Reddit’s co-founder Alexis Ohanian stunned the crypto sphere, as well as the broader IT section with a bid on TikTok US, pledging to bring the giant social media platform on-chain. In a series of tweets on X, the entrepreneur explained that “users should own their data”, while “creators should own their audience”.
As this perfectly aligns with the principles of blockchain tech, Reddit’s co-founder Mr. Ohanian is teaming up with Frank McCourt, a business executive, leading a Polkadot (DOT) chain-powered non-profit organization Project Liberty and the owner of legendary French soccer club Olympique de Marseille.
TikTok: Freedom Edition In The Making
Originally, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance was meant to be banned on January 19, 2025, per previous President Joe Biden’s orders. However, President Donald Trump extended the term to April, 2025 in one of executive orders signed on his first night in the Oval Office.
Sponsored
Celebrating the bid on the United States version of TikTok, Reddit’s co-founder named a lesser known Frequency parachain on the Polkadot (DOT) chain that will power the Web3 edition of TikTok. The social media-specialized parachain lets Web3 users take ownership of their data, which also solves the issue of Chinese government data collection worries in the U.S.
Collectively, McCourt’s consortium has put up a $20 billion offer for TikTok US, while one of the investors is the Canadian TV star Kevin O’Leary a.k.a “Mr. Wonderful” on ABC’s Shark Tank. On the other hand, conglomerate IT giants like Microsoft are also going after TikTok, as well as the artificial intelligence (AI) startup Perplexity and the founder of Roblox video game.
On The Flipside
- Aside from the $20 billion “The People’s Bid for TikTok” by Reddit, other bids on TikTok US could overreach this, as analysts believe TikTok is worth more due to the coveted algorithm.
- On social media, tongues were sent wagging that YouTube star Mr. Beast and Jesse Tinsley, the founder of Employer.Com, have joined forces with Roblox to offer over $55 billion.
Why This Matters
If the deal succeeds, TikTok US would evolve as the first major social platform entirely living on the blockchain. Reddit’s acquisition of TikTok is set to onboard 170 million users onto Web3, enabling them to own their private data without concerns of data collection or breach.
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