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Kik, once valued at $1B, is to be closed

forbes.com

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Re: Kik, once valued at $1B, is to be closed

#151

Post by k_vi »

linkregister wrote: post #96
coralreef wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right. I'm going to challenge you to: - prevent or reverse any of my transactions - confiscate my bitcoin, or even find out how much I have You can't, and never will. Some cryptocurrencies are scams. But if you're saying all cryptocurrencies are scams, you're simply saying math and economics are a scam.

- confiscate my bitcoin, or even find out how much I have Bitcoin's public ledger is especially vulnerable to FBI "follow the money" investigation. Only one end is required to be known, and the entire trail is easily followed. The federal agent who stole a portion of Dread Pirate Roberts' Bitcoin was quickly tracked and prosecuted.

wasabi wallet's[1] coinjoin today has a large enough pool to make your bitcoin txs fungible.

[1] https://wasabiwallet.io

Re: Kik, once valued at $1B, is to be closed

#152

Post by davidgerard »

Lucadg wrote: post #148
junipertea wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You put cash in a bank.

You can put your seed words in a bank safety deposit box.

Safety deposit boxes turn out not to be secure or guaranteed. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-07-22/don-t-...

Re: Kik, once valued at $1B, is to be closed

#153

Post by davidgerard »

smallgovt wrote: post #14

Sorry but it’s hard for me to believe an app with so many users is just going to close down for a reason that’s largely tangential to the strength of its core business. It’s much more likely this is a ploy to get the SEC or other litigating parties to settle for a smaller amount.

The messaging service has been haemorrhaging money its entire existence. Kik has never made money.

The crypto scheme was a Hail Mary pass. Now it's the only hope they have.

Re: Kik, once valued at $1B, is to be closed

#154

Post by davidgerard »

dehrmann wrote: post #85
colechristensen wrote: post #42

Wow. People are ridiculous about cryptocurrencies and the SEC's authority to regulate securities (and decide what a security is). To have an enormously engaged platform with a moderation problem and a cryptocurrency with an SEC problem and to pick the SEC problem is ... I'm sorry for the workers, their families, and their investors that they're losing their jobs and the work they put into the platform will just be go…

I bet the core business was in trouble, so they downsized, threw a Hail Mary, and are pitching it as a pivot. Odd that they didn't try to sell the core product, though.

they tried repeatedly, and nobody wanted it

Re: Kik, once valued at $1B, is to be closed

#155

Post by close04 »

malux85 wrote: post #139
WA wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Calling them currrency is already a scam. They are not a currency. They are hardly money (look up the difference yourself), because you mostly can’t buy stuff with it. And for sure, you can’t pay taxes with them. I read a great question here on HN a while back to enthusiasts: If you were the last person in earth to receive coins, would you still like them and endorse them? So many comments can be traced to the idea o…

I buy heaps of stuff with bitcoin. Not drugs or anything illegal, but computer equipment, membership fees, server hosting, domains and 2nd hand goods from friends. And you can pay your taxes with crypto: https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2019/07/16/canadian-town-pay... Nothing is going to replace fiat overnight, but crypto is far from "not a currency"

> I buy heaps of stuff with bitcoin

You're bartering for heaps of stuff. I get heaps of stuff by offering services or other stuff in exchange. Yet my services or other stuff are not a currency. And some towns accept taxes in form of community work for example which is also not a currency.

> crypto is far from "not a currency"

It's explicitly called "not a currency" by both Fed and the ECB as far as I know. Now it all boils down to whether you prefer your personal definition of currency over the one coming from central banks and laws.

Alternative currencies are the same as alternative facts or alternative truth. They can have the same effect as the real thing and be used successfully achieve the same purpose. But they shouldn't be confused.

Re: Kik, once valued at $1B, is to be closed

#156

Post by davidgerard »

arthurcolle wrote: post #53

Next up Telegram! TON whitepaper was full of so much nonsense that its hard to even comprehend any alternative basis in reason outside of "moneygrab!"

I admired the way that for the TON offering, Telegram very specifically gouged only a few very rich investors who totally had all the knowledge and information they needed to know better, and nobody else.

I understand (from industry gossip) that most of the Telegram TON VCs have already written it off.

Re: Kik, once valued at $1B, is to be closed

#157

Post by k_vi »

chataway wrote: post #73

side note with the downfall of Kik, If anyone has experience with building group chat apps that scale, or is solid with react native, I am building a group chat app that eliminates the need to have invite codes or an admin to regulate who comes in to the group chat. People with association are in, randos cant even see the group exists. Basic MVP with messing is already done, made with react native. Just need help wit…

I made something similar, with group chats, bot api and later abandoned it. Feel free to use it :)

https://github.com/vidhunv1/spotlight

Re: Kik, once valued at $1B, is to be closed

#158

Post by paggle »

splintercell wrote: post #150
zaphirplane wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if you were the last person in earth to receive coins, would you still like them and endorse them? If I was the last person on earth, I wouldn’t care for gold, precious metals diamonds, stock, bonds, cash and a whole lot of other assets (+ other last person on earth issues)

You misunderstood the question. He said "last person on earth TO RECEIVE bitcoin", not "LAST PERSON on earth".

Well if I was the last person on earth to receive USD I wouldn’t be happy because that means I’d never be able to spend it on anything (if I did, that person would become a later recipient of USD).

Re: Kik, once valued at $1B, is to be closed

#159

Post by Numberwang »

close04 wrote: post #155
malux85 wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I buy heaps of stuff with bitcoin. Not drugs or anything illegal, but computer equipment, membership fees, server hosting, domains and 2nd hand goods from friends. And you can pay your taxes with crypto: https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2019/07/16/canadian-town-pay... Nothing is going to replace fiat overnight, but crypto is far from "not a currency"

> I buy heaps of stuff with bitcoin You're bartering for heaps of stuff. I get heaps of stuff by offering services or other stuff in exchange. Yet my services or other stuff are not a currency. And some towns accept taxes in form of community work for example which is also not a currency. > crypto is far from "not a currency" It's explicitly called "not a currency" by both Fed and the ECB as far as I know. Now it all…

Don't waste your energy on these people. Crypto/Keto/TheDonald people can not be reasoned with. Making arguments will not work.

Re: Kik, once valued at $1B, is to be closed

#160

Post by qnr »

michwill wrote: post #128
WA wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Calling them currrency is already a scam. They are not a currency. They are hardly money (look up the difference yourself), because you mostly can’t buy stuff with it. And for sure, you can’t pay taxes with them. I read a great question here on HN a while back to enthusiasts: If you were the last person in earth to receive coins, would you still like them and endorse them? So many comments can be traced to the idea o…

> you mostly can’t buy stuff with it Sometimes I cannot buy legitimate stuff without them. Just today, I bought some books for which US credit/debit cards refused to work. And I see that every week. > you can’t pay taxes with them https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/25/ohio-becomes-the-first-sta...

I usually don't go out of my way to pay with bitcoin, but recently needed to buy a PSN prepaid card and every website I tried either declined my 2 credit cards and paypal outright or requested some ridiculous verification (record myself on camera holding a passport to my face? To buy a $10 prepaid card? No thanks)

In the end I stumbled upon a shop that accepted bitcoin and got my PSN card in the time it took to get one network confirmation.

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