Blockchain Association Takes Over Kik's 'Defend Crypto' Crowdfunding Effort

Canada-based social media company Kik is relinquishing control of its legal defense crowdfunding campaign to the Blockchain Association in an effort to broaden the initiative's reach.

Kik and the Blockchain Association announced Friday that the D.C.-based lobbyist group would be taking over "Defend Crypto," the crowdfunding initiative that Kik previously launched to raise funds for its ongoing battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

While Kik will retain the $5 million it initially contributed to the fund, all of the other donations - some $1.9 million - will be set aside for other crypto projects facing similar lawsuits.

"Once the case against Kik is resolved, all remaining funds, including any portion of the initial $5 [million] contribution by Kik, will be allocated to a nonprofit organization to be used for other initiatives that help with innovation in our industry," the website read as of June 24.

In its announcement on Friday, Kik wrote "If we are going to Defend Crypto, we need to do it as a collective."

The Blockchain Association was chosen to helm the initiative due to its advocacy work for the crypto industry, Kik spokesperson Tanner Philp told CoinDesk.

Kik disagreed with that assessment, and later took the unprecedented step of making both the initial Wells Notice - the SEC's argument on how Kik violated federal law - and its own response public.

According to the complaint, Kik saw an initial coin offering as a last-minute effort to generate revenue, and promotional statements by Livingston during the sale supported the argument that the kin token is a security.

Kik has yet to formally respond to the complaint, though general counsel Eileen Lyon argued in a statement that the SEC's case is based on "Flawed legal theory," and Livingston's statements indicating that kin's price would rise was not a promise of profit.

Philp told CoinDesk that a number of individual projects reached out to Kik privately, describing their own "Challenges with the SEC.".