 | As we enter the second half of 2020, it's a good opportunity to look back on the progress Kin has made in the last six months. At the beginning of the year, Kin had just crossed the 1 million Monthly Active Spender (MAS) milestone. That was quickly followed up by a surge of growth topping 4 million MAS by mid-April. There has been some attrition, which is consistent with expectations of new user-churn. However, the ecosystem settled in around 3 million and in the last few weeks has started growing again. This growth has been reflective of the efforts of the developers in the Kin Ecosystem. In the last month, a number of apps including Trebel and PeerBet have rolled out new product experiences, and the team at Medialab announced new Kin experiences in Kik along with a commitment to purchase $1.5 million of Kin on the open market - developers are increasingly leaning in.
Not only is the Kin Ecosystem growing, the Kin Economy is maturing. The Kin Ads project is now live in 5 apps, with thousands of users already earning Kin through sponsored ads every day. This is generating real demand for Kin on the open market, helping push Kin further towards a sustainable crypto economy.
To support the increased demand for Kin, a scalable infrastructure that supports the millions of consumers transacting in the Kin Ecosystem is becoming increasingly important. This past month the Kin Ecosystem voted on the Solana Migration Proposal which then went to the Kin Foundation for a vote. The Kin Foundation voted to accept the proposed grant from the Solana Foundation for a maximum of 1% of the Solana network (5 million SOL tokens). The Kin Ecosystem is now working with the Solana team to push the migration forward.
And the demand for Kin continues to grow. Kin went live on Bithumb Global, a leading digital assets exchange, on July 8. As part of the initial rollout, the Bithumb team launched a program that rewarded users for downloading a Kin app and earning Kin. In the first 5 days, more than 2,300 people completed this program and were rewarded in Kin. This launch spurred an increase in the demand for Kin, with a noticeable increase in secondary market activity.
These exciting developments and more are covered in the July Edition of the Kin Newsletter:
July Contents:
- MediaLab Doubles Down on Kin
- Kin Ecosystem Approves Migration to Solana
- Bithumb Global Lists Kin
- Kin Economy Report: July 2020
- Kin Foundation Minute
|  |  | MediaLab Doubles Down on Kin with New Kik Experiences & More
MediaLab is the company behind such recognizable consumer brands as Whisper, Datpiff, and as of last October, Kik Messenger too. A pioneer in the adtech space, MediaLab is a powerful new partner in the Kin Ecosystem that will drive quality user experiences and showcase the power of Kin as a model for monetization.
This month MediaLab announced that they decided not only to acquire the popular messaging app, but also to double down on Kin by integrating new user experiences and purchasing Kin on the open market.
As the consumer and inventory demand of apps like Kik Messenger combine with the rest of the ecosystem's efforts, Kin comes closer and closer each day to unlocking mass consumer demand.
You can read more about MediaLab's announcement here: |  | Kin Ecosystem Approves Migration to Solana
Developers in the Kin Ecosystem continue to deliver strong consumer experience which has translated to more mainstream consumer adoption than any other cryptocurrency. Already more than 34 million people have earned Kin in an app, and with new experiences set to roll out, including the rollout of ad-sponsored earning, we expect this growth to continue. To support this growth, Kin needs infrastructure that supports millions of consumers transacting at sub-second speed. Last month the team at Kik put forth a proposal that would deliver this through a migration to Solana.
The Kin Ecosystem is a broad collective of developers, so to move forward with the proposal, each active app developer and node operator had an opportunity to be a part of the process. After the proposal was submitted, more than 30 developers convened for a call with the Solana team to have an open discussion on the proposal, the Solana infrastructure, and the strategic direction of the Kin Ecosystem.
Following that call, each developer and node operator was given the option to vote on their support or opposition to the proposal. As the steward of the Kin Reserves, the Kin Foundation then reviewed the results of the developer vote and made the decision to accept the grant proposal from the Solana Foundation.
In the end, the proposal passed with developers representing over 98% of the Ecosystem's monthly active spenders supporting the migration. As next steps, the Solana team is working with the Kik team on a migration strategy that will summarize the process for developers and token holders.
|  | Bithumb Global Lists Kin - App Download and Trading Events Announced
With all of the momentum in the Kin Ecosystem, there is growing demand for Kin. This past month, Bithumb Global, a leading exchange launched Kin on their platform. As part of this launch, the Bithumb team executed a rollout to their community that gave users the opportunity to earn Kin by downloading Kin apps and using Kin. Within the first week, more than 2,300 people engaged in this program.
This resonated well with the Bithumb community and demonstrated what a mainstream consumer experience in crypto can be.
You can learn more about the Bithumb Global Kin Listing and Grand Prize Pool here: |  | Each month, the Kin Foundation provides an update on key metrics that are used to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the Kin Economy. These metrics are intended to be leveraged to drive real demand for Kin, which is demand based on the utility Kin provides.
This month, we are seeing the beginnings of real consumer demand come into view. The Kin Ads Project has begun purchasing Kin on the open market, fuelled by ad dollars coming in through user engagement on Kin earn opportunities. This is driving real demand for KIn and getting users paid for their contribution.
Dive into this month's update here: |  | A Kin Foundation board meeting was held June 15, 2020 and was attended by representatives of Kik Interactive Inc. and Matt Hannam, Kin Representative.
At the meeting, the Board approved:
- Kik Inc.'s proposal recommending enhancements to KRE 2.2 to:
- Update the Buy Track to pay developers more directly by measuring buy demand through whitelisted gateways
- Update the Carryover Pool to move to 3 discrete Carryover Pools to the Buy Track.
- Kik Inc.'s proposal recommending a migration to the Solana Blockchain.
- An agreement with Bithumb Global Exchange
The Board and the Kin Representative also continued the discussion regarding the selection process for the next Kin Representative, and determined that implementation of an on-chain voting process was not practical at this time. Instead, the Board will conduct interviews with a short list of the most qualified applicants with a view to adding a Kin Representative in July.
The next Foundation Board meeting is scheduled for July 20, 2020.
|  | Telegram's Defeat Isn't Binding in Kik Case" Judge Tells SEC
| | | Kin Ad Network Founding Apps Announced
| | | Kin Ads Contributes to Net Dollars Bought (NDB) with First Purchases of Kin
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Kin Rewards Engine Goes Open-Source
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Cuppa Kin #3: July 2020 Featuring Solana AMA
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