Reddit Co-Founder Teams Up with Billionaire to Bring TikTok to the Blockchain

Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian has joined forces with billionaire Frank McCourt in a bid to acquire TikTok, aiming to bring the popular video-sharing app onto the blockchain. McCourt, the founder of Project Liberty, revealed to Reuters that Ohanian will serve as a strategic advisor specializing in social media for their joint bid.

Ohanian, who has a proven track record of investing in innovative technologies, expressed his enthusiasm for the project on X (formerly Twitter). He emphasized the importance of creators owning their audience and users owning their data, stating that he has spent his career betting on the future of digital communities.

To achieve this vision, McCourt plans to utilize Frequency, a layer-1 network built on the Decentralized Social Networking Protocol (DSNP). Frequency aims to give users complete control of their social data and was selected as the network of choice for "empowering the social web" as part of Project Liberty's bid for TikTok US, also known as "The People’s Bid."

Ohanian, who is no stranger to interacting or investing on-chain through his venture capital firm Seven Seven Six, believes that Frequency will empower users and creators to own their data and audience. He stated that this new TikTok will not only be fairer but also greater with transparency and accountability at its core.

TikTok, which faced a temporary ban in the United States over national security concerns, has previously denied acquisition rumors. However, the acquisition of TikTok by Ohanian and McCourt could potentially address these concerns by giving users and creators more control over their data and audience.