Kin Economy Report: October 2020

Monthly Updates on Key Economic Metrics

Net Dollars Bought (NDB)

Net Dollars Bought is defined as Kin purchased (directly or indirectly via alternative methods such as ads) for goods and services by users within the ecosystem, less all Kin paid by the Kin Foundation through the KRE and Kin Grants.

Below is the NDB graph as of October 9. In the September Kin Economy Report it was noted that the August to September time period was one of the flattest periods of measurement, meaning that dollars bought is getting closer to matching pace with the Kin distributed to developers. That trend has continued with the curve continuing to flatten. From August 1 to September 1 the change in NDB was -7.5% whereas September 1 to October 1 the change was -3.3%. This shows an increasing move towards sustainability of the KRE.

B/I Ratio

The B/I ratio describes how much Kin is bought for goods and services per Kin issued by the Kin Foundation (all time).

The B/I ratio is currently sitting at 0.0126. This is a 110% increase month over month. This comes on the heels of a 508% increase the previous period. This shows that the amount of Kin being bought is moving closer sustainably supporting the KRE. The ultimate goal is to have the B/I Ratio surpass 1.0, so there is still a lot of progress needed, but so far the ecosystem is making good strides to get there.

The two variables that impact this is the amount of Kin being bought and the amount of Kin issued through the Kin Rewards Engine. The Kin Foundation is evaluating both of these as it begins the budgeting process for 2021.

Kin Spent Per Day

The amount of Kin spent on goods and services per day is effectively the Kin Economy’s GDP.

There has been some increased volatility in the amount of Kin spent per day in the ecosystem. Part of this is driven by some attrition in the number of apps in the ecosystem, and some of this is driven by apps implementing new user experiences which have caused some variability in user engagement in the short-term as these are slowly rolled out and optimized. It is expected that there may continue to be some volatility in this number as developers adjust their experiences to optimize for the KRE logic, but so far we are seeing initial signs of recovery from the steep drop.

Conclusion

We are continuing to see the impact of the revised KRE logic that was implemented on August 1. The reduction in the Spend Track has had an impact on the potential payouts for apps that are optimized for spending. Most of the apps in the ecosystem have adjusted to recalibrate their user experience to drive increased Kin Bought in their apps. This is a positive step towards increased sustainability of the economy. It should be anticipated that if apps do not adjust then their potential KRE payout will decrease and that could affect the degree to which they contribute to the ecosystem. This is a healthy form of maturation in the ecosystem.

Looking ahead, sustainability is a key focus for the Kin Foundation. The 2021 budget and KRE logic are two variables being considered and a public proposal for both is expected in the coming month.