Canadian tokenized social media startup Kik has launched a $5 million crypto initiative to fund a lawsuit against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Kik CEO announced in the crypto-focused Unchained podcast by Laura Shin on May 28. Ted Livingston, Kik CEO and founder of Kik’s crypto project the Kin Foundation (KIN), revealed the formation of DefendCrypto fund to legally challenge the U.S. SEC in order to get regulatory clarity from the major U.S. financial watchdog. While the fund’s domain DefendCrypto.org was registered 25 days ago as of press time, the initiative was announced on May 28 along …

Ted Livingston, the CEO of Canadian-based messaging startup Kik, told cryptocurrency news outlet Coindesk that the company spent over $5 million on ongoing negotiations with the United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC). The news was revealed in a report published on May 16. As Cointelegraph reported at the end of January, the SEC stated that it believes that Kik’s “Token Distribution Event” two years ago violated securities laws when the company raised $97 million during the sale. Following the SEC’s recommendation of an enforcement action in November 2018, Kik was served with a “Wells Notice,” a letter to the company …

Canadian-based social media startup Kik is gearing up to challenge a proposed enforcement action from the United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) over a fundraising initiative in 2017. The American securities regulator believes that Kik’s Token Distribution Event (TDE) two years ago violated securities laws. The company raised $97 million during its fundraising phase, a princely sum for a platform that has garnered millions of users since its inception. Following the SEC’s recommendation of an enforcement action in November 2018, Kik was served with a “Wells Notice,” a letter to the company that needs to be responded to in 30 …

Tokenized social media startup Kik has warned United States regulators that they would fight back against a proposed enforcement action against the company, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Jan. 27. Canada-based Kik is facing a prospective enforcement action over an alleged securities infraction, after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) judged its 2017 initial coin offering (ICO) to have involved the sale of unregistered securities. The startup is reported to have raised around $100 million in “kin” tokens for its chat-based social media network — which can be earned on the platform, traded or redeemed for goods …

Former Twitch exec Matthew DiPietro has joined crypto startup Kin Ecosystem Foundation as chief marketing officer (CMO), PR Newswire reports September 18. After serving eight years as senior vice president at the popular live streaming platform Twitch, DiPietro will now be responsible for developing marketing and brand strategies for Kin, the cryptocurrency launched by Kik Interactive, as specified on the expert’s LinkedIn profile. According to PR Newswire, DiPietro drove brand development for Twitch, as well as led all marketing projects, including the launch of community convention TwitchCon that is devoted to Twitch and the culture of video game streaming. Having …

Canadian messaging application Kik has launched its first beta product called Kinit, which is related to the company’s Kin token, TechCrunch reported July 18. The release follows Kik’s successful initial coin offering (ICO) which raised $100 million. The ICO for the Kin token concluded in September 2017, having raised almost $100 million from more than 10,000 participants in 117 countries. Initially, the company expected to secure $125 million. Kinit is a wallet app designed for active user experience, in which users able to earn Kin by completing quizzes surveys, and watching interactive videos. Users can exchange Kin for gift cards …

Canadian social messaging platform Kik has unveiled full details of its ICO, which it “expects to raise $125 mln.” Coinciding with the closure of a pre-ICO to its investors worth $50 mln, Kik Interactive founder Ted Livingston says integration of its Kin token will constitute “the first mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency.” “Kin will fuel new experiences in communications, information and commerce inside of Kik, and will also serve as a foundation for a new decentralized ecosystem of digital services, bringing a fair and sustainable business model to the market,” he added in a press release issued Tuesday. "Despite being relatively …