The Kik messaging app may perhaps not shut down immediately after all as the CEO, Ted Livingston, promises there’s a purchaser interested in acquiring the system.
Maintaining Kik alive
On Sept. 24, Ted Livingston, CEO at Kik Interactive Inc, announced the shut down of its messaging app, Kik. Livingston explained that running the application on your own prices over $1 million a thirty day period. But, these assets must rather be directed at continuing the authorized struggle versus the U.S. Securities and Trade Fee (SEC) around a lawsuit that declared its 2017 ICO an unregistered securities featuring.
“We before long arrived to the realization that we just cannot find the money for [Kik]. This was the tough aspect. When we looked at all the solutions, we claimed we need to have to shut this down. By concentrating on Kin, we can help help save all the things else,” said Livingston.
Now, the Canadian entrepreneur is doing the job to retain the Kik messaging app alive. In a Tweet, Livingston discovered that the business signed a letter of intent with a company that is interested in buying the app and keep on developing it with the integration of KIN.
“We just signed an LOI with a fantastic organization. They want to obtain the app, proceed increasing it for our tens of millions of consumers, and consider the Kin integration to the up coming level. Not a completed deal yet, but could be a great gain win,” mentioned Livingston.
Whilst further facts have not been disclosed nevertheless, the go arrives as a shock to Kik’s 300 million people who were being compelled to move into other messaging apps.
“This just built my day… Kik is every thing and tens of millions of us just can’t drop this app so ideally it stays,” commented rapper and songwriter Tia.
Authorized struggle
In 2017, Kik Interactive Inc. elevated somewhere around $100 million from around 10,000 investors in an original coin featuring (ICO) via the KIN token. 50 % the financial investment arrived from U.S. buyers.
In response, the U.S. Securities and Trade Commission sued the messaging application in June for promoting tokens, alleging they are unregistered securities for U.S. traders. According to Steven Peikin, co-director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement:
“Kik deprived buyers of details to which they have been lawfully entitled, and prevented traders from producing knowledgeable investment selections.”
As the organization prepares to satisfy the SEC in courtroom by Could 2020, Ted Livingston stated he is prepared to get the business into bankruptcy, if needed, in order to challenge the regulatory agency’s allegations.
“We have to hold likely. Until that’s it, we do not have a greenback still left, a individual left. We will retain going no issue how difficult it is,” claimed Livingston in a speech at the Elevate conference.
Marketing the Kik messaging service platform might ease aspect of the insolvency troubles the company is struggling with as it fights a highly-priced lawful battle against the SEC. At the second, Kik Interactive Inc. is not the only company that is under the Commission’s radar. In August, the regulatory company filed an emergency legal motion against the operator of Veritaseum, whose ICO lifted nearly $15 million. All around the exact time, a new criticism was submitted in opposition to Ripple is arguing that XRP tokens are unregistered securities.
