The Kick Ecosystem in 2020: OUR ECOSYSTEM TAKES SHAPE

A year of trials, launches & growth marked by the launch of KickEX exchange

We count ourselves lucky to be in a cross-border digital space. Yes, asset values and projects took a hit at the height of the pandemic but our team was able to stay safe, stay determined, and keep working to achieve our goals.

Our team looks at the Kick Ecosystem of today, compared to the 1st of January, and we can take a very short moment to smile. This was our first year as a licenced crypto exchange, and our team has achieved 80% of its roadmap — and, while we set ourselves challenging goals, few other projects can say they did the same.

Away from the daily grind of development and operations, we have spread the word about Kick both online and at many events throughout the year — including an Amsterdam conference and the Skolkovo online expo — fulfilling a vital role in representing and legitimising the crypto space.

But for our supporters, users and community members, each year is about product and value milestones — so let us begin!

KickEX

In June, we officially launched our own regulated cryptocurrency exchange with 6 initial trading pairs — featuring BTC, ETH, USDT and KICK tokens. It is the only platform which puts traders first by giving them the right tools to do their job. But it is just the beginning for a smarter, fairer exchange of digital assets, and you will soon see us among the top exchanges in the world.

In our first 6 months, over 20,000 traders have come through our doors. With the addition of 4 new coins — BCH, COMP, LINK and UNI — we now have 14 market pairs and over $5 million in daily trading volume. We also released our own market-making and interexchange cross-liquidity functionality, paving the way for mass token listings.

Trading crypto is fascinating, unpredictable and (hopefully) profitable, but we believe it should be fun, competitive and rewarding, too. We gave away over $33,000 in promotional competitions based on trading, deposits and social interactions — including a $10,000 UNI vs. COMP trading battle.

We also launched KEX, a semi-stablecoin exchange token which you farm while you trade — which you can then be used to decrease your trading commissions and to unfreeze the frozen KickTokens from the FrozenDrop. Our team harnessed the power of KEX to create a thawing mechanism for our pioneering FrozenDrop incentive model, allowing our members to unlock value from our frozen drops through their trading activity.

Additionally, we released Mosaic Wallet — a secure backend custody wallet where private keys aren’t stored. This is in addition to the first version of our mobile iOS and Android apps, which is currently available for beta testers.

Finally, we bought back $100,000 of KICK tokens at almost 10x their market value, using a novel exchange functionality that no one has tried before.

As you can see, a global pandemic could not stop us from the inevitable march towards exchange domination!

KickICO

We are on the verge of launching an MVP for our KickICO platform, one of our very first services which we still view as a central feature of the Ecosystem. As well as the usual facelift that comes with a relaunch, we are truly excited to release our Auction-based Initial Coin Offering (AIO) model — which will totally change how token sales are conducted and viewed by participants.

In this new sale mechanic, buyers will decide the price of the token through a bid-based auction process. No more overpriced tokens and no more angry investors left holding a worthless bag when token prices crash after an ICO or an initial exchange offering — where manipulation and exchange-driven pumps during the IEO make the process anything but fair and transparent. We are here to forever disrupt the traditionally-scammy cryptocurrency fundraising process.

We’re also adding social features, which allow our trading and investor communities to review, rate, comment and interact with each campaign. More knowledge, more debate and more transparency can only be a good thing for holders, traders and the projects themselves.

KickRef

There isn’t much point designing a next-gen product if you can’t get anyone to use it and recommend it to others. We are especially pleased that our multi-level affiliate program has been one of the great success stories of 2020, with over 1 million registered users worldwide. Each one can access a range of open, achievable reward tiers by encouraging new traders to join KickEX.

Great UX, social functionality and virality will be huge factors in crypto services going forward, and the launch of KickMessenger within KickRef shows you how we are thinking. Users can now send private or group messages, motivate referrals to expand their networks and share expertise with newbies.

KickAcademy

The world knows BTC, but the level of knowledge is still very low, even within the wider crypto community, which is why education is so important. Our goal is to support learning at all levels through KickAcademy, a trading educational portal which will publish new articles every week.

We have already published data and research on a range of topics, from KYC to trading order use and the impact of Covid-19 on trade, the job market and preparing for your future.

As we build out the different platforms within Kick Ecosystem, our following grows too. We have expanded our support base on social media, almost doubling our @KickEcosystem Twitter followers to over 18,000 and attracting over 15,000 followers to our new @kickexcom Twitter account.

Coming in 2021

The revamped KickICO is the next big moment for our Ecosystem — but, as always, the roadmap lights a new path towards even more products and improvements.

The KickMobile app is in the late stages of development, with a secure wallet, exchange and trading functionality — plus news, chat, fundraising and more.

We are excited about the launch of our first campaigns on KickICO, the first projects that will experience the benefits of AIO fundraising. We are planning a mass listing of new tokens on KickEX, and are working behind the scenes on various commercial partnerships and integrations that will put Kick Ecosystem at the forefront of crypto adoption.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Kick Ecosystem!

How we still managed to make progress in so many areas during such a brutal year is a testament to our talented and devoted team — and, of course, to the loyalty and support of our community. We thank each and every one of you for sharing and backing our vision for a better financial future. Covid cannot beat us. The human spirit, shown through our love of decentralisation and freedom, is too powerful!

We wish all of you the best Christmas you can have under the circumstances, and a healthy, wealthy 2021!

Always yours,
KICK Team