Kik CEO Confirms Kik is Shutting Down to Focus on Kin

Ted Livingston, the founder and CEO of Waterloo, Ontario-based Kik Interactive Inc., confirmed on Monday Calcalist’s report that the company is shutting down its messaging app and laying off most of the employees of its cryptocurrency subsidiary Kin.

In a blog post, Livingston announced Kik is shutting down the app to focus its current limited resources on kin and the company’s legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over its 2017 initial coin offering, which raised $98 million but which the SEC claimed constituted an unregulated securities sale.

Livingston also stated that the company will reduce its employee count to “an elite 19 person team.” Kik currently employs over 100 people, while Tel Aviv-based Kin has some 70 employees.

He further stated that Kin currently has over 2,000,000 monthly active earners, and around 600,000 monthly active spenders. While shutting down Kik is expected to have an impact, he expects Kin’s continued growth to make up for it, he said, adding that going forward, “our 19 person team will be focused on one goal: getting millions of people to buy Kin to use it.”