On Friday, Kik Interactive announced the acquisition of their platform, Kik, by MediaLab, a holding company that owns companies like Whisper, Datpiff, and others. This comes as great news for users of the messaging app as they previously announced the shutting down of Kik due to the SEC taking all the company’s time and resources in a legal battle regarding their cryptocurrency, Kin.
MediaLab commented on the platform’s usage of Kin, saying that:
“We are fans of Kin and believe in its long-term potential. We are excited to further partner with Ted and his team on expanding the Kin integration and have plans to further support the project. We’ll have more to share on that front soon.”
Moving forward, in an effort to raise funds on the app, MediaLab plans to enable advertisements as a short-term solution, however CEO Ted Livingston has pushed back on the idea.
MediaLab has stated their intentions for the app are to improve it by reducing the number of bugs and collecting more feedback from the members to ensure the success of the platform.
“Ted Livingston and the rest of the team at Kik have spent the last 9 years building something truly special,” as said in the announcement. “At the risk of sounding cheesy we are still passionate believers in what the internet promised to bring in its early days – a connected and shared experience amongst people regardless of geography or time zone. Kik is one of those amazing places that brings us back to those early aspirations.”
The future seems bright for Kik Interactive as their cryptocurrency Kin will continue to be used on the platform by its users. Livingston has previously stated their intention of continuing to build the Kin ecosystem while they battle the SEC, so Kik users can expect big upgrades to Kin in the future.
Resources
https://news.cryptos.com/kik-sells-app-instead-of-shutting-it-down/