MediaLab, a Santa Monica-based holding company, has finalized an agreement with Kik Interactive to acquire the Kik messaging platform.

MediaLab sees the long-term potential of Kik and Kin token

On Oct. 18, in a blog post to the millions of members of the Kik community, MediaLab announced that it has acquired the Kik messaging app and explained how the acquisition will impact the app’s future.

MediaLab said that the company is committed to Kik for the long term and believes that “Kik’s best days remain ahead of it.”

While not providing many details regarding work on Kik’s native Kin (KIN) token, MediaLab stated that it sees long-term potential in the token project, and will continue work on Kin with Kik founder and CEO Ted Livingston.

In a move to ensure sufficient revenue, MediaLabs is introducing ads to the platform over the coming weeks, an idea that many of its users have pushed back against in the past. MediaLabs said, “We plan to do it in a way that it is non-intrusive, and in no way takes away from what makes Kik great.”

MediaLabs also highlighted its plans to eradicate spambots and unwanted messages, make the app faster and more reliable, and reduce the number of bugs.

Taking on the SEC

Kik has been embattled with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the last year. The SEC claims that Kik violated securities law when it raised almost $100 million in its Kin token offering in late 2017.

Livingston stated on multiple occasions that they will fight U.S. regulators over the future of the native Kin (KIN) cryptocurrency “no matter how hard it is.” Livingston said:

“We have to keep going. Until that’s it, we don’t have a dollar left, a person left. We will keep going no matter how hard it is.”

Livingston recently reported that the firm will shut down the Kik app and reduce its staff down to around 10% of the current count. Livingston said that this move is a direct result of the SEC lawsuit, as the company is being drained of its funds.

However, in an apparent reversal of earlier plans to shut down in the midst of legal difficulties, the company revealed on Oct. 14 that it’s “here to stay:”