Reddit Co-Founder Tackles TikToks Blockchain Transition in Bold Investment Move

Internet pioneer and co-founder of Reddit, Alexis Ohanian, has joined a group of investors looking to acquire the US segment of TikTok’s business. If the acquisition is successful, he will take on the role of strategic advisor for the social media project.

In January, American billionaire Frank McCourt stated his intention to purchase the company and expressed his willingness to collaborate with other investors. He established a consortium called The People’s Bid to bring together potential buyers.

The plan involves the organization purchasing the user data and audience in the US to «hand control back to the users.» The consortium is not interested in TikTok’s recommendation algorithms or code, as they intend to migrate the platform to a new technological infrastructure.

In November 2024, McCourt’s civil rights organization, Project Liberty, formed a partnership with ConsenSys and the Frequency Network Foundation, developers of the blockchain for the social media platform Frequency.

The entrepreneur has not disclosed the sources of funding for the acquisition but clarified that securing capital will not be an issue if the current owners at ByteDance agree to the deal.

As of now, the company has shown no interest in selling the social media platform. The billionaire suggested that instead of selling, they might simply shut it down.

According to McCourt, Ohanian will assist in promoting The People’s Bid initiative, though the specifics of his role in the blockchain transformation of the platform have not been clarified.

«His extensive experience with social media in the past and how it’s evolving is invaluable,» McCourt remarked.

Ohanian himself believes that users should have ownership over their data and creators should own their audiences. He emphasized that a «new TikTok based on transparency and accountability» would be fairer and better than its predecessor.

It’s worth noting that in January, AI startup Perplexity AI also announced its intention to acquire the American segment of TikTok.