Blockchain Association takes the reins of Kik’s ‘Defend Crypto’ campaign

The battle between the United States’ Securities and Exchanges Commission [SEC] and the social media company, Kik, is about to write a new chapter. According to an announcement made by Kik on 28 June, the Washington D.C-based Blockchain Association will be taking over Kik’s legal defense crowdfunding campaign, popularly known as the ‘Defend Crypto’ campaign. The initiative is an attempt launched by Kik to raise funds for its ongoing battle against the U.S SEC.

According to the blog released alongside the announcement, the Blockchain Association claimed that it aims to “advance U.S policy for the country’s cryptocurrency ecosystem.” The lobbyist group will also work towards advancing legislation in the U.S Congress, as well as interacting with regulators directly.

Kik and the Blockchain Association also announced that the ‘Defend Crypto’ campaign is now not just an initiative to fund Kik’s legal defense alone. While the social media firm will retain the $5 million it contributed, the rest of it will be used for the legal defense of similar crypto-projects who are facing the ire of the SEC and “do not have the adequate resources” to take them on. Kik wrote,

“If we are going to Defend Crypto, we need to do it as a collective.”

The U.S Securities and Exchanges Commission has been at loggerheads with Kik for quite a long time, with the former recently charging the social media firm of conducting an illegal token sale and violating federal law in 2017. However, Kik soon hit back with their own response to the SEC. Kik and the Kin Foundation launched the ‘Defend Crypto’ campaign in an attempt to not just raise funds for their legal defense, but also to persuade policymakers to create a new Howey Test for cryptocurrencies.

Public statements from Kik executives weren’t too kind about the SEC either. CEO Ted Livingstone had claimed that the SEC’s allegations were a gross mischaracterization of facts and that the agency was hell-bent on dividing the crypto-industry. Kik Interactive Inc.’s General Counsel also commented on the charges, claiming that they were based on flawed legal theory.