Respectfully, I think you and others in this thread defining "Kin" too narrowly by thinking of it exclusively a premium virtual token for use inside of Kik. Ye

Respectfully, I think you and others in this thread defining "Kin" too narrowly by thinking of it exclusively a premium virtual token for use inside of Kik. Yes, that's obviously the first use-case. But thinking bigger, the combination of anonymous identity / mobile messaging + bona fide cryptocurrency can lead to something way more significant for Kik's users (who are primarily teenagers & pre-teens - people don't have access to credit and find it difficult to participate in the economy). Assuming some level of mass adoption / easy FX to Bitcoin or traditional currency... Kin could represent a new way in which these users could meaningfully participate economically. Kin will be tied to their anonymous Kik identity; it's managed through Kik which is always-on always-with-them (smartphone); it's the lingua franca for buying stuff inside of Kik with their friends & fav brands. And if they can eventually use Kin outside of Kik (either directly or via simple FX mechanics) - could be a game-changer. So from Kik's POV it's definitely worth the extra headaches and effort to try to do this as a cryptocurrency vs. just internal tokens. Worst case, it doesn't really work and they've over-engineered a token system. Best case, they're a major player in the next-gen of cryptocurrencies.