WhatsApp rival Kik Messenger has announced it it shutting down, despite having hundreds of millions of active users around the world.
The company said it was closing down the messaging service to focus on its Kin cryptocurrency, known as Kin.
Kik chief executive Ted Livingstone said in a blog post that the decision had been forced on him by a legal dispute with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
“These are hard decisions. Kik is one of the largest apps in the US. It has industry leading engagement and is growing again,” he said.
“Over 100 employees and their families will be impacted. People who have poured their hearts and souls into Kik and Kin for over a decade.”
Kik Messenger, which launched in 2009, has around 300 million users worldwide, most of which are teenagers.
Part of the app’s appeal is that – unlike WhatsApp – it lets people register and use it without providing a phone number or other credentials.
However, it has also proved controversial, with a BBC investigation in 2018 suggesting it had featured in 1,100 UK child sexual abuse cases in the past five years.
By shutting down Kik and shrinking to 19 employees, the company hopes to cut its overheads by 85%, giving it a better chance of winning the legal fight with the SEC over Kin.
The Kin cryptocurrency was launched around two years ago, and raised nearly $100 million in its initial coin offering (ICO) – which is a bit like a crowdfunding campaign.
As a result, the coin has become one of the most used cryptocurrencies in the world, with 600,000 monthly active spenders.
However, following the launch of the cryptocurrency, the SEC sued the company, accusing it of illegally selling Kin tokens by failing to register the sale.
In a drunken text apparently intended for board member William Mougayar, Livingstone last night threatened to leave the company.
“Will, I know I’ve been drinking, but this ain’t the drink talking, I’m [fed] up with this s***,” Livingstone wrote, according to CoinDesk.
“We’ll talk more in the morning about replacement, but I quit. I have my ticket. I’m not going to jail for this.”
It appears Livingston accidentally sent the messages to one of the CoinDesk’s reporters, also named Will.
When later asked to clarify his comments, Livingstone reportedly replied “no comment.”
No date has been given for when the Kik app will close, but in his blog post, Livingstone insisted that “no matter what happens to Kik, Kin is here to stay”.
“Kin operates on an open, decentralised infrastructure run by a dozen independent companies. Kin is a currency used by millions of people in dozens of independent apps,” he wrote.
“So while the SEC might be able to push us around, taking on the broader Kin Ecosystem will be a much bigger fight. And the Ecosystem is close to adding a lot more firepower.”