Stellar News: Ethereum blockchain upon its introduction aroused much interest, but its certain handicaps have pushed developers to explore other protocols and in some case adopt them as well. One recent example is Kik, the messenger app maker, who were employing ethereum and stellar simultaneously have opted the latter, to develop their native cryptocurrency.
The Ethereum blockchain has been experiencing certain setbacks as the competitive ecosystem of blockchian is developing. A number of companies that integrated ethereum network have either switched or are planning to examine other options available in the market. Similar to what Kik has done, the platform was examing ethereum and stellar to develop their own cryptocurrency called Kin. The firm recently revealed that they have decided to quit Ethereum and continue working with Stellar blockchain only.
Ironically, Kik was initially launched on Ethereum itself. In 2017, Kik raised an astonishing sum of $100 million and now Kin’s atomic swap with Ethereum will be shut down. The Kin Ecosystem Foundation will be offering tools to aid the transfer Kin holdings off from Ethereum, though the date for the same hasn’t been announced yet.
In November 2017, the platform experienced a very successful public sale, though they were a concern raised about the Ethereum scaling issues. It was rumoured that Kik is looking for an alternative blockchain for Kin, which was later confirmed by Kik’s founder and CEO Ted Livingston.
Kik revealed its ingenious two-chain strategy in March 2018, that enabled token transfer cross two blockchains via atomic swaps. Ethereum would ensure security, while Stellar will provide speedy transactions. Livingston elaborated:
“The goal of Kin is to create digital sharing economy where everyone is fairly compensated for the unique value they contribute. While Ethereum provides immediate liquidity for Kin holders, it’s not ready for mainstream consumer usage”
Even though Stellar have had a low transaction fee, within two months after the implementation, it was realised that placing then under the strain of scale is an expensive operation. To solve this issue, Kik introduced some changes and conducted a fork of Stellar in order to eliminate transaction costs entirely.
The platform aims to evolve Kin as the most popular and widely-used cryptocurrency in the world. Now, that they have left Ethereum, Livingston states:
“One Kin on one blockchain. That’s our vision, and our strategy continues evolving as we work toward building an infrastructure that supports this.”
Notably, while Kin Foundation readily offers users to make a one-way move onto the Kin blockchain moving their tokens onto the exchanges, they also allow them to keep their Ethereum-based tokens as long as they wish.
Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We try our best to keep things fair and balanced, in order to help you make the best choice for you.
