1. Introduction
Kik, a Canadian instant messaging social platform, announced the launch of its own digital currency Kin coin, which will allow users to purchase a series of digital services through it. The digital currency, called Kin, is built on the Ethereum blockchain technology, like the most famous digital currency Bitcoin. Kik founder and CEO Ted Livingston said that Kik will be the first social media application to publicly sell digital currency.
2. Project introduction
Kik is launching an open source encrypted token called Kin which is expected to be used in everyday digital services such as chat, social media and payments A universal cryptocurrency. Kin will be the unit of all economic transactions within the Kin ecosystem, which will serve as the basis for interoperability with other digital services.
Kin is essentially a pure cryptocurrency with a fixed supply. It is finely split and long-term inflation-free. However, as discussed below, only a small portion of the Kin supply will be put into circulation in the near future, as the majority of the Kin supply is reserved for the Kin reward engine. Like other cryptocurrencies, units of Kin are fungible, transferable, and are expected to be traded on cryptocurrency exchanges.
Kin will be implemented as an ERC20 token on the public Ethereum blockchain. The Ethereum blockchain is currently the industry standard for issuing custom digital assets and smart contracts. The ERC20 token interface allows the deployment of standard tokens compatible with the existing infrastructure of the Ethereum ecosystem such as development tools, wallets and exchanges. Ethereum is capable of deploying full Turing machine-style trustless smart contracts, enabling complex issuance rules for cryptocurrencies, digital financial contracts, and automated incentive structures. These advanced features and active ecosystem make Ethereum a natural fit for Kin.
According to AppAnnie, Kik is one of the most popular chat software platforms in the world, ranking 7th among social networks for Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, and has a trend of being more popular than LinkedIn. Kik Interactive, Inc. was founded in 2009 by Ted Livingston and University of Waterloo classmate Chris Best. Today, Kik Interactive has 150 employees with offices in Waterloo, Canada; Toronto, Canada; New York City, USA; and Tel Aviv, Israel.
