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Kik lays off staff, shuts down messenger app amid crypto legal battle

Kik Interactive announced Monday that Kik will be shutting down its messaging service and shrinking its team to 19, a reduction that will affect more than 100 employees.

Kik is now focused exclusively on its cryptocurrency Kin, the company’s CEO Ted Livingston said in a company blog post. It’s because of the Securities and Exchange Commission attempts to label them a security that the company now finds itself changing direction, he wrote.

“Becoming a security would kill the usability of any cryptocurrency and set a dangerous precedent for the industry. So with the SEC working to characterize almost all cryptocurrencies as securities we made the decision to step forward and fight.”

Kin raised nearly $100 million in its ICO when it launched two years ago. The SEC filed a lawsuit against Kik back in June, suggesting the ICO was illegal.

“Going forward our 19 person team will be focused on one goal: getting millions of people to buy Kin to use it.”

Livingston explained the team plans to accomplish this through a three-part strategy: allow the Kin blockchain to support a billion consumers making a dozen transactions a day; increasing adoption and growth for developers who use Kin in their apps; and making it easier to buy and use Kin by building a mobile wallet.

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