Messaging app Kikâs users can now begin earning and spending the cryptocurrency kin with the launch of its âcrypto-economy,â the company announced Wednesday.
According to Kik, a limited number of users will be able to earn kin tokens in the Kin Marketplace Beta by taking quizzes, working on tutorials and answering polls, according to a press release. These tokens can, in turn, be used to purchase premium themes for the Kik app.
Kik is also rolling out free customization tools, including themes, for the app in response to user feedback, the company announced.
Product manager Laura Newton wrote in a release that Kik âwanted to build Kin into [the] products that people already use on a daily basis.â As such, custom options for its app felt like âthe perfect optionâ given the demand.
She went on to say:
âReal consumer use of cryptocurrency doesnât exist today, because the technology has yet to be adapted in daily life. Weâve built Kin into products that Kik users already use and have layered this experience in a simple and seamless way. Kin will continue to be a pillar of Kikâs product strategy, and we will deepen the functionality of Kin in Kik, providing other partners with a clear example of how to launch their own Kin economy in their apps.â
The marketplace will feature the first transaction run on kinâs blockchain, she said. Users included in the test can access the marketplace through the app.
Kin notably operates on its own blockchain, which it forked off the stellar mainnet earlier this year. The Kin Foundation announced it would be able to offer zero-fee transactions by using its own unique network, the company told CoinDesk.
That move came just months after Kin announced it would be running on both the ethereum network, on which it was originally built, and the stellar network, where it planned to move to late last year.
Kik app image by Annaliese Milano for CoinDesk