The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) must decide whether or not to pursue an enforcement action against Kik’s initial coin offering (ICO) for a token called Kin by the first week of June. In a December 2018 response to the SEC, the Kitchener, Ont.-headquartered firm argued Kin is a currency, not a security. Katie Haun, a partner at Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, said the outcome will partly depend on how much use the token is getting, and how many people who bought into the ICO did so as a way to buy other things, rather than as an investment. (a16z)

Talking point: Many ICO promoters pursued by the SEC have chosen to settle, but Haun—a high-profile former federal prosecutor who frequently led Bitcoin cases—argues that Kik going to court could help resolve the question of whether securities laws apply to cryptocurrency. Kik CEO Ted Livingston said on Thursday he doesn’t plan to sue the SEC, but that “somebody needs to go to court and get this settled.” Fighting an SEC enforcement action or pursuing a court judgment could be very expensive, but Haun points out that Kik is better funded than most of the crypto firms that have settled. The fight has already proved costly for the company, which has spent more than US$5 million so far, according to Livingston.