By
Steve Muchoki
April 26th, 2024
CEO of the once-popular messaging app Kik has indicated that the firm will go to trial against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission of classification of their Cryptocurrency token Kin as a security.
The CEO founder of popular messaging app Kik Ted Livingston has maintained his position on keeping on to the end in his company’s legal tussle with the United States’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over its cryptocurrency’s classification as a security.
Kin (KIN) has been at the forefront of a firestorm between the two parties over its initial coin offering (ICO) with the US regulator suing the company earlier this year over the issue. Sources indicate that the CEO gave his position and that of the technology firm at the Elevate Conference in Toronto on Wednesday, the 25th September 2019. He said:
“Those are the two options it came down to, so when we looked at that, we said, ‘We feel very confident that we are correct. We need to fight.”’
He stated that the organization has no choice but to go-ahead for the suit to go into trial and he is confident that the organization has a chance of winning at the courts.
Troubling Times Emerge for Kik
Kik which was once one of the most popular messenger applications especially among teenagers and young adults. In recent times however due to pressure from online safety monitors, the app has seen a steady decline in both its use and popularity. This has hit the firm hard.
Coupled with the introduction of Kin token and its difficulty as regards adoption, the firm has had to cut its workforce down from 151 to 19 downsizing its offices in Tel-Aviv, Waterloo, and Ontario. This led to Ted Livingston’s announcement of the shutting down of the messenger app and his threatening to quit apparently.
The remaining staff focus on Kins’ development and adoption in the crypto space. Already plans are underway to shut Kik as a company down and integrate all the corporate structures into a new organization. Tanner Philip who is the technical adviser to the CEO gave this indication on Wednesday by e-mail.
Kin has faced several major hurdles as the $100 million Initial Coin Offering (ICO) has been beset with arrow after arrow shot by the US SEC. As of now, only about 60 apps still use the cryptocurrency token which indicates its poor adoption by the cryptocurrency community.
Already, the new position taken by the CEO may see the token suffer even more as negative attention will be drawn to the company and this will not go down well in the public eye.
Apps such as Kik are a dime a dozen. They generally litter most app stores and generally do the same thing. This, of course, was one of the factors which led to its decline. Also, Kin appears to be one of those tokens which are trying to be just like Bitcoin without fulfilling any major purpose or solving any major need hence the SEC’s position (the SEC is generally anti-cryptocurrency).
However, it yet remains to be seen how the technology firm will ride its way out during a trial that will attract attention and will not bring any profits to the firm.