As previously reported, Kik had been embroiled in a costly legal battle with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over its initial coin offering’s designation, with the regulator suing the company for having conducted an allegedly unregistered $100 million token offering.
Canadian social media and messaging app Kik has revealed it’s “here to stay”, in an apparent reversal of earlier plans to shut down amid legal difficulties.
Having pared down its workforce from 151 to just 19 and mulled a complete shutdown – according to a blog post from CEO Ted Livingston late last month – the company closed the Kik X beta platform on Sept. 27.
In an official tweet posted on Oct. 13, the company announced:
“Great news: Kik is here to stay!!!!AND there’s some really exciting plans for making the app even better. More details coming soon. Stay tuned.”
“More soon” and “stay tuned”
Yet the first hint of a turn in fortunes emerged on Oct. 7, when Livingston tweeted:
“Some exciting news: we may have found a home for Kik! We just signed an LOI letter of intention with a great company. They want to buy the app, continue growing it for our millions of users, and take the Kin integration to the next level. Not a done deal yet, but could be a great win win. More soon”
Down to the bone
With further details of the game-changing deal still to be announced, Kik’s apparent decision to close had meanwhile been harshly criticized among community members. The Kin cryptocurrency has also seen a steady decline – no doubt in part due to broader market conditions, yet unlikely helped by the company’s seemingly intractable difficulties.
Kin token 3-month chart, as of Oct. 14, 2019
As reported, at the peak of the firm’s stand-off with the SEC, Livingston had pledged to fight the SEC until we don’t have a dollar left.”
Judge Rules Lawsuit Targeting Multi-Billion OneCoin Ponzi Can Proceed
According to documents filed April 27, defendants David Pike and Mark Scott objected to the stay being lifted, requesting its continuation “pending a final resolution of the criminal cases currently pending against each of them.”
Judge Valerie Caproni lifted the stay on a class-action lawsuit brought against the notorious crypto Ponzi scheme OneCoin 12 months ago.
An order signed by the New York District judge mandates that all parties must submit a proposed schedule for the defendants to respond to the complaint before May 9. The court order reads:
No later than May 8, 2020, the parties must jointly submit a proposed schedule for Defendants to answer, move to dismiss, or otherwise respond to the Amended Complaint.
Pike is facing charges of bank fraud, while Scott allegedly laundered $400 million on behalf of the fugitive OneCoin co-founder, Ruja Ignatova.
OneCoin case to proceed after reporting failures from plaintiff
The stay followed consecutive failures on the part of the lead plaintiff, Donald Berdeaux, to adhere to monthly reporting deadlines set by the court.
The reports concerned efforts to serve OneCoin’s executives. In February, the lead plaintiff’s representation informed the court that OneCoin and Ignatova had been served via Ignatova’s last-known email address and that two other defendants would be dropped from the case.
No further correspondence was made with the court until Judge Caproni threatened to nix the case on April 12.
On April 21, the plaintiffs’ representation, Levi & Korsinsky LLP, requested that the stay be lifted – asserting that the plaintiffs “are prepared to proceed with the litigation expeditiously.”
OneCoin scheme exhumed by top figure
During April, reports surfaced that Vietnam’s top OneCoin recruiter, Le Quoc-Hung (also known as Simon Le) has launched a near-identical fraud called OneLink.
Le positioned himself as the leading figure on the OneLink platform after OneCoin’s founders were either arrested or went into hiding. Since then, Le has used the platform to promote his new scheme.
Le is believed to be hiding in Dubai or Vietnam.
