Podcast Summary
This podcast episode features Ted Livingston, the founder of Kik Messenger and the cryptocurrency Kin. The discussion revolves around the evolution of cryptocurrency, focusing on its potential for micropayments. Livingston shares his journey with Kik and Kin, highlighting the challenges they faced, including a lawsuit with the SEC. The conversation also introduces Code, a payments platform built on Solana, aiming to make blockchain technology accessible to average users. The potential of Solana for micropayments due to its low transaction fees is emphasized.
Key Takeaways
Evolution of Cryptocurrency and micropayments
- Introduction of Code: Code is a payments platform built on Solana, aiming to make self-custodial blockchain technology accessible to the average user. It is designed to handle micropayments ranging from five cents to a dollar with a flat fee of one penny per payment.
- Challenges of micropayments: Livingston discusses the historical challenges of micropayments, including the lack of an open payment platform and high fees from card processors. He believes that Code could uniquely solve these problems.
- Importance of Product-Market Fit: Livingston emphasizes the importance of creating products that do what centralized systems cannot, rather than just trying to do things better. He believes that micropayments could be the key to finding product-market fit for Code.
Challenges and Successes of Kik and Kin
- Kik’s Rapid Growth and Setbacks: Kik Messenger experienced rapid growth, reaching 2 million users in just 22 days. However, it faced a significant setback when BlackBerry removed the app from their platform and sued for patent infringement, causing Kik to lose 99% of its user base.
- Regulatory Challenges with Kin: Kik’s foray into cryptocurrency with Kin was met with regulatory challenges when the SEC sued them for an illegal securities offering after a nearly $100 million token sale. The lawsuit had a devastating impact on Kin’s momentum, leading to difficulties with exchanges and developers.
- Settlement with the SEC: Kik reached a settlement with the SEC, agreeing that the initial sale of Kin was a security offering but confirming that Kin would not be considered a security going forward, allowing the cryptocurrency to continue operating.
Future of micropayments and Cryptocurrency
- Future Plans for Code: The podcast discusses the future plans for the micropayment platform, including driving adoption, open-sourcing the technology under an MIT license, and adding new features like notifications for developers to engage users.
- Integration of micropayment SDK: The conversation shifts to the technical aspects of integrating the micropayment SDK for developers, detailing the simplicity of adding a “pay with code” button, setting payment amounts, and specifying success or decline URLs.
- Potential of Kin: The host argues that Solana is overtaking Ethereum as the leading smart contract platform and suggests that Kin, with its high speed and decentralization, is well-positioned to succeed Bitcoin in its original vision.
Sentiment Analysis
- Bullish: The sentiment of the podcast is largely bullish, particularly towards the potential of Kin and Solana. The host expresses enthusiasm for Kin’s capabilities and predicts that Solana will overtake Ethereum as the leading smart contract platform. The potential of Code, a payments platform built on Solana, is also highlighted, with Livingston expressing excitement for its ability to handle micropayments.
- Bearish: There is a bearish sentiment towards Bitcoin, with the host describing it as a “dead end” in terms of implementation. The host also expresses skepticism about Bitcoin’s current efforts to find new use cases, suggesting that these may detract from Bitcoin’s core store of value proposition.
- Neutral: The podcast maintains a neutral stance towards the challenges faced by Kik and Kin, including a lawsuit with the SEC. While these challenges are acknowledged, they are presented as part of the entrepreneurial journey and do not detract from the overall bullish sentiment towards Kin and Solana.
