Kim Dotcom Token Sale Postponed Over 'Regulatory Uncertainty'
In 2017, Kim Dotcom, the founder of the now-defunct file hosting service Megaupload, revealed a similar service called K.im that planned to give anyone the ability to upload files, documents, code, videos, and music files and get paid in crypto for their work. Since then, Dotcom’s team disclosed there would be an exchange sale for Kimcoin token on the digital asset exchange Bitfinex. However, Bitfinex and the K.im platform team say that “regulatory uncertainty” has caused them to postpone the sale.
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Kim Dotcom’s K.im Token Sale Delayed Indefinitely
The token sale for the K.im platform is being postponed according to a blog post from the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex. K.im is a project that was created by the notorious Kim Dotcom, the New Zealand resident who once operated the popular file-sharing site Megaupload. In 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) seized the website and charged Dotcom with copyright infringement. Since then, Dotcom has been a popular socialite on Twitter and is well known for his appreciation for cryptocurrencies like BTC.
For instance, on October 31, the 11th anniversary of the Bitcoin whitepaper, Dotcom tweeted that “crypto is all about freedom.” Over the last few years, the former Megaupload boss has been working on a project called K.im, a platform designed so users can upload content and be rewarded with small fractions of bitcoin micropayments. News.Bitcoin.com was invited to privately demo the application in August 2017 but the K.im project hasn’t been officially released and people can only demo the app.
Dotcom’s team also used the fundraising platform bnktothefuture.com and raised $1,061,696 from 330 investors. The project’s elevator pitch explained that Dotcom’s blockchain platform would aim to provide better privacy and leverage the BTC chain to glue the foundation together. Additionally, the K.im platform and Bitcache would use other blockchain solutions like storj and maidsafe. In September 2019, the project’s whitepaper disclosed that the K.im project would use a native token called Kimcoin to facilitate access to the content held on the network. The whitepaper revealed that Kimcoin was not going to be mined but minted using the Liquid network, a federated sidechain developed by Blockstream. The file-sharing platform would allow users to utilize BTC payments but Kimcoin was said to have more of an advantage because it’s less cumbersome. Kimcoin would also have other perks and a rewards program.
Bitfinex and the K.im Team Mutually Agree Not to Hold Token Sale at This Time
Kimcoins were supposed to be sold on Bitfinex on October 22 and the coin would eventually be listed on the exchange in Q3 2020. However, on November 5, Bitfinex told potential investors that the token sale would be delayed because of regulatory concerns. “Since we announced the debut of Kimcoin on the Bitfinex Token Sale platform, the regulatory environment has rapidly evolved,” the exchange wrote. “The risks associated with raising funds for the K.im token sale have become clear, and we must put our community’s best interest first and foremost.” The news follows the recent SEC fines given to projects like EOS and Siacoin. The project Igobit and its founder was charged by the DoJ on November 6 for “participation in an investment scheme tied to a purported digital coin offering.” The Kimcoin token sale organizers may have decided to cancel after the domino effect of ICO-based criminal charges and court settlements in recent weeks.
“After careful evaluation, we regret to announce that Bitfinex Token Sales and the K.im team have mutually agreed not to hold the token sale at this time,” Bitfinex disclosed. “K.im will defer any decision on whether to create tokens on, or undertake a token issue in relation to the K.im platform until it is fully functional,” Bitfinex added:
In the meantime, the K.im platform project itself will continue and it is likely that an equity-based offer will be made some time in the near future to qualifying investors who wish to become involved at this stage of the project.
Dotcom’s platform has been in the making for a very long time and has seen quite a few hurdles along the way. For three years, people have been waiting to see the project unfold but now have to wait even longer because of the regulatory opacity. The project’s roadmap shows that with the token sale being pushed off, it may delay other projected accomplishments like Liquid network integration slated for Q1 2020, K.im application services and prototyping, and the official Kimcoin launch that was supposed to happen in Q3 2020.
What do you think about Kim Dotcom’s K.im token sale delay? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.
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Image credits: Shutterstock, Independent, Wiki Commons, Fair Use, the K.im platform, and white paper, and Pixabay.
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