryptocurrency.
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