Crypto Startup RSK Acquires Social Network Taringa

Crypto startup RSK will buy Spanish social media network Taringa in a bid to expand and to gain access to the platform’s 20 million users, according to a report by Forbes.

RSK, a subsidiary of IOVLabs, is self-described as the “first open-source, smart contract platform secured by the bitcoin network.”

The partnership will encourage Taringa users to share content and receive cryptocurrency rewards in return. The reward will be in the form of IOVLabs’ RIF token.

The RIF token, which was introduced in November of last year, has a market cap of $46 million. The company said it raised 22,000 bitcoins in a private sale in November, which would be worth around $175 million now. Acquiring Taringa gives RSK a base of users to try out its products and endeavors.

Taringa is popular in Latin America and Spain. It is based in Argentina, where it is used more often than Snapchat, LinkedIn and Skype, and is accessed by 28 percent of internet users.

RSK is hoping that due to the economic climate in countries like Argentina and Venezuela, where currencies are in flux, the idea of a decentralized currency would be attractive.

“If you go to the first world and you start talking about bitcoin and decentralized platforms, you need to explain why. In Latin America, you don’t need to explain why,” said IOVLabs CEO Diego Gutierrez Zaldivar. “People understand why instantly, so they jump right into the how and who. It’s a different reaction. That’s exactly why we chose this social network.”

Zaldivar knows that despite the relative ubiquity of blockchain and bitcoin, it’s by no means a well-stocked industry, with only 40 million bitcoin wallets around the world.

“The crypto space has had trouble at times trying to reach audiences outside of its core community of early adopters and visionaries,” Zaldivar noted. “This is a big opportunity to learn how to turn these communities potentially into shared economies and bring these technologies to the masses.”