The company's founder argued that the ethereum blockchain, in which the application is currently based, is unable to meet the level Kin needs, among other issues. The solution, he said, is to switch to the Stellar network, launched in 2014 and created by Ripple co-founder Jed McCaleb.
Kik's team first announced that it was considering a move to another blockchain in October, stating that ethereum's scalability issues meant that "perhaps it was not the right solution" at the time.
On Wednesday, Livingston said that Kin was bumping into the boundaries of what ethereum could handle its approximately 10,000 users. Network reliability is another factor, he said, pointing to recent network congestion as a result of the popular CryptoKitties application.
Livingston explained that:
"Stellar was built by Ripple guys and we think it's ideal for an application like Kin. It's not like ethereum, where it's trying to be everything to everyone, and that makes it a bit generic and slow. "
According to Livingston In the coming weeks, Kik will test Stellar's scalability and reliability.
"Stellar is very focused on: fast, reliable, and cheap deals for many people," he said.
Assuming the tests are successful, Livingston said he foresees a second quarter app deployment for all users, already built on Stellar.