Messaging giant Kik has been embattled in a fierce exchange with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the last year for a token fundraising run in late 2017. The latest news, confirmed by Kik CEO Ted Livingston, reports that the firm will shut down the Kik app and reduce its staff down to around 10% of the current headcount. According to Livingston, this move is a direct result of the SEC Lawsuit as the company is being drained of its funds.
Kik ran an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) in Sept 2017, raising almost $100 million for its subsidiary Kin by offering Kin tokens as a cryptocurrency. Although it was seen as one of the most successful token sales for the year, it only took four months before rumors started coming in regarding SEC investigations into the token.