Kik plans to steal Steemit's idea to decentralized social media

Kik Messenger, a freeware Canadian messaging platform with apps for iOS, Android and Windows phone is planning to launch a crypto currency called Kin on its social media network. The move marks the first time a major social network has ventured into the crypto currency space, adding more competition to the already tight crypto currency market.

According to the company, the move is a show of their commitment to decentralization and the Sharing economy. Kik Messenger was founded in 2011 by Kik Interactive and now has almost 300m users with 15m active monthly users who send and receive photos, videos, messages, mobile webpages and other digital contents.

We ask, could Kik Messenger and its crypto token ecosystem cause it to topple Facebook?

The Kin world

Kik Interactive, the makers of Kin believe that by integrating the Kin wallet into their social media applications which already boasts of millions of users, they could instantly drive the adoption and use of their crypto currency. Kin will be administered by the Kin Foundation.

Furthermore, Kin is only a tip of the iceberg as the company plans to launch more decentralized applications on the network following the adoption and establishment of Kin. Kik Interactive hopes to make the Kin network a platform for decentralized application, and the Kin crypto-currency is only the first of such applications.

The most distinctive feature of the Kik Messenger is its emphasis on anonymity as it does not require users to very their mobile number. How the company plans to integrate anonymity of its users who would use the crypto currency remains to be seen.

The company has seen over $100 million in investments from investors including the Chinese Tencent, the parent company of WeChat. Kik Interactive plans to keep 30% of all Kin tokens to itself for further developments of the networks and building net applications on the network.

Former models

Facebook credits was Facebook’s attempt to build a native financial system into its social media network, however it was scrapped due to the realization that it was not neither worth the hype in terms of value or user purchase experience. More recently there has has be fluctuation in the market value of Steemit, a blogging platform which rewarded users for their contribution.

The examples of Facebook credit and Steemit show use how average social media users do not find it fun to use native social media financial systems. Most users are lazy and do not understand why they should first use their fiat money to buy a digital currency before they can spend money on a social media network. For Kin to survive, it would need lots of investments, support of its community, hard work and time.

However Kik Initiative is not new to native currencies; the company launched Kik Points in 2014, a project which allowed users to charge each other for services. Kik Points was shut down in March 2017, perhaps after gathering enough information on how its users demand and how use native currencies.

The agains there is a silver bullet which Kik plans to borrow from Steemit, which is that Kik plans to re-distribute its tokens and values back to its users and thirdparties who build applications on it. Even more daring, Kik's CEO Ted Livingston said they would start at roughly $100,000 a day and it could rise to over $1m a day.

Kin prospect

The Kin network would need much work in the area of development and marketing to drive adoption, as the already dominant crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin, Ether, Ripple, Dash and ZCash are not going to share the markets with it. The rise of crypto currency networks by Central banks and banking consortium only makes the competition tougher.

Then again there is the legal storm for Kik to navigate as it leaves its social media domain and meddles with financial services. Crypto-currency regulations have proven difficult for both banks and Bitcoin companies to handle. Most importantly, Kik Interactive would have to keep its promise of adding more applications and services to the Kin platform.

Even when everything is done right, it would still take time before the Kik ecosystem gains the momentum. For several years Facebook was without a positive cash-flow, requiring billions of dollars in investments, hard-work and patience to get to where it is, the journey would not be different from Kik.

Kik interactive plans to begin the Kin crowdsale begins soon, subscribe to @BlockRush to receive further updates.

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