The Evolution of the Kin Rewards Engine — KRE 2.0
Kin Foundation accepts KRE 2.0 proposal to bolster Kin economy
The first version of the Kin Rewards Engine was designed to reward developers for driving the use of Kin. About a year into its roll-out, over one million users have spent Kin on goods and services inside of consumer apps within the last month; to that extent, one could conclude that the mechanism was a success. Kin, however, is more than just an in-app currency. As a real-world medium of exchange, an entire economy has formed which is affected by the mechanisms through which Kin enters circulation. That means that the KRE needs to be dynamic and that the monetary policy being expressed through its algorithms and guidelines must be created with the growth of an economy in mind.
As expected, over the past year we have learned firsthand the positive and negative effects of the policies enacted through the KRE. For example, ways to “game” the algorithm became apparent as usage began to scale, leading to the detection and repair of vulnerabilities that went against the original intent of the KRE. Despite these challenges, the Kin Ecosystem continues to grow in use. The next step is the evolution of the Kin economy.
Kin Rewards Engine 2.0 Proposal
To strengthen the Kin economy and value of the Kin currency, Kik Interactive, Inc. has proposed recommendations that would aim to shift the incentive for developers in the Kin Ecosystem towards more specific behaviors that will allow the economy to grow. Incentivizing the growth of spenders does correctly drive the adoption of Kin as a currency, but only in part. To stimulate the economy, developers must also be incentivized to:
- Encourage users to spend more
- Generate economic demand for goods and services
- Save earnings
At a high level, this proposal aims to achieve those objectives by better incentivizing specific behaviors:
- Spend — Spenders are now weighted based on volume
- Buy — Apps that create more demand in the economy than they are paid are given higher rewards
- Hold — Developers are incentivized to hold their rewards in exchange for bonus payments
You can review the KRE 2.0 proposal in more detail here:
The KRE 2.0 proposal was picked up for consideration in November and has since been debated and improved with input from developers, users, and speculators alike from the Kin economy. Several improvements and edits were made to the proposal as well as the process for improvement itself, thanks to the community. This feedback was overseen by the Kin Foundation, to ensure that voices were heard and that procedural conduct could be enforced and iterated upon. We hope to increase and ease access to participation even further in the future.
The Foundation has reviewed the Kin Rewards Engine 2.0 improvement proposal, weighed the pros and cons of its implementation and reviewed feedback left by others. For example, a sudden change in rewarded behavior could result in some developers no longer being interested in working in exchange for Kin. On the other hand, if the developers participating are not contributing to the macroeconomy, then they can only gain at the expense of other participants. Ultimately, without creating demand for the Kin economy, core economic incentives are misaligned and no one wins, so this change was deemed necessary.
KRE 2.0 has been approved for a slowly escalating ramp-up beginning Jan 1st. After recommendations from developers and the Kin Foundation, the proposal was amended to make the implementation even more gradual, affording developers more lead time to plan and make changes. For more information about this slow-burn implementation, review the section of the proposal titled Implementation, linked here:
Kin Foundation and the Kin Rewards Engine
The Kin Rewards Engine is overseen by the Kin Foundation, a non-profit entity that aims to foster the viability and effectiveness of Kin’s monetary systems to drive macroeconomic growth. All actions and decisions on the governance of the KRE are made with this goal in mind. Kin was designed to build a new digital economy where everyone is fairly compensated for the value they create online. By improving the Kin Rewards Engine to be more equitable and prosperous for the new digital economy’s participants, the Foundation hopes to continue moving that mission forward.
The Kin Foundation scans the rewards-engine repo for improvements regularly. When an improvement proposal has been picked up for consideration, it will be announced, along with a window of time during which the community can comment, debate, and suggest edits to the improvement proposal. By that date, the Kin Foundation will deliberate and decide on the implementation of that proposal. Please note that the iteration process for the KRE is always evolving.
Contribute to the Kin Rewards Engine
Anyone can contribute to the Kin Rewards Engine; participation in its iteration is welcomed and encouraged. To learn how to submit your own proposals and participate in the discussion, use this step-by-step visual guide:
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