Kik $125 mln ICO Aims To Become ‘First Mainstream Crypto Adoption’

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 unknown outside the US and Canada, Kik sports around 15 mln active users per month, having only debuted on the market in 2009."

Distributing Kin, another ERC20 token based on the Ethereum Blockchain, the company is confident in the potential to spark mass adoption of a cryptoasset for daily use.

This could “potentially make it the most adopted and used cryptocurrency in the world,” according to the press release.

“Kik is by far the largest consumer company to enter the cryptocurrency space, and this is a seminal moment for the industry,” Ryan Zurrer, principal and venture partner at cryptocurrency hedge fund Polychain Capital concurred.

The ICO proper will begin Sept. 12 to users who have successfully registered by Sept. 9.

Fighting The Stereotype of ICO Empty Promises

Kik’s entry into Blockchain comes as businesses begin using ICOs as a way to transform themselves beyond raising potentially huge funding.

Beyond the ICO itself, Kik intends to create a token-based rewards scheme for users, as well as the so-called Kik Foundation which will govern its newly-created Blockchain ecosystem.

Despite widespread promises from some Blockchain businesses about the potential of their ICO tokens, criticism has become widespread meanwhile, with doubts surfacing about the risks to investors looking to cash in on token volatility.

Among those issuing warnings was Fred Wilson, a partner at Union Square Ventures who is also on a Kik board member.

“We believe cryptocurrency is the next important business model innovation in tech,” he said in support of the company’s Blockchain plans in May.